Developing Management Skills - Essay Example

Behavioral Analysis Assignment My Disc profile revealed that my strengths and weaknesses are a Di combination, while my Classical Profile Pattern was Inspirational. According to Trayner Corporation (2003), “those who are strong in Dominance (high D’s) like to take action to achieve the results they desire; those who are strong in Influence (high I’s) seek contact with all types of people and look for opportunities to generate enthusiasm from those around them.” My Inspirational pattern also indicates that my Steadiness (low S’s) and Conscientiousness (low C’s) score can be somewhat problematic. This also suggests that I am frustrated with the status quo. Creative breakthroughs are often the result of discontent with the status quo and, as a result, I may innovate past former barriers. In examining my own behavioral style and how it manifests in my relationships, I was not surprised by the outcome. I work effectively with people through leadership and providing them with long-term motivation through my natural optimism. I am convincing and persuasive, which have been major attributes in the success of my sales and management career. I also bring enthusiasm and openness to find alternatives to any challenges that I come across. Because of this, I can easily establish trust with my employees as well as my business partners. These qualities have allowed me to quickly form bonds and establish trust with individuals of various levels within an organization. My style is to move quickly and correct errors as I go. My Di combination can sometimes get me into trouble with individuals who are trying to exert their title or role onto me and with disregard for my position or thoughts. Also, I am impatient when decisions are left hanging. I am quick to assess situations and address any issues at hand with certainty that they have reached closure and a corrective action plan is in place. Pat and I have worked at the same company for over six years. We have been on the same team in a managerial capacity for two out of those six years. Our working relationship began in a peer-to-peer capacity, where we managed lateral sales teams. It was obvious from the beginning of our working relationship that we had very different personalities. Pat is more cautious, analytical, and calm under pressure, whereas I am daring, enthusiastic, and eager. My drive to make decisions quickly was often hindered by Pat’s slow thought processes. Our differences were somewhat manageable at the beginning, as his behavior didn’t impede my day-to-day enjoyment of my job. I learned to just cope with our differences. By coping, I mean that I usually conceded to his behavior and moved on with my work day. However, things changed quickly within the first year of our working relationship when Pat became my boss. I was now his subordinate and domination was an absolute. Pat displayed all the traits of the Classical Profile Pattern of an Investigator (Trayner Corporation 2003). This style is an s/d/c pattern that is described as persistent, analytical, and cautious. These types of people are motivated by position, title, or authority. These traits would be apparent when Pat would enthusiastically bring new ideas to the table or attempted to maintain his autonomy. He would quickly respond with a line of questioning that would try to discredit my ideas. If Pat was not knowledgeable in a particular area, then his reaction was to pursue an aggressive line of questioning that left me feeling discredited and hurt. According to Trayner (2003), “Investigators are dispassionate anchors of reality.” They seek a clear purpose or goal from which they can develop an orderly plan and organize their actions. High S’s tend to be suspicious of others. This was very evident by his constant fact checking, which was one of the major flaws in our relationship. I am very open and have a tendency to see the best in my employees and co-workers. Pat brings a strong skill set of deep technical knowledge as well as a high knowledge of spreadsheets and data analytics. Trayner Corporation (2003) suggests that “Investigators do well with challenging technical assignments in which they can use actual data to interpret to draw conclusions; they respond with logic rather than through emotions.” I enjoy the rigors of an ever-changing environment filled with people who I can inspire. Working on assignments that force me to bury myself in spreadsheets or technical data is boring and uninteresting. Pat’s possesses skills that I simply don’t have. He is analytical and self-disciplined. These combined skills are areas that I have to pay close attention to. When we collaborate together, I can always count on Pat to be thought-provoking. He often comes up with scenarios or ideas that offer me a completely different perspective. Pat is always friendly, allowing me to feel comfortable communicating my feelings (either positive or negative). Another commonality between us is that we are both acutely aware of revenue commitments and share a goal of achieving bottom line results. Overtime I began to realize that our difficulties were almost inevitably situated around the text, tone, and timing of our communications. Communicating with Pat on topics that he was not familiar with almost always resulted in an unproductive discussion where Pat would spend more time talking about reasons why he was not up to speed and did not allow me to educate him. My role and responsibilities are unfamiliar to Pat; therefore, his natural response would be to question or doubt. I am guilty of making assumptions of the level of knowledge that Pat had and often times I left meetings feeling like he just didn’t get it. How we say something is expressed through tone and emotional congruency. These two factors can change a conversation instantly. Tone almost always reveals something about what we think about the person with whom we are communicating (Bloxton 2011). My approach, or tone, changes very quickly in my conversations with Pat. His aggressive line of questioning and posturing immediately puts me on the defensive. Timing can be everything in communication. The business that we operate in is fast-moving and ever-changing. There never seems to be enough time to engage in productive discussions. I am impatient and thrive off fast-paced decision-making environments. However, Pat processes information at a slower pace. Depending upon the situation, we sometimes can resolve a situation or come to an agreement, but more often than not I walk away frustrated by our unresolved issues. It didn’t take me long to make a decision that I needed to move on from our working relationship. I decided that the despite the many positive attributes of our working relationship, the negatives were just too great. I was offered a lateral role in a different division and ultimately moved on. Pat and I still work for the same company; it’s just that we are in different divisions. Fast forward two years to January of 2013. Lots of changes have occurred in my company during recent months. There has been some shifting of roles and responsibilities and, as a result, I have found myself working with Pat once again. My knowledge and expertise is needed in our sister division and so I am consulting with Pat and his team on a significant project. This is a chance to take my knowledge and apply it to my current situation so that the outcome is rewarding for both of us. In evaluating our situation, I found that my greatest area for improvement with Pat is patience and preparation. Taking sound advice from Whetten and Kim (2011), I will be more descriptive and less general in my statements. The more descriptive I can be in my communication with Pat, the better his understanding of the situation or problem will be. Most researchers and observers agree that the best interpersonal communication and relationships are based on congruence. That is, what is communicated, both verbally and nonverbally, matches up exactly with what the individual is thinking and feeling. Setting up specific meeting times with a specific agenda will help discussions to be more productive. Offering materials for review in advance of meetings will allow Pat to process information prior to a meeting. This will allow me to communicate more effectively without feeling stalled or questioned. The more effective that I feel in conveying my thoughts will greatly reduce the impatience and negative body language that can often times be observed. Focusing on my own behaviors and reactions will improve our situation. My goal is to ensure that I am better prepared for our conversations with a greater understanding of what is needed to accomplish common goals. With the proper preparation, I feel as though we will be able to work more effectively together. Works Cited Trayner Corporation. DiSC Classic 2.0 Personal Style Profile. Holliston, MA. Inscape Publishing, Inc., 2003. Print. Whetten, D. A, & Kim S. C. Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2011. Print. Bloxton, M. Verbal Communication – Tone & Emotional Congruence. oneMYnd, LLC. 10 May, 2011. Web. 8 Jan., 2013. Read More