Self-Awareness: The Road to Life Improvement
I
want to be a better man. One of my key
motivations is to strengthen my role as husband, father, friend, and
employee. And, the moment I stop
pursuing higher awareness and deeper character is when I am headed for
trouble. From Ken Lay to Eliot Spitzer
and Ted Haggard to Eddie Long, none of these gentlemen (and scores like them)
ever woke up one morning and thought, “Today, I am going to make illegal
financial transactions,” or, Today I hope to embarrass my family and
constituents, or “Today I am going to throw away my ministry and hurt my
family.” And yet, it happens more than we would care to count. “I’m sorry,” “I didn’t know what I was
thinking” and “I am ashamed of my actions” litter the media headlines as leader
after leader falls prey to hubris and power.
In
Die Empty, Todd Henry (2013) said,
“Knowing yourself will help you counter self-delusion and pursue the unique
contribution you are alone are capable of making” (p. 106). I lead a men’s group that meets the second
and fourth Saturday of every month. What
started as a handful of men in my living room has grown to a roster of nearly
50 men. Last Saturday, I spoke on our
propensity to settle for a mediocre life.
Henry said mediocrity is “a negotiation between the drive to excel and
the biological urge to settle for the most comfortable option” (p. 36). Before you know where you want to go, you
first must know where you are. This
recent self-awareness assignment is perfectly designed to lead individuals on a
journey to a place many choose to ignore.
The inner self.
The
following five questions are a summary of my journey (test results were added
at the end of my blog):
What do you notice in your results?
I
recently took the MBTI and a Management Assessment Profile (MA) through
NextSteps Research. The diagnostic
survey from the Whetten & Cameron textbook confirmed the findings from the
MA. Identified by the MA as a “highly
confident, highly extraverted and tactical leader” is displayed in the
Self-Assessment as well.
Whetten & Cameron (2011) said,
“Management skills are developable. Performance can improve” (p. 11). As I stated earlier, self-improvement is a
core goal of mine. The results of this
self-assessment identified my strengths and the areas where I may be inclined
to choose another path than the best way forward. While my highest score was found in the
self-assessment test (top quartile), three of the other tests all scored me
within the “third quartile.” Obviously,
this means I answered the questions as truthfully as possible because there is
a commonality through the entire test.
How much of this rang true for you?
As
stated above, I took the MBTI recently and was astonished at its accuracy. My family was so amazed that they all took it
after dinner. The self-assessment was
much more detailed and specific than the generalized MBTI. However, it certainly pinpointed certain
inclinations of mine.
What did you see that you were
expecting in the results?
The
high self-awareness and the high core self-evaluation scale were two areas that
I scored what I would have previously considered. However, in reference to the men’s group
discussed earlier, I often tell them men, “Be careful with deceit. We are often to believe we are much more
advanced in relationships, our marriage, and our character than may be
true.” While this test confirmed much of
what I believed about my leadership, it also highlighted areas that I was
unaware.
What were the surprises?
For
starters, the extremely low locus of control score. My score of 2 identified a significantly low
external locus of control; which means, I am a strong internal. Whetten & Cameron (2011) said, “people
with an internal locus of control are more likely to (1) be attentive to
aspects of the environment that provide information for the future, (2) engage
in actions to improve their environment, (3) place greater emphasis on striving
for achievement, (4) be more inclined to develop their own skills, (5) ask more
questions, and (6) remember more information that people with an external locus
of control” (p. 78).
Being an internal was not surprising as
I regularly tell people they can make decisions today that completely alter
their life. They can choose to be
different. However, scoring so highly as
an internal was slightly surprising.
How will you make use of this
information?
The
goal of our course, Management Skills for
Leaders is to “develop a foundation of management skills for emerging
leaders.” This self-assessment
diagnostic is a great tool of enlightenment.
Like Whetten & Cameron (2011) said, “By knowing your scores, you
will be able to choose situations in which you are more likely to feel
comfortable, perform effectively, and understand the point of view of those
whose perspectives are different from yours.” And then, most importantly, they
said, “Self-understanding is a prerequisite to self-improvement and change” (p.
79).
This
is my tenth class within the ERAU Leadership curriculum (MSLD). I have another MBA (2004) from a credible
online institution. This curriculum has
been one of the most pleasant experiences of my adult life. I told a friend the other day, “The textbook
for this class is like reading a book that I would have bought myself.” With only two classes left after this one, it
is imperative that I continue to shed light on the things that I do well and
those that I am more challenged with.
The information gleaned from this diagnostic will lead me to succeeding
in my opening statement.
Leaders look inside before they ever
look outside.
Steve
Results from pre-test:
1. Self-awareness – 56 (top quartile)
2. EQ – 65 (3rd quartile)
3. Defining Issues (stage of moral development)
4. Cognitive Style Indicator
a. Knowing – 3.0 (m = 4.06)
b. Planning – 3.78 (m = 3.81)
c. Creating – 3.42 (m = 4.16)
5. Locus of Control Scale – 2 (low external locus of control)
6. Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale – 60 (3rd quartile)
7. Core Self-Evaluation Scale – 4.1 (3rd quartile)
1. Self-awareness – 56 (top quartile)
2. EQ – 65 (3rd quartile)
3. Defining Issues (stage of moral development)
4. Cognitive Style Indicator
a. Knowing – 3.0 (m = 4.06)
b. Planning – 3.78 (m = 3.81)
c. Creating – 3.42 (m = 4.16)
5. Locus of Control Scale – 2 (low external locus of control)
6. Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale – 60 (3rd quartile)
7. Core Self-Evaluation Scale – 4.1 (3rd quartile)
References:
Henry, T. (2013). Die empty. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Whetten, D.A., & Cameron, K.S.
(2011). Developing Management Skills.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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