MGMT5022 Individual Analysis: Assessing and Developing Yourself as a Manager

Introduction

Self-assessment tools are an effective way for an individual to look into their strengths and weaknesses, and create or identify opportunities and strategies for improvements. While self-assessment tools can be highly beneficial in reflecting on one’s traits, behaviours and attitudes, they can be equally helpful in discovering new things about oneself that they were unaware of. This assessment paper comprises of three tasks, i.e., complete six self-assessment exercises, review existing literature, and analyse the limitations and applications of self-assessment tools. To bring improvements in personal and professional growth for the future, the self-assessment exercises and analysis can help identify areas of improvement and opportunities, and lay the plan ahead for a successful career.

Part 1: Self-Assessment Exercises

Self-assessment exercises are an effective way to realise one’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of attitudes, behaviours, and traits. Individual self-assessment tests like the Big5 Personality Test and Emotional Intelligence test helped me understand more about myself. I became more aware of the kind of person I am, and how each characteristic/trait shapes the person I am today. The Big5 Personality Test (refer to Appendix A) allowed me to reflect on my traits and attempt to understand how I can improve my behaviours further. The Emotional Intelligence test (refer to Appendix B) was highly useful for me to understand how capable I am of working together with other individuals as a team. I chose the EI test in particular as I wanted to know how strong my ‘people skills’ are, and how easy or challenging it is for me to understand other people’s emotions and thus, resonate with people. Another reason for taking the EI test was to reflect on my capabilities of managing relationships with people around me.

The Team Roles test and Communication style test were helpful in understanding how I would work with people as a team. I have worked in small teams in the past but had no experience working with or managing teams of more than four people. The Team Roles test (refer to Appendix C) was chosen to discover my potential as a team player, while the Communication Style test (refer to Appendix D) was beneficial in analysing how strong my communication skills are. In personal and professional domains, communication plays a key role in helping to build relationships, which I knew is and would be a highly important skill for me to develop. To assess myself further on organisational processes, I  took two leadership tests to self-assess my leadership capabilities. One of the leadership style tests (refer to Appendix E) was specifically chosen to analyse if I am ready to be a leader or manager yet, while the other leadership test (refer to Appendix F) helped me reflect on the kind of leader I could be in the future. As my long-term goal is to work as a team leader or manager in the future, the two leadership tests helped realise my potential and capabilities of possibly becoming a leader/manager in the coming years.

I believe it is important to improve communication skills as well as emotional intelligence capabilities to be successful in an organisation (Khosravi, Rezvani and Ashkanasy 2020). With a mediocre score in communication, I would need to improve my communication skills before I join an organisation, which can be challenging for me to achieve in the next two or three years. While I am confident of becoming a better communicator, my communication skills may not develop according to professional standards. Additionally, I think developing emotional intelligence also takes time; however, I may still be able to develop EI skills by working closely with peers and research groups. Due to ineffective communication and EI skills, it could be challenging for me to work in teams effectively. My inability to express my feelings and concerns, and convey messages can make it challenging for me to coordinate and collaborate with team members, further increasing conflicts and tensions. Based on the personality tests (refer to Appendices A and B), I think I would fare very well in individual projects, research tasks, and assignments as I tend to work and perform better on my own. I also believe that participating in group activities and discussions would not be a huge challenge for me as I can generate new ideas and insights, but I may find it difficult to convey the same to others.

After completing the self-assessment exercises, I was surprised to find that I was slightly extroverted in nature, as compared to how I thought myself otherwise. I ranked high on extroverted, adventurousness, and friendliness, artistic interests, and intellect, which are some traits that I thought I would rank quite low in. Additionally, I was surprised to discover my low score on Emotionality (Big5 Personality), as well as Liberalism. I believed I was a very liberal-minded person, but the Big5 test revealed the opposite. I was not surprised when my score was low on Self-Management when taking the Emotional Intelligence test, but was surprised to discover that I am or could be good at relationship management.

Part 2: Literature Review

The Impact of Effective Leadership

Effective leaders are recognized for their capacity to set a good example and provide their followers with a shared sense of purpose and direction. They demonstrate a great deal of zeal, dedication, and passion for both their work and the goals of the organization. This genuineness spreads like wildfire and inspires colleagues to do the same. Workers are more likely to experience a feeling of purpose and be inspired to put in their best efforts when they witness their leaders being actively involved in and passionate about their work. Effective leaders are also great communicators. They are good at listening and appreciating the opinions and suggestions of employees (Nishii and Leroy 2022). They are also good at communicating a clear future vision. The workforce feels empowered and respected when there is open and honest communication, which inspires workers to contribute their ideas and energies to realizing the common goal. Innovative thinking and creativity are two essential skills that transformative leaders highly value. These managers provide their staff the freedom to question the status quo, take calculated chances, and think creatively (Peltz 2020). This flexibility to innovate not only promotes engagement but also taps into intrinsic motivation, since people find their work more rewarding and pleasant when they can offer their unique skills and ideas. Employee growth and development is another area of concentration for transformative leaders. They offer chances for development and progress, helpful criticism, and rewards for accomplishments. Through their dedication to personal and professional development, effective leaders can enhance employees' self-worth and self-efficacy, improving employees' motivation to thrive in their professions (Offermann and Coats 2018). Transformative leaders can create and nurture a workplace culture that emphasizes authenticity, communication, creativity, and personal development. Employees are more likely to be actively engaged, highly driven, and devoted to the business's success when they are led by transformative leaders, which leads to enhanced productivity, improved job satisfaction, and benefits both the employees and the organization.

Effective leaders have a significant impact on encouraging organizational innovation and creativity. Such leaders significantly influence the promotion of innovation and creativity inside a business. They encourage and cultivate employees' potential for growth and innovation while inspiring and motivating them (Peltz 2020). Additionally, effective leaders present a compelling vision and clear objectives to their team members. Employees have a sense of direction and purpose thanks to this vision, which inspires their innovative thinking as they work toward these goals. A common sense of purpose, which is fostered by the shared vision, may serve as a huge driver of creativity and innovation (Shore and Chung 2022). Effective leaders encourage a culture where individuals may share novel ideas and try new things without worrying about failing. Their readiness to take chances is essential for creativity since it encourages workers to explore new territory and offer original solutions.

High standards are set for their teams by effective leaders, promoting higher productivity by encouraging employees to go above and beyond their own performance expectations. Their inspiring and charismatic leadership can motivate staff to go above and beyond what they previously believed was possible, increasing productivity and efficiency (Ciulla 2020). Additionally, such leaders can encourage a feeling of community and common ideals throughout the company. They set exemplary standards of workplace behaviour and performance by demonstrating traits like integrity, zeal, and dedication to excellence, contributing to the development of a workplace culture that is strong and defined by open communication, trust, and a shared sense of purpose (Breevaart and Zacher 2019). They operate more cohesively as a team, which can lead to better decision-making and overall performance when employees share similar values and have a sense of belonging to the company.

Setting a solid ethical foundation for organisations is crucial for effective leaders. They state an ethical code of conduct that directs behavior and decision-making across the whole organisation, along with a compelling, common vision. Employees gain a moral compass by this clarity, which enables them to know what is expected of them and how to behave in diverse circumstances. As a result, employees are more inclined to make moral decisions and choices since the organisation’s ethical standards become a pillar of its culture. Transparent, sincere, and consistent behaviour and communication are the characteristics of effective leaders, which they also seem to encourage among employees at workplaces (Peltz 2020). They foster a culture where employees feel comfortable raising issues, seeking clarification, and having open discussions on moral matters. Addressing ethical issues among people at work requires open and honest communication since it enables issues to be quickly identified and resolved (Ciulla 2020). A workplace culture of integrity and honesty is fostered when employees have confidence in their leaders and can feel free to debate moral issues in public. Effective leaders also focus on praising and rewarding ethical behavior. They reward employees who act morally and honorably, highlighting how important this is as a fundamental principle. Employees are encouraged to behave ethically by this recognition and incentive system, which also serves as an example for others and pushes them to do the same (Drigas and Papoutsi, 2019). Effective and authentic leadership allows and encourages employees to take accountability for their actions and feel more responsible for maintaining the moral standards of the company. Employee engagement increases as a result of empowerment because empowered workers are more likely to take pride in their contributions and their moral behavior (Haas 2016). They actively participate in moral conversations and projects, which strengthens the moral culture within the company.

Additional Insights: The literature review above highlights a broad range of skills and competencies managers are expected to possess. As leaders/managers help drive individual and collective goals, they must realise the importance of their leadership or managerial style to align organisational goals with the individual goals of workers. Communication is critical to becoming an effective leader, along with possessing skills for decision-making and problem-solving (Khosravi, Rezvani and Ashkanasy 2020). Effective leadership is also about resolving conflicts between team members and ensures everyone’s well-being at the workplace. Leaders can adopt holistic approaches to ensure the all-round development of employees and have a huge role to play in increasing productivity and performance in organisations (Gallo 2022). Additionally, effective leaders are also expected to be emotionally intelligent towards followers/employees. It is important for leaders of today to understand the situations and emotions of other people, so as to encourage and motivate others to perform more efficiently.

Part 3: Applications and Limitations

Self-assessment tools are a great way to understand oneself, to reflect and to make improvements for personal and professional growth. After completing six self-assessment exercises, one of the biggest drawbacks I discovered was the limited insights and limited interpretation offered by these quizzes. For example, I found the Emotional Intelligence test very broad in nature, while some of the other quizzes like the Big5 Personality test (xxx) and the Leadership Style test (XXX) provided a very detailed interpretation of the results. The way data was interpreted did influence how I perceived the tests, and I felt that the EI test did not help me discover as much as I expected it to reveal about myself. I also realised there is a chance of overestimating or underestimating one’s skills and emotions while taking these tests, which can impact test results. For example, the Big5 Personality test was a quiz of over 40 questions, and I feel the length of the test might have resulted in accurate answers and therefore, incorrect results. The Communication test made me realise how cultural norms may impact test results too. I believe that my low score on the communications test stems from my cultural background, where we avoid direct communication and are often, reserved about our thoughts and emotions. According to Harrell (2017), self-assessment tools must be developed to be sensitive to cultures and languages. Along the way, it was slightly challenging for me to answer a few questions as I was unable to decipher the exact meaning.

Overall, the self-assessment exercises provided a length and breadth of information about my personality and behaviours. I believe these tools can be utilised for a wide range of purposes in an organisation, but primarily can be used to increase an individual’s self-awareness. Developing self-awareness is one of the biggest traits of effective leaders, and self-assessment tools can help leaders reflect on their past and current experiences, and lay the foundation of their personal and professional development. Self-assessment tools can help employees with personal/professional growth and can be utilised at any stage of one’s career planning and leadership development phases. Self-assessment exercises can also be used to evaluate performance in the workplace. As I received feedback after completing each test, such feedback can also help monitor the progress and growth of employees in organisations. Tests for conflict management and team roles can help with team building and team forming, as team members can assess their strengths and weaknesses more effectively. Conflict management style tests can give employees insights into how efficiently they can manage team conflicts and identify different ways to resolve such conflicts. Organisations can also use self-assessment tools for employee development as well as leadership development, which can, in turn, help create a positive work culture that fosters innovation and creativity. Self-assessment tools can help managers and leaders identify any issues and challenges that hinder workplace productivity and take necessary steps to mitigate these challenges while keeping in mind the well-being of employees.

The self-assessment exercises completed for this task are extremely helpful in understanding how strong or weak I am in specific areas. For example, some of the tests I completed helped me realise that I need to improve my communication skills, and also need to understand more about emotional intelligence and how leaders practice the same. To become a future leader, I would need to be successful in resonating with other people’s situations and feelings and take decisions that are best for the individual as well as the organisation. I believe the EI test was the most useful to me as I was unaware of the relevance and importance of being emotionally intelligent at the workplace. The Big5 Personality test was the third most useful as I gained an in-depth insight into several personality traits (Appendix A). The test helped me interpret other emotions of anger, depression, friendliness, anxiety, imagination, etc., which helped me understand myself a lot better. For example, I never knew I was an artistic and adventurous person before I took the test, and was surprised how highly I was ranked on traits like imagination, intellect, artistic interests and adventurousness. The Team Roles test was slightly disappointing as I felt I could not gather much detail or insights about my role as an Expert. The role was defined, but no other information was provided on teamwork resolution or conflicts, and I found the test to be not that useful or relevant to me at this stage.

As a result of the self-assessment exercises, I plan to set clear and specific goals for my personal and professional development.

• M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals can provide a structured framework for making improvements for the future.
• I also plan on maintaining a daily journal to record my daily experiences. The daily journal will help me reflect on whatever I did and experienced in the day, and make notes about what I could have done differently in those situations.
• Retake self-assessment exercises for communication and emotional intelligence after a period of six months to identify any changes or areas of improvements
• Seeking feedback from peers and mentors can help me gain more insights into how I am progressing on my personal development journey.
• I will practice self-reflection as the same will help me question myself, and reevaluate my current progress with my goals and activities.
• Searching for more learning opportunities to increase my knowledge base, primarily by attending seminars, workshops, and courses focused on technical knowledge and skill-building.

Conclusion

Self-assessment exercises are a great way to focus on one’s learning as well as personal and professional development. The self-assessment tools utilised in this report have helped reveal several personality traits and skills of communication and teamwork, and helped understand the importance and relevance of emotional intelligence. Effective leadership as a combination of a myriad of skills requires reflection, continuous learning, and setting specific goals that can lay the groundwork for personal and professional improvements. Exercise to discover one’s traits and behaviours can also help individuals in organisational settings, with great emphasis on implementing necessary steps and strategies to improve one’s journey of personal/professional development.

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