KELLER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Life Style Inventory

Introduction

Prior to taking this survey, I had a good idea as to how I processed information. I had a general understanding of my weak points and my strengths. While I thought I had a good understanding of myself, this survey opened my eyes to a much greater understanding of my way of thinking as it relates to my life, personally and professionally.

Part I: Personal Thinking Styles

My primary thinking style is Self-Actualization, characterized by an unusually high acceptance of self, others, and situations as they are. While prior to taking the survey I did feel as of recent years I have developed a new way of thinking. I found myself always saying, It is what it is or no worries; quite often. When things did not go my way or I did not understand them I didnt react in a way a spoiled brat would (like I use to) but I accepted them and purposed to figure out the best way to move forward. However, it was a pleasant surprise to see I scored the highest in this style of all the other thinking styles. Within my current place of employment I am always asking my supervisors how Im doing performance wise and what can I do to get better. Any areas I feel I am not performing well in I ask for suggestions as to how I can perform better within the next month.

I tend to be very open and interested in the thoughts and opinions of others also. I currently lead a team for my nonprofit mentoring program and event planning committee, I am always asking for their thoughts and opinions on various projects. I find great joy in helping others, I am the type of person you will see pull over to the side of the road and give the homeless person any food or clothing I have on me at the time. It is important to me that I

continually share love and kindness with others because you never know what they are going through; and that one act of kindness could give them hope or turn things around for them. Achievement Oriented is my secondary thinking style. This thinking style is characterized by a focus on achieving a standard of excellence, a commitment to making things better and a belief in the benefits of asking for and giving honest feedback. I was surprised I scored as high as I did in this thinking style as well. I can recall a few instances where I had set goals and never achieved them. I had intentions on achieving the goal but I just seemed to have gotten distracted along the way. I also realized that my goals may have been a bit too ambitious or unrealistic. So now, I try to make more realistic achievable goals.

Anytime I take on a project or set a goal, I have a high standard of excellence. The events committee I am managing at my church was asked by the church board to plan a community outreach block party. I was given budget of $1,000 for this event which will entertain 200 + people. I was expected to get food, cotton candy machines, popcorn machines, snow cone machines, prizes, games, and crafts for this event, all with a $1,000 budget. While my team and I were very excited about planning this event, the major concern was the expectations did match the set budget. So, instead of trying to get the board to increase the budget I offered other options instead of renting pricey carnival rental equipment; I suggested purchasing the items prepackaged. This helped them save money and use it for other need areas for this event. We were able to deliver the desired results within the desired budget.

I can be a very dependent person at times, which is one of my limiting styles. The Dependent style is characterized by an over concern about people pleasing and not questioning others or taking independent action. I think I scored so high in this thinking style because this

past summer I did not work for four months and I needed help from family and friends for shelter, food, and money for bills. However, I am working again so this dependency will diminish once my income is flowing in and I stable financially again. I also find that when I get overwhelmed with school, work, or volunteer obligations I have made; I get really helpless and unproductive. I also lose focus at work because my mind is so overwhelmed which limits my professional effectiveness.

The behavior I would like to change that is associated with the Dependent thinking Style. I need to learn to communicate more effectively and openly my independence. Instead of just going with what others say I need to be more vocal with my suggestions and opinions. Learning something new will also help me be less dependent and more independent, enabling me to effectively communicate that independence.

Part II: Impact of Management

My high scores are in the Constructive thinking styles, I need to use these styles to the max as a manager. I tend to see the good as oppose to the bad in most situations. I can make a risk an opportunity for better when circumstances call for it. I also lead by example, if I expect my staff to clean a bathroom I will clean a bathroom also. On my current job I am always pushing the staff to do their best. However, because I can tend to want the approval of others at times, I struggle with people pleasing; which as a manager is not going to get me the best results or responses. To combat this, I need to focus on doing whats best for the organization and its objectives. This way I am concerned about the business goals and not what makes everyone happy.

Planning and organizing are my best skills; this is why I think I scored so high in Achievement-Oriented thinking style. Someone can give me the vision and I can take that vision and give you a step by step guide to achieve the vision. To be an effective manager it takes a lot of planning and organization, when I am leading a team or a project I can be somewhat of a perfectionist. I have to have checklists or to-do list all the time; I want to make sure I dont miss anything.

The Humanistic-Encouraging thinking style helps me be an effective manager because it allows me to magnify the great skills and qualities in my team, thus building them up causing them to want to do their best. In regards to controlling in management, I tend to feel like I always have to have control over things, which stems from my perfectionist way of thinking at times. To be effective in this area I need to learn to trust others on my team and help them develop their skills.

Part 3: Genesis of Personal Style

After reviewing my Circumplex results and reading the description for the thinking styles; I can see how I developed each thinking style throughout my life. The thinking style I scored the highest in Self-Actualization style, this style has fully developed in me within this past year through my life experiences and relationships with others. I can recall all that I went through this past year, job loss, eviction, car repossession, and a bad break up. Though this was a hard time for me, I began to learn a lot about myself and who I am. Quitting my job was one of the hardest things I did in my life. I had dealt with so much drama at this particular organization and I just couldnt take it anymore. During my four months of unemployment I discovered how resourceful and efficient I was. I found other avenues of earning income until I started working

again. Also during this past year I lost my home and in this trial I learned that I can be a very prideful person, causing me to never ask for help when I need it. But after this trial I learned how to admit when I need help. I discovered so much about me, good and bad and just built my confidence in myself around those different situations.

Through my education career, I was rejected and bullied on a number of occasions; this caused me to be very dependent on the approval of others. I have grown out of theses thinking styles a bit but I do find I still struggle with wanting to be accepted by others and valuing others opinions about me more than my own. I recently went through a really bad break up as well, and even in going through that I realized how dependent I had been on others. This is due to the fact that for much of my childhood, I didnt have my father around. I couldnt depend on him so I started looking for other people and things I could depend on.

Part IV: Conclusion and Reflection

Completing this LSI gave me a much better understanding and sense of self than I had before the survey. The biggest thing I learned through this is that I have come to a place of high acceptance of myself, others, and situations. As I grew up, I struggled with accepting things whatever they were. Now, to be fully aware of who I am, accepting, strong, and bold; is a great milestone for me. I learned that I still have those dependency tendencies, however I dont beat myself up about because after looking at those times I am dependent upon others it is due to a major life change like job loss, eviction, and a break up.

To be more effective as a professional, I know I need to work on trusting the skills and talents of others and not be so much of a perfectionist. Understanding its ok if everything isnt

just right because no matter how great we are or how great we think we are; we are not perfect and will never be perfect.

My goal is to continue working on setting realistic goals for myself and my team. I also plan to relinquish some of my duties to others, allowing them opportunities to develop and enhance their skill sets also.

LSI Results and Circumplex

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Affiliative Approval Conventional Dependent Avoidance Oppositional Power Competitive

Style Humanistic-Encouraging

Score 36 36 14 14 19 3 6 4 6 12 38 39

Percentile 85 83 57 50 75 34 42 34 10 9 90 97

Perfectionistic Achievement Self-Actualizing