Self-Assessment

      Participation in a self-assessment analysis can be a good way to gain insight to a person’s strengths and weaknesses. The areas that I did do you have what it takes to be a leader, assessing your empathy skills, assessing your ethical decision making skills, appreciating and valuing diversity, assessing how your personality affects your goal setting skills, assessing your emotional intelligence, assessing your leader-member exchange, team roles preferences scale, corporate culture preferences scale, your preferred organizational structure, assessing your creativity quotient, communication style under stress, active listening skills inventory, and your preferred conflict-handling style.

     The first assessment I did was do you have what it takes to be a leader. According to this assessment I have very strong leadership skills. This assessment measured seven areas personal stability, productivity, self-management, boundary setting, communication, work quality, and team work. Personal stability is to keep people on task and focus on goals. I do possess this skill. I used to bad at this skill but it is much better now. Productivity is a skill that I am very good at. I am highly motivated and always come through. I do have very strong self-management. I always keep my cool in a group setting. Boundary setting is another skill that I am very strong in. I make it very clear. Communication is a skill I am very good at too. I am always clear about what I want. I am very strong in work quality. I take my time to make sure my work is done right. The last skill is team work. My skills are not as strong in this area but I am working on it.

       The second assessment measured perspective and empathy defined as the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes with a quality of feeling and understanding for the other person’s situation. Why is possessing empathy important? The ability to not understand what another is going through makes relationships superficial, without depth or richness that occurs when we share an emotional connection. Without empathy, people tend to go about life without considering how other people feel or what they may be thinking. Everyone has different perspectives and it can be easy to make assumptions or jump to conclusions about others. This often leads to misunderstandings, bad feelings, conflict, and poor morale. In surveys where employees commented on what makes a good manager they indicated that people want to feel like their manager listens to them. When people listen to another the person feels valued as a human being, safe and that they matter which helps them feel free to be themselves and to perform their work. My score was 18/35 which indicates below average perceptiveness. I have trouble trying to imagine how the other person would feel before criticizing them. I have trouble not listening to someone else’s arguments if I think I am right, especially if I am upset. I find it difficult to understand my friends by seeing a situation from their perspective, but I believe that there are two sides to every question and try to look at both sides. However I do not try to see everyone’s side of a disagreement before making a decision.

       The third assessment was ethical decision making skills. I scored 24 out of 50. This assessment did not really show me what my ethical decision making skills were it was more like telling me what I should do in the ethical dilemma.

        The fourth assessment was appreciating and valuing diversity. My score was 34 out of 50 which mean I have a basic understanding of the importance of diversity. The first behavior is classifying individuals into stereotypical roles. I do this quite frequently. This a behavior that is hard to avoid because it is ingrained into our minds unconsciously. Behavior 2 is listening attentively to what others are saying. I do this quite frequently but I have changed a lot this semester and I am getting better at this skill. Behavior 3 is trying new things. I do this a lot. I love to do anything cultural. I took a dance class, I am a member of Japanese Dance Club, and I go to any cultural experience possible. Behavior 4 is being considerate of others feelings. I used to be really bad at this behavior but I am much better now. Behavior 5 is interacting with people from other cultures. I do this a lot.

        The fifth assessment was assessing how your personality type impacts your goal setting skills. Everyone is motivated by a core motive that determines your behavior, needs, wants, and desires. My core motive color is blue with intimacy. I need to be morally good, to be understood, to be appreciated, and to receive acceptance. I want to reveal my insecurities, to please others, have autonomy, and feel security. As a goal-setter my strengths are: highly disciplined both personally and professionally, receptive to other’s suggestions, strong goals, plan well with details and excellent follow through, and highly intuitive. My weaknesses are: setting unrealistic expectations on myself and others, easily discouraged with failure, easily frustrated with lack of team cooperation, expect others to understand my goals and make them a priority, and have difficulty with flexibility. Blue people are deep thinkers, detail focused, very organized, aloof, like to have things in their place, good time managers skills, and able to come to their own conclusions. They take their time at a slower pace, and like to have all the facts.  Blues do not like disorganization, flippantness, pushy, and vagueness. These characteristics describe me well.

       The sixth assessment I chose was assessing emotional intelligence. I scored 16/20 on self-awareness. I am usually aware of my emotions/feelings, I like to get out of bad moods as soon as possible and I recognize how my feelings affect my performance and am aware of my own strengths and weaknesses. I scored a 10/20 on self-management. I like to think before I act, I do not bounce back quickly from life setbacks, I deal somewhat well with stress, and I sometimes have trouble restraining from impulses. I scored 16/20 in self-motivation. I am very impatient when I want something, but am very persistent when I go after something I want. I can set measurable goals, but I have a hard time anticipating obstacles to reach my goals. I scored 13/20 in empathy. I can pick up subtle social cues that may indicate people’s needs or wants. I am terrible at putting myself in other people’s shoes. I usually can accurately read other people’s moods and nonverbal cues, but I have trouble listening attentively to others.

        The eighth assessment was assessing your leader-member exchange. I scored a 43 which is high leader-member exchange. There are 4 categories mutual affection, loyalty, professional respect, and contribution to work activities. I scored an 11 on mutual respect which means I have high mutual respect. I have a high mutual affection for people I like at work. I scored a 9 on loyalty which means I have low loyalty. I disagree with this statement because at work I am loyalty to the area that I work for. I scored a 12 on professional respect which means that I have high professional respect. I have a high professional respect for making sure I do everything I am supposed to and wearing the appropriate outfit. I scored an 11 on contribution to work activities which means I have a high contribution to work activates. I agree with this statement I always put the most effort I can into my work.

       The eighth assessment I did was team preference scale. There are 5 roles encourager, gatekeeper, harmonizer, initiator, and summarizer. Encourager is the role I scored the highest in, I scored a 7 but I do not agree with this. I don’t really think that I praise and support the ideas of others. The second role that I scored the highest in was summarizer, I scored a 6. Once again I don’t agree with this. The summarizer is supposed to keep track of all the notes. I am horrible at note taking. I scored a 4 in initiator. An initiator identifies goals in a meeting and works on them.  This is a role that has been an area I struggle in but it is improving. After the classes I have taken this semester I can do this skill a lot better that I could before. I scored a 3 in harmonizer and gatekeeper. The harmonizer mediates group conflict and the gatekeeper encourages participation. I agree with my scored in both if these areas. I have a hard time managing conflict and encouraging participation.

        The ninth assessment was corporate culture preference scale. Employee success is affected by culture. Corporate culture is the total sum of the values, customs, traditions and meanings that make a company unique. Corporate culture is often called “the character of an organization” since it embodies the vision of the company’s founders. The values of a corporate culture influence the ethical standards within a corporation, as well as managerial behavior. Potential employees are attracted to organizations based on their cultural reputation; organizations select employees who seem to “fit” their culture; and employees who do not fit leave through either voluntary or involuntary.

        In the corporate culture control I scored a 4/6. I prefer to work for an organization that has a hierarchy, where top management has a sense of order in the workplace, where employees work by the rules, where most decisions are made by top executives, and where management keeps everything under control. For performance culture I scored a 5/6. I prefer to work for an organization which produces highly respected products/services. Employees are proud when their organization achieves its goals, perform at their best, get the job done, and expectations are that everyone puts 110% in their work.

        I scored low in relationship culture (2/6) and responsive culture (2/6). I prefer an organization where employees are treated fairly and kept informed about what is happening.  I would dislike an organization where employees cannot adapt quickly to new work requirements, and cannot respond quickly to competitive threats. 

          The tenth assessment I did was preferred organizational structure. I prefer a more mechanistic structure. Mechanistic structure is an organization that has a lot of hierarchy, with a narrow span of control. I prefer stable environments and structure to an organization. 

          The eleventh assessment I chose was assessing creativity quotient. I chose this area because I have always been told by others that I think creatively and I wanted to know if this actually was the case. Creative people can be viewed by others as critical of new ideas and judgmental, staying in their own comfort zone and not being satisfied with the way things have always been done and seek change because they do not like to conform. Research indicates that the majorities of people are right-brain thinkers and under-develop their left-brain which is known for developing creativity.  I feel that I am an unusual case because I am ambidextrous and both sides of my brain have developed.  I did indeed score high on creativity.  Many times I have found that others have difficulty relating to me because of my creative slant on life.  They state that I think “non-traditionally,” daydream frequently and therefore “I beat my own drum” so to speak.  According to Psychology Today, this phenomenon is called “functional fixedness," meaning that people see only the obvious way of looking at a problem.

      I tend to be critical of new ideas can be negative or feel threatened because I desire to stay in my own comfort zone. New ideas can stimulate my feelings of lack of confidence in myself. However, at the same time I feel dissatisfied with the way things have always been done, dislike having to conform and feel that it is ok to change. If I become pressured too much I can feel discouraged and give up too easily.

         The twelfth assessment examined communication style during stress. Passive-aggressive communicators believe that they are incapable of successfully expressing in an open and honest way, particularly if it is a negative thought. They try to communicate in a way that is subtle, indirect and manipulative. When I get stressed I tend to avoid, withdraw, and label. There were seven dialogue skills tested in the assessment. I scored high on all except one. The first one is start with the heart. I know that the only person I can control is myself and I try to stay focused no matter what and I try to resist the urge to fight.  The second one is learning to look. I tend to tune out how people are feeling and acting. The third is making it safe. I care about goals, interests, values, and I respect the other person. The fourth is master my stories by adding meaning to it through assessing what motivates them. I also assess if it is good or bad. When I respond with an emotion that has been triggered especially if it an inappropriate feeling I try to analyze why I had that emotion. The fifth is state my path. When I have a tough path I stay convinced of my own rightness and I may push too hard. The sixth one is the one I am weakest in; exploring other’s paths. I have a hard time asking other people for help because I like to try to figure it out on my own. The last one is move to action. I determine how decisions will be made and go into action, recording my decisions and doing a follow-up while holding others accountable for their promises.

        I tend to use passive-aggressive communication style. I like to use sarcasm, give people the silent treatment, and try to make people feel guilty while trying to avoid open conflict with others.

         The thirteenth assessment I did was active listening skills inventory. I scored a 43 out of 75. Avoiding interruption is a skill that I am weak in. I do this a lot. Postponing evaluation is staying open minded before giving ideas or evaluation of a person’s behavior. This is a skill that I struggle with too. Showing interest is another skill that I need work on, but I am improving. Maintaining interest is hard for me to do especially if I am bored or the person presenting says um a lot. Organizing information is a skill that I am really good at. I am one of the most organized people you will ever meet.

         The fourteenth assessment I did was preferred conflict-handling style. There were 5 areas this assessment looked at integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. I scored an 11 in both the avoiding and obliging areas. Avoiding is shying away from conflict and obliging is satisfying the other arties wishes instead of mine. I agree with the avoiding a lot but I am improving in this area. I do agree with the obliging area with my boyfriend but I really don’t see how I do this in a leadership role. I scored a 10 in integrating; integrating is confronting the issues and weighing options. I do agree with this.  I scored a 7 in dominating. I am actually surprised at my score for this because I don’t like the dominating style at all. I usually shy away from someone who uses this style and often it causes resentment. I scored a 5 in compromising. I was surprised at my score for this area because I compromise a lot.  

         In conclusion I have enjoyed this assignment and I have learned a lot about myself and gained more insight myself. I enjoy and have more insight into areas that I can improve and strive towards successful accomplishments.