Leadership and personal developement on self efficasy

Improving Self-Efficacy Page 1
A Career Development Report on Increasing Self-Efficacy
Presented to Deborah Pinder-Young
KU ID-1359395
Module - Leadershipand Professional Development-BH7569
WordCount- 2740
Date: 11th
march2015
KingstonBusiness School

Contents
Executive Summary..................................................................3
Introduction ..............................................................................4
Critical Analysis and application of theories: ...........................5
Theory -1: Bandura’s 4Sources of self -efficacy ....................6
Theory-2:Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory: ...........8
Theory -3: The Mediating process by Bandura......................9
Theory-4: Observational Learning Theory (Bandura,1986):
.............................................................................................12
Changes in thinking and behaviour ........................................14
References:.............................................................................15

Executive Summary
Career growth and professional development has many implications on our personal
life .Professional development is a part of every day’s life .Its only when we start
recording our progress, we tend to adapt a systematic way of development. It is very
important to take the ownership of our career and focus on our professional
development. It makes the person more competitive, employable and helps to
recognise more opportunities. A person with strong professional career can help,
influence and contribute to society.
Being career oriented is very significant but developing the right kind of attitude and
skills is way more important to achieve the gaols. To excel in career, there are various
parameters which plays vital role like self-confidence, self-motivation, having high
self-esteem, great reasoning skills and decision making capabilities, open to take up
challenges, flexibility and adaptability to new environment. Few of these can be
inculcated by undergoing training programme and few are inbuilt nature. However,
there are always rooms for improvement. A person should be motivated towards his
goal. A person should identify his career objective and should work to improvise in the
key areas.
This report discusses increasing self-efficacy as my development objective for my
career development. This objective was identified during my self-assessment
programme as a part of MBA module. The report critically evaluates and reflects this
objective as my career development. I have adapted various theories suggested and
developed by Albert Bandura and implemented them in my personal life as part of
experimentation and was successful delivering the expected results. It also discusses
various types of processes which was helpful in deriving my strengths and enhancing
my skills. At last, the report demonstrates the various changes in my behaviour and
personality as a result of application of various theories, processes and models during
my development phase.

Introduction
Being a timid person, I always carried out a low profile at school and college. I often
underdressed myself and remained in crowds to go unnoticed. Though I scored well in
studies, my assumption of being incapable of performing individual tasks always
pulled me back. I was afraid of failure; I was scared of taking up individual tasks and
challenges. I would usually shy away from people. The words like, ‘I can’t, I cannot do
this, Why me?!!’ kept resounding in my ears.
The result was, I remained a silent spectator. This fear gripped my life in
school, college and at workplace. I always found ways to play safe in
groups and usually clubbed with my colleagues for a task and avoided
individual activities. Even in groups, I couldn’t contribute, due to lack of
confidence and the inability to perform. My lack of ability to perform and
low self-confidence grew very prominent when I started working as a software
engineer. My job demanded lot of client interaction, quick decision making, and
efficient communication skills, leading a team in adverse situations, proactive and
socializing. Low self-efficacy affected my motivation, learning attitude, meeting
deadlines and voicing my views. As an experienced employee, the company had major
expectations from me in terms of developing the soft skills and also taking up complex
tasks but I wasn’t able to meet their expectations. I was not promoted for few years and
this lead to depression. I had limited friends and zero social life. As a child, I assumed
being shy is natural but I was suffering from low self-efficacy which had severe
implications on my professional as well as personal life. The growth in the industry
demanded high self-efficacy. I enrolled into an MBA programme which could benefit
my professional career. During this programme, I was self-assessed and the result was
as expected: low self-efficacy. My career as a software engineer demanded a very
positive, prominent, proactive and challenging attitude. I, now had to adapt and
undergo different development phase in order to match expectation from the industry.

Critical Analysis and application of theories:
"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I
may not have it at the beginning" - Mahatma Gandhi
The low efficacy was a serious problem and needed immediate attention. I was not
ready to live such a life. The solution to my problem lied in the following theories from
Albert Bandura and frameworks which helped me to improvise my professional
development.
Self-efficacy is measured along the three basic scales: magnitude, strength and
generality (Van der Bijl & Shortridge-Baggett, 2002).
Figure-1 basic scales of self-efficacy
Self-efficacy magnitude: This scale measured the difficulty level (easy, moderate and
high) an individual feels to perform a task. A person with low self –efficacy (me)
found every task to be very hard.
Self-efficacy Strength: This is measured as an individual’s conviction in performing a
task successfully at diverse situations. I often gave up at adverse conditions and
avoided taking up challenges.
Generality of self-efficacy: it’s the degree to which expectation is generalised across
situation.

Theory -1: Bandura’s 4Sourcesof self -efficacy
Initially, I used to wonder how people have so high self- efficacy. They roam with their
heads high and display a great confidence.
I learnt, there are four sources of self-efficacy Bandura (1997) shown in Figure 1. I
used these sources to derive the methods of improving my self-efficacy.
Figure 2: Bandura’s 4Sources of self -efficacy
Past Performances:
Bandura explained, the most important source of self-efficacy is from past
experiences. Employees who have successfully performed in the past usually have high
self-efficacy to perform related tasks in the future whereas employees who haven’t
succeeded in the past have a low self-efficacy. Managers and supervisors can help in
improving self-efficacy in an individual.
Because I was not ready to live a life with low efficacy, I gathered all my guts and
strengths and approached my manager. He wondered why I delayed in addressing my
problem was. I had no answer but he was ready to help me. He critically analysed my
past performance and provided me the list of skills that I had to develop. He discussed
my career gaps and assigned me few tasks to deliver.

For example: I was given a task to design a product in a more efficient way by
lowering its manufacturing cost. I had to find an alternative approach of delivering the
task in an effective way. This task helped me to understand my analytical skills.
Vicarious Experiences:
The second source is from vicarious experience. The success of our
colleague in a particular task could influence us and boost up our self-efficacy. My
friend shared his past experiences of failure and success. He explained how failure can
make you a better person and can be a learning experience. He quoted examples from
Thomas edition who failed a thousand times before inventing the electric bulb. I was
influenced by him and he motivated me to develop self-belief to perform a task.
Verbal Persuasion:
This is third source of deriving self –efficacy. This is about convincing people about
their ability to succeed in any task. The positive verbal
statements i.e. ‘You can do this'. I spent my time with
my friends and colleagues who gave me the positive
energy and encourage me to believe in my abilities.
They explained the importance of self-believing and
being self-motivated. Few of my friends helped me to
improve my dressing sense which gave me immense
confidence to socialise.
However, I was willing to improve my self-efficacy .This willingness encouraged me
to read books to enhance my self-belief and improve my confidence. Books like the
seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey helped me to motivate
myself and inculcate the practices in my life.
Emotional Cues:
The fourth source of self-efficacy is derived from emotional cues. When
a person is allocated with high complex work, he/she is tending to experience few
physiological symptoms like sweaty palm, pounding heart, and headache and so on.
Though these symptoms vary from individual to individual, but if they persist, it may

lead to low performance. Studies from Edwin Locke and Gary Latham indicate that
goal-setting theory and self-efficacy theory are directly proportional to each other.
If a person is assigned with high gaols compared to his colleagues, it boosts up the
confidence because of high expectation from the company.
I implemented this theory to derive and strengthen my self-confidence. It was my first
stepping stone and building block for improving my self-efficacy. . Utilizing the
sources of self-efficacy (performance outcomes, vicarious experiences, verbal
persuasion, and emotional arousal) I could improve my efforts, persistence, goal
setting, and performance on specific tasks
Theory-2: AlbertBandura’s SocialCognitiveTheory:
The major learning happens from the people and environment. Albert bandura’s social
learning theory called as cognitive theory incorporated the following points:
 Basic principles of reinforcement from behaviourism.
 Learning from people around you.
 Cognitive processes of social learning
Figure-3 Bandura’s Triadic Reciprocal Determinism

Cognition plays a vital role in individual’s capability to construct reality, self-regulate,
encode information, and perform behaviours. The theory describes how the cognitive,
behavioural and environmental factors interact to determine to motivate and influence
the behaviour of an individual. It indicates that the human functioning is measured as
an interactionof all the above factors and is calledBandura’s Triadic Reciprocal
Determinism.
The Social cognitive theory indicated by Bandura is composed 3 processes namely
Self-Observation, Self-Evaluation and Self-reactionand my implementation of the
theory is summarized in the following ways:
 Self-observation: I exercisedthe observational learning technique to
understand how people behaved in different environments. This gave me an
insight of the way the task was performed. I learnt the steps involved in
performing tasks with confidence and could repeat the same.
 Self-evaluation: This technique of self-evaluation helps an individual to
evaluate his own performance level. I used this parameter to self-evaluate my
progress on performance and productivity. I could quantify my improvements
and set realistic goals. It’s a step by step process. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.
 Self –Reaction: This is a self-motivating parameter. Rejoicing at one’s
development. This process of self-reactionhelps me to measure my
improvements.
So far I have addressed the sources of deriving the self-efficacyand applied the social
cognitive theory to involve myself in learning from my environment. These theories,
processes and activities helped me in self-realization,evaluation and reaction thereby
improving my self-efficacyand gaining a positive and proactive attitude towards
personal and professional life.
Theory -3: The Mediating process by Bandura
So far I could develop self –efficacy by implementing the above theories. My goal for
finding myself in a new improvised version was still at a distant. The motivation was
the main factor that could drive anyone to have a better lifestyle. Being self-motivated
was the winning factor.

The Mediating process by Bandura discussed the various by which efficacy beliefs
produce their effects. Such processes govern the way people think, feel and motivate
themselves to act and behave. These processes regulate human functioning through
three major processes. They include Motivational, Affective and selection processes:
Motivational Processes:
The capability of self-motivation and purposive action is rooted in been foreseer of the
future. The future can be projected in present by using forethoughts. By being active in
the cognitive state, the future states could be converted into present motivator.
Being self-motivated was a key factor in developing the strength in believing in
oneself. I developed the concept of exerting the forethought process. People might call
it day dreaming, but still it is a parameter to keep the motivation level high.
For Instance: I anticipation of being a part of world’s big
brands like Apple google, IBM, coco cola Etc. helps me to
focus on work and make myself efficient enough to apply to
such big companies.
The benefits from mechanism of Anticipating the future:
 Improved focus and concentration at work
 Being proactive
 Developed self-motivation
 Develop self-belief
There are 3 different forms of motivators of this process namely casual attribution,
outcome expectancies and cognized goals.
The following figure summarizes the schematic conceptions of motivation:
The outcome and the goal motivator clearlyoperate through self-anticipation
mechanism. The future actions are affectedby the altering the judgment of personal
capabilities and task demands.

Figure-4 Schematic representation of conceptions of motivation based on cognitive goals,
outcome expectancies and casual attributions.
Affective Control Efficacy: This process enables a person to exercise control
over their emotional or physiological state without altering the environmental or
cognitive sources of emotional arousal. I implemented this process by implementing
the following activities:
 Self-relaxation: Relaxation is defined as ‘release of tension’. A relaxed mind
enables better and positive thought process. I adopted
various ways of relaxing myself. For example: A warm
shower or a parlour visit helped me to relax myself.
 Engrossment in various recreational activities: Recreation restarts the entire
functioning of body. It is important for the
physical and mental wellbeing of people. Like I
visited the game zones to activate my emotion
state of victory, joined sports club and
participated in extracurricular activities. Carrying out different hobbies is also a
way of recreation activities. Hobbies like music, dance, drama, theatre also are
very effective in recreational activities.

 Seeking solace in social support: Being a social being, it’s important to find
your won space of comfort in any environment. I found my comfort
zone in spirituality. Practising yoga helped me to calm my inner self,
increase concentration and inner peace.
Selection Process: This is the process of developing self-efficacy by changing
environment People can select their environment depending upon their capabilities and
the choice of what they want to be. This process was highly beneficial. I choose my
friend circles. I spent time with colleagues who are the source of knowledge and
information. Changing environment on one’s selection has major implications in
developing self-efficacy. I attended seminars and conferences which helped me to
focus on my future career plans and stay updated with the latest market trends.
The Benefits:
 Gained the positive aspects of life
 Increased motivation
 Understanding different behaviours
 Exposing to diverse environment broaden the source of information.
Theory-4: ObservationalLearning Theory (Bandura,1986):
There are various components of observational learning. Bandura explains the
difference between learning and performance. There is a difference between acquiring
behaviour and displaying the same. There are several guiding theories for the same
principles. The learning involves the following 4 process. The figure 6 demonstrates
the components of observational learning theory.

Figure-5 Components of observational learning
Attention: Paying attention by learning is one of the important ways of learning
things faster. This process is influenced by a model’s characteristic like one’s likeness
towards the model and the expectations of the observer.
Application: My degree of attention was measured by the amount of data I observed
from the model. For example: I paid attention to a person delivering presentation at a
seminar. I keenly observe the body language, confidence, speech and other aspects of
personality that would help me to improvise.
Retention: Retention is the process of the memorizing observed behaviour and
delivering the behaviour in the relevant situation.
Application: My learning process involved taking notes of important behaviour
patterns and memorizing few trends in behaviour. I also enacted and rehearsed the
same back home which helped in developing confidence thereby enhancing my
presentation skills. I memorized the data by symbolic coding.
Initiation/ motor production: producing what has been observed is an important
way of quantifying the learning curve. It so happens that the observer might not have

the skills needed to enact the same behaviour as that of the models. Still it is important
for the observer to enact the behaviour.
Application: I used this process to enact and enhance my skills which helped me in
developing and gaining new skills set. For Instance: When I tried enacting my
supervisor, I lacked in the confidence and technical skills. But I worked on areas of
improvements and to gain competence.
Motivation: Motivation is not only needed by people with low efficacy but also high
spirited people do need motivation to keep going forward in life.
Application: I observed self-motivated people and attended pep talks on motivational
behaviour.
The application of this theory helped in the following ways:
 Increased my learning ability and helped structuring and mapping data in a
better way
 Improvised my presentation and technical skills
 Gained self-motivation and self-belief
Changes in thinking and behaviour
My journey from ‘No I can’t’ to ‘yes I can’ was a complete process of self-evaluation
and learning. I gained confidence in performing tasks, believing in inner self and
developed a positive attitude towards work, life and people.
The theories and models suggested by Albert Bandura helped
me to improve my self –efficacy. The 4soucres of self-efficacy
helped me to find the potential sources of deriving efficacy
from my surroundings. The mediating processes enhanced my self-motivation. It
taught me the significance of recreation and moved me towards spirituality. I foresee
my future in a very positive way and have inculcated the soft skills which were
required to have a bright career. I am all together a transformed person with an
effective social skills and knowledge. The models described in my report were used in
the real-time experimentation and the positive implications were seen in my attitude.
The observational learning theory has given me a chance to learn and grow. I feel very

positive about my environment and people. It has developed a learning attitude with in
me. I learn, memorize, develop and enact. It also taught me how to effectively choose
my environment. Environment plays an important role and my ability to change it, has
given me a power of self-control. Not to be influenced by the negative implication of
the society is another key learning from the theories. Apart from application of theories
by bandura, my module leader, Deborah also plays a significant role in inculcating the
habits of self-learning. As suggested by her, I maintained a learning journal. The
journal helped me track my day to day learnings, reminded me of my goals and my
eating habits. I could count the calorie consumption on a regular basis. It helped me
eating the right kind of food. If you eat healthy, you think healthy. These are few
changes within me in last 6 months. I look forward for a complete transformation at the
end of the course which will help me in pursuing a bright career.

References:
Albert bandura (1997). Self-Efficacy The Exercise of control. New York:
W.H. Freeman and Company. p80-86.
Henry Ford. (2010). If You Think You Can’t… Think Again: The Sway of
Self-Efficacy. Available:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/201002/if-you-think-you-
can-t-think-again-the-sway-self-efficacy. Last accessed 22nd Feb 2015.
Albert Bandura. (1994). self-efficacy. Available: http://www.uky.edu/. Last
accessed 27th Feb2015

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