Self-Leadership and Positive Psychology - Assignment Example

SELF LEADERSHIP AND POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY REPORT Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 3 1.1 Goal of the paper 3 1.2 What is my career? 3 1.3 What is self-leadership? 3 1.4 What is positive psychology? 3 2.0 Critical analysis of leadership and positive psychology 3 2.1 Why is self-leadership important? 3 2.1.1 What are the techniques that can be used? 4 2.2 How is positive psychology relevant? 4 2.2.1 What are the techniques that can be used? 4 3.0 Personality traits beneficial tomy career 4 4.0 Personal Profile 5 4.1 Results Analysis 9 4.2 360 Degree Feedback 11 6.0 Conclusion 15 7.0 Reference List 16 TABLE OF FIGURES Table 1: Self-Assessment Results 6 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Goal of the paper The paper’s goal is to provide a detailed report that analyses the concepts of self-leadership and personal psychology and evaluate mycareer situation with regards to happiness and satisfaction. 1.2 What is my career? My career profession is civil engineering. My ultimate career goal is to establish a successful civil engineering firm that offers consultancy, construction services and the hiring of engineering equipment. 1.3 What is self-leadership? Self-leadershipinvolvesone’s deliberate efforts to influence one’s ownfeelings, thinking and behaviour with the aim of achieving one’slife objectives(Neck &Manz, 1996). Robin (2008) observes that it equates to self-observation and the management of leadership competencies. Self-leaders have an autonomousdrive and are creative and persistent in decision-making (Lyness&Judiesch, 2008; Porath& Bateman, 2006). 1.4 What is positive psychology? Positive psychology is a new field of psychological study that aims to examinethe extent to which ordinary people become more fulfilled and happier in life(Manz& Sims, 1991).Wehmeyer (2003), on the other hand, simply describes it as the study of human happiness,whileScott (2013) views itin relation tothe actual term,as the psychology that dealswith life’s positives. 2.0 Critical analysis of leadership and positive psychology 2.1 Why is self-leadership important? To begin with, self-leadership is a key to theattainment of personal satisfaction(Sargent &Domberger, 2007). Through self-leadership, one is freed from various external manipulations of one’s decisions, behaviour, feelings and reactions. Additionally, self-leadership develops the ideals of self-awareness, self-control and self-motivation, all of which are fundamentalin helpingthe individual toidentify their strengths and weaknesses (Zinko& Rubin, 2015). 2.1.1 What are the techniques that can be used? Druker (1999) posits that the first step towards achieving self-leadership is tobe self-aware. This implies the ability to understand oneself sowell that one will know whatone’sbehavioural responses to various life situations will be. Secondly, achieving self-leadership demands great levels of self-control. By exercising self-control, individuals are able to control their decisions, responses and emotional reactions undervarious circumstances(Abraham, 2001). Arguably, self-control diminishes the tendency to respond to reaction triggers. As such, situational reactions may be considered as self-developed rather than trigger-initiated. 2.2 How is positive psychology relevant? Positive psychology is essential in creating an understanding of thevarious life dimensions that are perceived to be imperative in the achievement of personal or self-fulfilment(Gable &Hait, 2006). These factors, as Simonton andBaumeister (2005)argue, provide the criteria againstwhich lifefulfilment and happiness canbe monitored. On the other hand, they also determine the extent to which certain failures may lead to lack of personal satisfaction and fulfilment (Scott, 2013). 2.2.1 What are the techniques that can be used? In positive psychology, conducting an analysis of the various factors that are considered essential in leading to personal fulfilment is imperative.These factors include the individual’s perspectives or attitudes and life factor dimensions (Carver, Scheier& Maddux, 2002). Failure to meet expectations resultsin alack of fulfilment. In addition, an understanding of the life factor dimensions, such as health, relationships and careers, determines the extent to which these aspects provide the individual with satisfaction and fulfilment,in relation to their own personalperspectives and attitudes (Quinn, 2010). Consequently, thisfield of study providesan understanding of the underlying concepts that affect the individuals’attainment of self-fulfilment and happiness (Hunsaker, 2005). 3.0 Personality traits beneficial tomy career Matzler(2008) points out that civil engineers need to be realistic.. Secondly, since the career involves dealing with records and data, being conventional is necessary (Johnson & Singh, 1998). Furthermore, civil engineer are highlt creative(Bauer &Qingfeng, 2003). Additionally, it requireswell-structured thinking (Johnson & Singh, 1998). Moreover,, good communication skills areessential in a civil engineering practice (Matzler, 2008). Finally,effective managementand leadership,, strategic problem solving, effective decision making, teamwork, punctuality, accountability and evaluation skills are all important. 4.0 Personal Profile Table 1, below, presentsa detailedself-analysis of my personality traits based on 13 aspects of self-assessment. Table 1: Self-Assessment Results INSTRUMENT FINDINGS INTERPRETATION STRENGTHS WEAKNESS 1 Is Management for You? 86 High management potential. I am open minded and good at working with people. I do not always understand mymost appropriate work environment. 2 Leadership or Management Even -8 Odd – 9 Higher management than leadership qualities. I have the ability to getthings done my way. I am slightly rigid incontrolling changes. 3 Emotional Intelligence at work Self-awareness - 21 Managing emotions -23 Motivating self - 21 Empathy - 25 Social skills -21 High levels of emotional intelligence at work I can effectively manage my emotions in work situations. At times I tend to be choosy aboutthe people I relate toat work. 4 Cognitive style self-assessment Most points of combinations E,N,F,J ENFJ MBTI Preferences in management I am effective in strategic decision making. My preference for personal relationships and interactions sometimes override my efforts atgoal attainment. 5 Leadership assumption questionnaire Theory X-40 Theory Y-60 I trust people’s initiative and effort to work effectively. I motivate people to use personal effort to work effectively I sometimes tolerate underperfomace 6 Theory X or theory Y leadership style Theory X-40 Theory Y-60 I trust employess and do not use threats or punishment to enhance efficiency. Through trust, I motivate others to work effectively. Due to the trust I have, I pay littleattention to underperformance. 7 Soliciting feedback from others Open Area preference Openly self-discloses andsolicits feedback from others. Soliciting feedback increases my levels of self-awareness. Access to negative feedback is sometimesdiscouraging. 8 Kolb’s learning style inventory Converging (AC/AE) Prefer applying theory in practice. I have a tendency toapplyall knowledge learnt in dealing with various problems. I always ignore smaller problems 9 Realistic Optimism Internality = 3 Less than 3.5 Stability = 2 Less than 3.5 Globality = 2.25 Less than 3.5 Internality is less than 3.5 meaning Iexplain things as being caused by other people Stability less than 3.5 means that I believe the causes ofbad events are temporary, and Globality less than 3.5 implies that I consider the causes of bad events as being specifically circumscribed. I am highly accountable. I have a tendency toexplain bad events rather thanpreventing them. 10 Personal style inventory ETSJ all scores over 20 I am an extrovert and rely on thinking, sensing and judging in making management decisions. I am open minded and logical. I have distrust of intuition. 11 Self-efficacy Results above 3.5 I can use my abilities and skills to influence and produce desirable outcomes. I have civil engineeringskills that I can apply toproduce good outcomes. I prefer doingmy work rather than developing other peoples’ skills 12 Locus of control Result - 6 Below 8.29 meansI have an increasingly internal locus of control. I have high commitment to my duties. I prefer quick outcomes. 13 Type A personality Indicator Competitiveness – 12 Life imbalance-12 Hostility andanger – 9 Urgency/Impatience-11 I am highly competitive I can manage my angerand urgency. Being competitive and productive enhances my abilityto produce positive outcomes. I am rather impatient. 4.1 Results Analysis The self-assessment task revealed that I havestrong management and leadership skills. However, from my responses it was evident that I am more of a manager than a leader. Furthermore, due to my emotional responses tovarious issues, my emotional intelligence is high, implying,according to Bandura (2001),that I possess good emotional control. With regards to leadership, having a Theory Y leadership style preference implies that I believe in self- and internal-motivation as a contributor to effective work performance. While threats and different levels of punishment may also trigger efficiency and effectiveness, trusting workers and team members toconduct their responsibilities effectively improves the work environment and is therefore, to me, preferable. My open area of preference forsoliciting feedback, as Robbin, Millet andWaters-Marsh (2004) observe, impliesthat I strongly appreciate and use feedback responses in making changes and in decision making. In decision making, besides being an extrovert, I rely on thinking, sensing and judging as my Myers Briggs Type Indicator preferences. Furthermore, I openly give feedback in various circumstances. Additionally, I prefer teamwork to individual work since teamwork gives room for both the self- and group-development that are essential in enhancing positive outcomes. My being able to explain both positive and negative outcomesamounts to task responsibility(Abraham, 2001). I have atendency to explain other peoples’ circumstances. On the other hand, I believe in problems being temporary and havingspecific causes, hence, following VaidaandOpre’s (2014) observation, I always seek solutions to challenges by addressing the causes and mitigating against future challenges. Moreover, according to the self-efficacy instrument,through my academic and professional experience, I have the diverse range of knowledge, skills and abilities that are needed toaccomplish my career responsibilities,apart fromhaving an increasingly internalised locus of control. However, I prefer urgent career success, which,according to Boyatzis &Akrivou (2006),makes me impatient and alsohighly competitive. Due to various personal biases, the results recorded may not be fully accurate. The Star Model Analysis examines personality traits using practical situations, tasks, actions, results, learning and planning. Table 2: Star Model Analysis Star Model Method Situation Once, while working in a Civil Engineering organization, I preferred watching and teamwork. Task It entaileddrawing two dimensional designs usingusingproduct descriptions. Action I was able to accomplish the tasks through watching and consulting. Result I was able to create effective designs and drawings that were recommended to the clients and eventually implemented. Learning I learnt that my learning style preference is diverging rather than the converging. Planning In future, in my career engagements, I plan to involve both the converging and diverging learning styles as may be appropriate to the tasks. 4.2 360 Degree Feedback 360 Degrees Feedback is a personality assessment tool that uses close relations, such as friends, family and colleagues, to analyse personality. Table 3: 360 Degrees Feedback results Results 1 I am very energetic and make good decisions at times. I have a very good memory and a very pleasant decision making approach. I am very gentle in talking and I make all the people smile. Additionally, I understand everyone's emotions and have charismatic leadership qualities. 2 I am confident and good at reading people's minds. Usually, I have ahabit of thanking people, I have very good listening skills and the ability to cope with any kind of situation. The greatest tool that I carry is mypatience. 3 I am innovative and creative in resolving complicated issues and overcoming various challenges. 4 I am punctual since it is a basic and essential characteristic inrespecting others, as well as for completingwork ahead of the deadline. 5 I am a good listener in a team-working environment, andthisis an extremely important personality trait in terms of accepting a variety of suggestions and ideas. 6 I am willing to assist other people 7 I am an effective communicator, since communication with people who have different personalities and culturalbackgrounds is an essential skill when exchangingimportant information related to study and work, as well as in avoiding misunderstandings. 8 I am team-oriented. The engineering course is mainly made up of group-projects. In order to produce a positive outcome, it is important to positionthe whole team as atop priority. 9 I provide accurate and reliable outcomes, which require me to brain-storm and think critically duringthe first stage, and thento confirm the precision of my work through various approaches. 10 I am friendly to others and provide assistance to them, based on my personal abilities. 11 I accept diverse opinions at work and discuss these with people in greater detail. 12 I need tospend more time inunderstanding different points of view based on the personal backgrounds, theoretical frameworks and practical knowledge of others. 13 I should spend more time on my preparation of work since it presentsthe opportunity to prove my performance ability.  I was surprised to learn that, in practice, I tend to use a diverging style, which contrasts to the converging style identified in my self-assessment on Kolb’s learning style preference. Additionally, the 360 Degree Feedback surprisingly revealed that, as a leader, I tend to be patient, contrasting with my Type A personality indicator. More surprisingly, is that the feedback agreed with most of my personality assessment results, especially with the leadership and teamwork attributes. 5.0 Career Analysis Table 4 compares the personality traits necessary in civil engineering against my traits. Table 4: Traits Comparison Civil Engineering traits My Traits Lacking Traits Realistic Conventional Creative Analytical Good Communication skills Good leadership skills Effective management Good teamwork skills Precise decision makingStrategic feedback response Strategic controlling changes skills Effective planner Punctuality Effective problem solving Accountability Effective evaluation skills Good management skills Teamwork Analytical Creative Effective decision making Realistic Good communication skills Conventional Effective planning Effective problem solving Punctuality Patience Adaptability Flexibility Effective leadership skills Accountability Evaluation skills Good social skills Notably, from the study results, civil engineering is perfectly suited to my personality and is therefore the right career for me. With my greatest strengths being in effective teamwork, management and leadership skills, creativity, effective decision making, good communication skills and good analytical skills, all of which are needed in civil engineering, my personality proves to be right for thiscareer. 6.0 Conclusion Having completed this personal portfolio, I am more self-aware. I am more appreciative of civil engineering as it satisfies my personality. I have further learnt of personality areas I need to change for more satisfaction. 7.0 Reference List Abraham, S. (2001). Managerial competencies and the managerial performance appraisal process:Journal of Management Development 20 (9/10) pp.842 - 852. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective:Annual Review of Psychology52 pp.1 - 26. Bauer, W., &Qingfeng, L. (2003). The effect of personality and precollege characteristics on first-year activities and academic performance:Journal of College Student Development 44.3: 277-290. 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