A520.1.6.RB - Self-Awareness Blog
The MSLD program has been a huge change for me mentally, but it has encouraged growth and change for me to work harder as an employee. I am looking forward to future classes, however; we are still early in the program and I have a significant amount of learning to accomplish. As a leader, we should be knowledgeable of our strengths and weaknesses pertaining to our self-awareness. First, my emotional intelligence still needs improvement but it is not a skill or practice that will change overnight. I need to learn how to respond appropriately in all situations when another individual is responding irrationally; almost always I have no problem keeping my cool, it is after the phone call I begin to question my responses and how I handled the situation. I am capable of keeping control over the phone because the individual on the other end cannot see my facial expressions, however; I need to improve my in person responses in order to not give away what I am thinking; when I have to work with irrational people in person, I struggle because my facial expressions will give way to my thoughts. I do not do this intentionally, but since I am aware of this behavior I am working on not doing continuing it.
I have always held myself to high values and standards which include my personal, work, and social standards. The MSLD has confirmed my beliefs to stand up for my values regardless of how society or others view them. My co-workers and society may not agree with or understand where I am coming from, but it is more important to stand up for what I believe in rather than conform to societies opinions. As a leader, it will not be easy to stand out and be different but respect is earned when one does not conform because they have a different set of values.
Another part of the self-awareness aspect that I have come to understand is cognitive styles and how I learn. I have always understood and accepted how I learn as a student and employee, however; I was not aware there were different styles of learning. After I completed the self-evaluation quiz and reviewed the results, my highest score is in planning style of cognitive learning. I will use the information learned from the evaluation to continue to grow as a student, employee, and a leader. As a student who is aware of how I learn, I can use this to my advantage; it is important to not try to force something I am not good at. If I learn better using the planning style versus creating style, I will potentially be a successful leader because I will know my own strengths.
The last two aspects of self-awareness include attitude toward change and self-evaluation. First, as a leader, I have to have a positive attitude toward change because this is the 21st century, which is continuously changing and evolving. In the work environment it is important to go with the change because as an employee I have an incredible amount of information I can learn from growth and change; by being stagnant I will hinder my future and hold myself back from progression. I am comfortable with constant and stability, I don’t like change because it is outside my comfort zone. Instead of resisting, getting upset, or fighting a change in the workplace, I am learning to roll with it and see where it will take me. If I want to be a great leader, I will need to learn to accept change, I cannot grow, inspire, and assist others I am not willing to accept change myself. Finally, core self-evaluation is one area that we all have to look deeper into because we should be aware of how we interact with our co-workers and those we come in contact with. It is important to remember the five core aspects of self-evaluation are in place to help us as individuals to constantly observe our behaviors, attitudes, and skills to help us succeed.
