Setting a Direction: Key Considerations
There are many sources and events that can help you decide on a self-development direction. These include:
- Personal strengths
- Personal weaknesses
- Current or future roles
- Army needs
- Your interests
- Mentor’s advice
- 360° assessment
Table 7-1 of the FM 6-22 provides additional examples.
In Topic 1: Self-Awareness, we introduced you to SGT Marco Santoni and provided an example of his self-analysis. Continue reviewing Marco’s story to get a better idea of how to set a self-development direction.
Considering his strengths and weaknesses, roles and responsibilities, and the needs of the Army, Marco decides that he wants to reclassify his military occupational specialty (MOS) from Military Police (31B) to Psychological Operations (37F). This change in MOS will allow him to perform work that better fits his interests and abilities. He will have to become proficient in a foreign language and expert in the culture, geography, economy, and other aspects of a region of the world. As a result of his two-year tour in South Korea, he is especially interested in mastering the Korean language and learning all he can about North and South Korea and other countries in the region.
Marco’s self-development direction is to prepare to meet the requirements for reclassification to PSYOPS and become an expert in the region of the Korean Peninsula.