Strengthsfinder 2.1 Reflection
Summary Final Paper
StrengthsFinder 2.0
I choose to start my final summary paper at the beginning, with the assessment I took just before class started, the StrengthsFinder 2.0. This was the first time I had taken this evaluation, and I was curious about what it had to say about my leadership strengths. It reminded me of taking the Myers-Briggs personality assessment years ago. My top five strengths (according to the assessment) are connectedness, activator, communication, individualization, and learner (Rath & Conchie, 2008).
Four of my top five strengths land under two of the four domains of leadership strengths, influencing and relationship building (Rath & Conchie, 2008). This was not a surprise to me. Whether I’m leading …show more content…
my campaign team or sitting on the Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDAC), at the City of Minnetonka, I want to connect with my colleagues and build a cohesive group.
I believe more in synchronicity than I do in coincidences. This is where the strength, connectedness, comes in. I trust that everyone I come in contact with has something to teach me (either personally or professionally) and maybe, I have something to teach them. The hardest part is when I have challenges with someone’s personality. In the big picture, I know this is a huge learning event, but that growth is sometimes painful and difficult. This is where another one of my strengths come in, individualization.
Having individualization as one of my top five strengths, I am able to find the good in people and share with them what they do well. I look for unique qualities in others. I am also a leader who really works at listening and taking responsibility when things don’t go as planned. I find that nothing gets accomplished when responsibility is averted.
For example: As a Minnesota Senate candidate, if I argue my point (me trying to prove I’m right) with a constituent, who’s experience is something different than mine, that person looses trust in me. But, if I listen to their experience and ask for suggestions on how they think things could be different- it diffuses the tension. They feel heard.
This example also illustrates the strength of activator, making things happen by turning things around.
All five of my strengths work together because they all focus on seeing the other persons point of view by empathizing: whether through listening, learning, feeling connected, or by communicating. I am a people person, it’s where I feel alive.
Self Awareness
After understanding my strengths, my second most important takeaway from this class was the importance of self awareness in a strong leader. Goleman (2011) states, “Self awareness means having a deep understanding of ones emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self awareness are neither overly critical or unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest- with themselves and with others.” What I have learned in my own personal analysis work- is that the more I work on my own issues the less critical I am of others.
I’ve known the importance of self awareness in my personal life, but I did not equate that importance to a critical leadership skill till I read Goleman (2011). I am now far more confident in my leadership abilities because I know how hard I’ve worked on my own self awareness!
Engage …show more content…
Courageously
In reading The practice of adaptive leadership (Heifetz, Grashow, Linsky, 2009), I was intrigued by the chapter, Engage Courageously. What struck me most was the concept of identifying the loyalties you need to re-evaluate. I actually read this chapter after Nancy JP Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) came to our class as our guest speaker- lecturing on, Leading an organization through change.
At the end of Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) talk, I asked her if her company was unionized, and why or why not. She said, “no” but she didn’t really say why. However, she inferred that unions can use “big business” tactics. She also stated that she believed unions have a place in large businesses, but not necessarily in small businesses.
As a Democrat Farmer Labor (DFL) candidate you are expected to be pro union. I am for the most part, but I can see Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) point. The reason I am a pro union candidate is because I believe workers should be paid and treated fairly. I also believe there are many cases where you need a union to make sure the lowest paid workers are treated fairly.
It’s clear Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) already treats her employees fairly. She talked about what happened throughout the recession with her business and how she had to cut pay. But, she reinstated that pay as soon as she could. Anderson demonstrated she has a moral/value compass as a leader.
Here is where engage courageously (Heifetz, et al., 2009) and Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) reply to my question relate to my campaign. I am expected to use a union printing company for all my mailers, signs, and palm pieces. There is what’s called a little “bug” insignia on every union printed item. So everyone knows if you have used a union shop or not.
Well, after hearing Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) and knowing what kind of owner/leader she is, I want to use her company, Midwest Sign & Screen Printing Supply Co., for all my printing needs. This is going to be a courageous move on my part. I will be going against a well established “norm” in the industry. I am going to have to reexamine my loyalties, stay in the present, and conduct the needed conversations, as stated in Heifetz (et al., 2009) book!
When I read about engaging courageously (Heifetz, et al., 2009), I knew it was speaking to me. I have thought a lot about Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) answer to my question and I now have to reevaluate my blind loyalties to unions.
Lack of Trust and Ego Trust is fundamental to any team. When a team lacks good debating skills it represents a lack of trust on that team. Patrick Lencioni (2002) talks about this concept in his book, The five dysfunctions of a team. Reading this book, I thought about the dynamics between democrats and republicans in our political system. Talk about your lack of trust! However, Lencioni also talks about the ego, and the difference between the ego for a team and individual ego. When it comes to the dynamics between our political parties, I would argue both of these concepts are in play. This really got me thinking about when I have debates with my political opponent. Is my individual ego involved? Or, am I debating with a team ego? The team ego would mean I 'm keeping in mind my entire team, my constituents. I will be honest, sometimes the individual ego is hard to keep in check. I will never think of a debate the same way again.
Listen and bring in Opposition When Ann Schueter spoke to us (personal communication, February 15, 2014) about talent themes, the two things that most stuck out for me was listen, and bring in opposition to see the other side of an issue or challenge.
As a political candidate, I believe it is so important to listen to opposing points of view. The best solutions can come out of constructive dialog of opposing ideas. In my experience, creativity and highly effective solutions come out of trial and error, and groups that have different personality types all working towards the same goal. My intention is to always find something I value and/or respect in each individual I work with.
Conclusion
I will end with my favorite quote of the class, “Every leader needs to cultivate…awareness in abundance and in the proper balance, because a failure to focus inward leaves you rudderless, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided (Goleman,
2013).
References
Goleman, D. (2011). What makes a leader? In Harvard Business Review (Ed.), HBR 's 10 must reads on leadership (pp. 1-21). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. (Original work published 1996).
Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership : Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.
Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team : A leadership fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
StrengthsFinder 2.0
I choose to start my final summary paper at the beginning, with the assessment I took just before class started, the StrengthsFinder 2.0. This was the first time I had taken this evaluation, and I was curious about what it had to say about my leadership strengths. It reminded me of taking the Myers-Briggs personality assessment years ago. My top five strengths (according to the assessment) are connectedness, activator, communication, individualization, and learner (Rath & Conchie, 2008).
Four of my top five strengths land under two of the four domains of leadership strengths, influencing and relationship building (Rath & Conchie, 2008). This was not a surprise to me. Whether I’m leading …show more content…
my campaign team or sitting on the Economic Development Advisory Commission (EDAC), at the City of Minnetonka, I want to connect with my colleagues and build a cohesive group.
I believe more in synchronicity than I do in coincidences. This is where the strength, connectedness, comes in. I trust that everyone I come in contact with has something to teach me (either personally or professionally) and maybe, I have something to teach them. The hardest part is when I have challenges with someone’s personality. In the big picture, I know this is a huge learning event, but that growth is sometimes painful and difficult. This is where another one of my strengths come in, individualization.
Having individualization as one of my top five strengths, I am able to find the good in people and share with them what they do well. I look for unique qualities in others. I am also a leader who really works at listening and taking responsibility when things don’t go as planned. I find that nothing gets accomplished when responsibility is averted.
For example: As a Minnesota Senate candidate, if I argue my point (me trying to prove I’m right) with a constituent, who’s experience is something different than mine, that person looses trust in me. But, if I listen to their experience and ask for suggestions on how they think things could be different- it diffuses the tension. They feel heard.
This example also illustrates the strength of activator, making things happen by turning things around.
All five of my strengths work together because they all focus on seeing the other persons point of view by empathizing: whether through listening, learning, feeling connected, or by communicating. I am a people person, it’s where I feel alive.
Self Awareness
After understanding my strengths, my second most important takeaway from this class was the importance of self awareness in a strong leader. Goleman (2011) states, “Self awareness means having a deep understanding of ones emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self awareness are neither overly critical or unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest- with themselves and with others.” What I have learned in my own personal analysis work- is that the more I work on my own issues the less critical I am of others.
I’ve known the importance of self awareness in my personal life, but I did not equate that importance to a critical leadership skill till I read Goleman (2011). I am now far more confident in my leadership abilities because I know how hard I’ve worked on my own self awareness!
Engage …show more content…
Courageously
In reading The practice of adaptive leadership (Heifetz, Grashow, Linsky, 2009), I was intrigued by the chapter, Engage Courageously. What struck me most was the concept of identifying the loyalties you need to re-evaluate. I actually read this chapter after Nancy JP Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) came to our class as our guest speaker- lecturing on, Leading an organization through change.
At the end of Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) talk, I asked her if her company was unionized, and why or why not. She said, “no” but she didn’t really say why. However, she inferred that unions can use “big business” tactics. She also stated that she believed unions have a place in large businesses, but not necessarily in small businesses.
As a Democrat Farmer Labor (DFL) candidate you are expected to be pro union. I am for the most part, but I can see Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) point. The reason I am a pro union candidate is because I believe workers should be paid and treated fairly. I also believe there are many cases where you need a union to make sure the lowest paid workers are treated fairly.
It’s clear Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) already treats her employees fairly. She talked about what happened throughout the recession with her business and how she had to cut pay. But, she reinstated that pay as soon as she could. Anderson demonstrated she has a moral/value compass as a leader.
Here is where engage courageously (Heifetz, et al., 2009) and Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) reply to my question relate to my campaign. I am expected to use a union printing company for all my mailers, signs, and palm pieces. There is what’s called a little “bug” insignia on every union printed item. So everyone knows if you have used a union shop or not.
Well, after hearing Anderson (personal communication, March 1, 2014) and knowing what kind of owner/leader she is, I want to use her company, Midwest Sign & Screen Printing Supply Co., for all my printing needs. This is going to be a courageous move on my part. I will be going against a well established “norm” in the industry. I am going to have to reexamine my loyalties, stay in the present, and conduct the needed conversations, as stated in Heifetz (et al., 2009) book!
When I read about engaging courageously (Heifetz, et al., 2009), I knew it was speaking to me. I have thought a lot about Anderson’s (personal communication, March 1, 2014) answer to my question and I now have to reevaluate my blind loyalties to unions.
Lack of Trust and Ego Trust is fundamental to any team. When a team lacks good debating skills it represents a lack of trust on that team. Patrick Lencioni (2002) talks about this concept in his book, The five dysfunctions of a team. Reading this book, I thought about the dynamics between democrats and republicans in our political system. Talk about your lack of trust! However, Lencioni also talks about the ego, and the difference between the ego for a team and individual ego. When it comes to the dynamics between our political parties, I would argue both of these concepts are in play. This really got me thinking about when I have debates with my political opponent. Is my individual ego involved? Or, am I debating with a team ego? The team ego would mean I 'm keeping in mind my entire team, my constituents. I will be honest, sometimes the individual ego is hard to keep in check. I will never think of a debate the same way again.
Listen and bring in Opposition When Ann Schueter spoke to us (personal communication, February 15, 2014) about talent themes, the two things that most stuck out for me was listen, and bring in opposition to see the other side of an issue or challenge.
As a political candidate, I believe it is so important to listen to opposing points of view. The best solutions can come out of constructive dialog of opposing ideas. In my experience, creativity and highly effective solutions come out of trial and error, and groups that have different personality types all working towards the same goal. My intention is to always find something I value and/or respect in each individual I work with.
Conclusion
I will end with my favorite quote of the class, “Every leader needs to cultivate…awareness in abundance and in the proper balance, because a failure to focus inward leaves you rudderless, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided (Goleman,
2013).
References
Goleman, D. (2011). What makes a leader? In Harvard Business Review (Ed.), HBR 's 10 must reads on leadership (pp. 1-21). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. (Original work published 1996).
Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership : Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.
Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team : A leadership fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press.