Introduction
This is the second blog of the week for MSLD520. The first
blog centered on the results of self-awareness diagnostic surveys and building
a conclusion of my strengths and weaknesses. This blog is a comprehensive
reflection on how my level of self-awareness has changed since I began the ERAU
MSLD journey in relationship to the five core aspects of self-awareness (emotional
intelligence, orientation towards change, values, core self-evaluation and
cognitive style of responding to information) as defined in Whetten &
Cameron (2011), pages 61 thru 82.
Before I begin the analysis, let me say with a smile on my
face that if you’re a person who seeks self-enrichment, wants to engage in
meaningful “soul searching” and you want to enhance your leadership skills, then you will find treasure in the ERAU MSLD program. Let’s begin by
looking at the first of the five core aspects of self-awareness, emotional
intelligence and how the MSLD program has increased my awareness and
skill in this area.
Emotional Intelligence
It all starts with MSLD500, Leadership Foundations in
Research. “One of the most widespread myths about critical thinking, and one of
the most harmful too, is that critical thinking is somehow opposed to emotions”
(Nosich, 2012, p. 14). To give some
context of where I was when I read this statement (which by the way immediately
caught me by surprise when I first read it) I had recently finished a book club reading on the
Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves, Emotional
Intelligence 2.0, (2009) and I was anxious to discover why Nosich was
making this claim that critical thinking should not be opposed to emotions “This
is one of the most misleading myths there is, and it is all the more damaging
because there is a grain of through in it. Some emotions do indeed get in the
way of critical thinking: rage and panic for example (p. 14)”. Yes, this is
absolutely true Mr. Nosich…please get to your point!
Emotions
often give us data, and much of the time it’s fool hardy to ignore that data.
For example, if tow people are in love, it is unreasonable for them to ignore
that fact when they make important decisions about, say, whether to go to
schools that are far apart. Being in love is directly relevant to that
decision. (p. 15).
Nosich (2012) continued to make well supported assertions
that emotions need to be part of the critical thinking equation, and I had no quarrels
adopting his position. At this moment in time I began making a conscience
effort to make sure I paid attention to the emotional states of myself and
other’s around me when considering data they were providing and why I was
making the decisions I was making. By taking this position I was forcing myself
to exercise my Emotional Intelligence (EI) and by exercising my EI skills have
become stronger. There have been other significant studies in MSLD that have
made a large impact on my EI strength.
My other favorite study to mention is on ego states and
transactional analysis. There are three ego states, parent, adult and child and
when we communicate we are in one of these ego states. “Your communication
style will vary markedly depending on whether you are functioning from the
parent, adult or child position.” (McKay, Davis & Fanning, 2009, p. 89). Each
ego state carries with it a set of emotional tones along with the data being
transmitted. Recognizing the ego states involved and knowing how to short circuit
arguments between parent – child, child – child or parent – parent transactional
exchanges is a new skill that I hope to continue to develop. Typically it is
the adult – adult exchange that finds reasonable solutions to problems. I am
confident that this new skill I am developing will increase my EI in very
valuable ways.
Orientation Towards Change
Since I was a young man I have been very
open towards change. I was born a military brat (USAF) and moving and changing
schools frequently gave me some very valuable adapting skills early on as a
child. At 17 years old I joined the USAF and followed in my father’s footsteps.
The military is an awesome environment for sharpening orientation towards
change. One of the criteria I learned early in my USAF career was to ask what
value was there in the change being considered. If there was no value, then why
implement the change? My self-assessment in this area (Whetten & Cameron, 2011, pp. 54-55) was in the top quartile, so I recognize that I can be pretty
comfortable in an environment that is changing. What really caught my attention
though was how Whetten & Cameron (2009) described the pace of change in today’s
business environment “All this is to say that the environment of the
twenty-first century will be characterized by turbulence, gigantic change,
rapid-fire decisions, and chaos. No one will have time to read and analyze a
case study.” (p. 77). I see it in my organization this “rapid-fire” pace of
change. Because the pace has significantly accelerated I recognize I need to mentor
my six year old son to meet this challenge with care and purpose.
Values
As I
reflect on my values documented in blogs from MSLD511 and MSLD521, I believe
the area that has seen the most change is my own social values. I have always
leaned toward putting others above myself, but after MSLD511 and learning more
about ethical and servant leadership and MSLD521 and examining more closely the
robber barons and ethical values,
I have become even more drawn to the interactive and people first style of
leadership.
Cognitive Style of Responding to
Information
According to Whetten & Cameron (2011),
there are three dimesons of cognitive styles that describe how we respond or
react to information. The first dimension is the knowing style, characterized
by facts, detail and data with a focus on finding logical answers / solutions.
The second dimension is the planning style, characterized by structure,
preparation and meticulous follow-up. Planning style people focus on putting
information into a concise cohesive, logical form. The last and third form is
the creating style. Experimentation, non rational thinking and creativity
dominate this style and creative style people are comfortable amidst ambiguity.
(pp. 74-75).
It is
important to note that cognitive styles are not the same as personality types.
They are not inherent attributes. Rather, they are inclinations toward
information and learning that we have developed over time. Hence, cognitive styles
can be altered and changed through practice and conscious development. (p. 74).
The
reason I provide this quote from Whetten & Cameron (2011), is to highlight
my finding on my cognitive style of responding to information. Prior to taking
the cognitive style evaluation (p. 52), I would have predicted high scores for
the knowing and planning styles and not a great score for the creative style. I
was partially correct, but very surprised at the result. I turns out I scored
high on the knowing and creating styles and poorly on the planning style. I
immediately began processing this information and within 10 minutes, arrived at
a reasonable conclusion. I had learned that giving more effort to the creative
style and placing less emphasis on the planning style suited my situation
better. One of the main reasons I came to this conclusion is that the job I
have been asked to do for almost 5 years now has a significant amount of
ambiguity involved and the creative style is better suited for dealing with the
ambiguity. “Hence, cognitive styles can be altered and changed through practice
and conscious development.” (p. 74). I’m not sure my style was altered through “conscious
development”, but I have no doubt it was altered due to the environment and my
ability to adapt to a new environment.
Core Self-Evaluation
Core
self-evaluation was a little more difficult to assess for me, however after
buckling down and doing some real critical thinking I can confidently say that
my core self-evaluation has changed dramatically since I started the MSLD
program. Let me start with the most important change…I believe I can be a
manager again. I have a much better understanding now why I derailed in 1999.
It wasn’t me. It was a difference in the values I had and the values of the
organization I was working for. We were not a good match. Because of this new
understanding I am much more confident in my ability to be a manager again in a
variety of different situations, so both self-efficacy and self-esteem have
increased. I just need to be more careful in selecting the organization I want
to become a manager in. In addition, my locus of control emphasis has shifted
from leaning towards an external locus of control position to one of an
internal locus of control position. The reason for the shift is learning how to
have more control over the environment around me.
Conclusion
My MSLD
journey has been like finding a personal treasure in my back-yard. MSLD500 gave
me a great foundation for critical thinking and each course thereafter has
become a building block to increase knowledge and skill. Why did I wait so
long! I want more. I crave it. I can hardly wait sometimes to come home, change
clothes, eat dinner and begin learning more. I have six classes remaining after
MSLD520 and can imagine how much better I’ll get as each class comes to a
close.
If you
are in a leadership position and think you might want some of this action, you
will be rewarded if you take that road least traveled!
References:
Bradbury,
T., & Greaves, J., (2009). Emotional
Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: Talent
Smart
McKay, M., Davis, M. & Fanning,
P. (2009). Messages: The communication skills
book. Oakland, CA: New Harvinger Publications, Inc.
Nosich, G., (2012). Learning
to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum.
Boston, MA: Pearson.
Whetten, D.
& Cameron, K., (2011). Developing
management skills. Upper Saddle
River, NJ:Prentice Hall.
