Life Style Inventory Analysis

The Life Styles Inventory (LSI) identifies the underlying thoughts and motivations that guide an individual's behavior. The quality of an individual's thinking and behavior contributes greatly to that person's work performance. The Life Styles Inventory (LSI) is based around the Human Synergistic Circumplex, describing constructive, passive/defensive, and aggressive/defensive behaviors. In the LSI, the feedback is normed against how 9,000 individuals have described themselves (LSI 1) and how 5,000 individuals have been described by 25,000 others (LSI 2). (LSI Human Synergistic www.human-synergistic.com)

Part I: Personal Thinking Styles (primary, backup, limiting)
My primary and backup management style is Constructive. I scored a raw score of 40 and in the 99th percentile in Achievement and a raw score of 37 and in the 93 percentile in Self-Actualizing. Constructive Style individuals reflect on a healthy balance of people- and task-related concerns and have a tendency to promote the fulfillment of higher order needs. Often times, people associated with this orientation are directed toward the attainment of organizational goals through the development of people. Constructive styles account for synergy and explain why certain individuals, groups, and organizations are particularly effective in performance, growth, and work quality (http://www.humansynergistics.com/system/constructive.aspx).
The Achievement Style person will usually set goals and be enthusiastic about working towards these challenging but realistic goals.
In pursuit of these goals and achieving high quality results, they are likely to follow a well-developed plan that has been considered in depth. This kind of person will carefully examine their options before deciding on a plan of action. This describes me to a
tee.
With my career and personal life, I always like to plan ahead and set goals before I take action. My husband calls me a “planner”. Before starting any type of project, whether at home or work, I have to look at all the facts before figuring things out.
Once I have the facts, I let the facts lead where they lead, and accept the ideas that works best. I also possess effective planning and problem-solving skills which is the main reason I chose Industrial Engineering for my field of study when obtaining my Bachelor of Science degree. Industrial engineers are known for analyzing and evaluating methods of production and pointing out ways to improve them.
My backup style of Self-Actualizing is based on one’s need for personal growth, self-fulfillment, and the realization of one's potential. People with this style demonstrate a strong desire to learn and experience things, creative yet realistic thinking and a balanced concern for people and tasks. They also place high importance on learning and experiencing new things. This style is the one that could have been my strongest style. My friends and I enjoy life and live in the moment. I am motivated by my own values and beliefs and I don’t need approval from or to be recognized by others.
I think that my Limiting Style is Affiliative, which scored in the 90th percentile. People who have an Affiliative style are more focused on the social aspects of work. I am a very social person. Often times I find myself too concerned with building interpersonal relationships with the people I work with and helping others. I like to help other people feel worthwhile and have a need to build relationships that are meaningful. While this trait can be a positive, it also can be a negative trait. Sometimes I can be too friendly and over trusting. I am naturally curious about people and I don’t mind sharing my experience and view with others. The most important thing I had to realize to control my Affiliative skills.
Part II: Impact On Management Style
While, I have not been a manager at work, I am very successful in getting the job done, effective planning, and problem-solving. During my recent evaluation, my boss commented that she appreciated my willingness to help and encourage my co-workers. I have always been a person that is not afraid to express my opinion; this has helped me in my career and often positioned me in leadership roles. As a leader I am easy to work with, and I am able to help others develop.
My primary and backup style has also been an asset when dealing with conflicts at work. When conflicts arise, I am often the person that comments, “I know we can work this out.” I am a firm believer that when working out conflicts they should be solved with both parties benefitting and a "win/win” situation. I view conflict as an opportunity to create new ideas, breakthroughs, and success.

Part III: Genesis of Personal Styles

I believe my personal is something that I have had since childhood. I was raised to hold those values to do my best always. I most likely developed all my “life styles” by the environment that I grew up in. My mother was a teacher and my father was a chemist. They continually motivated me to do and be the best in all things that I did. Growing in that environment, it became habit to set goals, work towards these goals and produce high quality results.
I can remember, from early childhood, sitting down working through homework problems with my parents. They always encouraged me to answer a problem by doing step-by-step solutions. I believe this helped develop my mind to do analytical thinking. Analytical thinking is what drives my problem-solving and planning techniques.

Part IV: Conclusion and Reflection

Taking the Life Styles Inventory survey has really confirmed many things that I already knew about myself but have not built upon. The results from the survey have motivated me to turn these traits into marketable skills. My goal is the work in GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior will me develop these traits that can help me to further my career and develop my relationships in my personal life.
In addition, I the class will enable me to learn and give me further insight about organizational behavior concepts.