Individual With A High Mach Score example essay topic

Hambright 1 Melody Hambright Professor Charles So fios Organizational Management 502 30 October 2003 Individual Development Plan On the scale from 1 to 5, my basic personality trait is between quiet and talkative (3), tolerant (2), organized (5), calm (5), between imaginative and conventional (3), outgoing (4), cooperative (5), dependable (5), secure (5), familiar (5), between sociable and loner (3), trusting (4), goal-oriented (4), enthusiastic (1), and change (1). As a leader, I plan to develop my leadership traits by first taking self-examination of myself and determine my strengths and weaknesses of being a leader. The assessment will allow me to make a list of possible opportunities and threats in order to set short and long term goals that will help me in the process. As I look at the above list, even though some I rated as 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, there are all areas in leadership I consider targets that need to be maximize.

It is often said "the largest room in the world is the room for improvement". I plan to continue to improvement my leadership skills by being a good listener and communicating effective with individuals. I am planning on being a good problem solver and knowledgeable in the job or position I am performing in order to better serve my followers. Also, I recognize that good leaders were once good followers. As a future leader, I am planning on to have a mentor, some who is in leadership who I can emulate and learn how to be effective in this prestigious position.

Networking with other successful leaders is other avenues I Hambright 2 plan to utilize that can aide me in my personal leadership development. Networking would allow me the opportunity to meet other successful individuals and can provide me with an opportunity to expand my boundaries. As a leader, I am planning on being a participative leader, a leader who shares his or her decisions with members of his or her group. This will allow the group to be apart of the decision making process and to give their feedback whenever needed. The following pages consist of a leadership illustration page that is broken into several leadership traits and where I stand in terms of experience in each area. Also, the chart lists areas that I need to improve and areas I am well acquainted with the basis personality traits.

An analysis of the five factor model personality trait, has an impressive body of research supporting that five basic personality dimensions underlie human behavior. These five dimensions are defined as follows: o Extraversion is a sociable person that likes to talk and assert his or her authority in leadership. High scores indicate an extra vert person, low scores indicate an introvert person. o Conscientiousness is a responsible, dependable, persistent, and achievement oriented person. High scores indicate that an individual pursue fewer goals in a purposeful way.

Low score indicate an individual is more easily distracted, pursue many goals are more devoted to sensual pleasure outside home. o Agreeableness is a good-natured, cooperative, and trusting person. This is a measure of an individual propensity to deter to others. High scores indicate Hambright 3 an individual value harmony. Low score indicate people prefer having the individuals say or way on issues.

Emotional stability is a calm, enthusiastic, and secure individual. High scores indicate positive emotional stability, low scores indicate negative emotional stability and openness to experience. An individual is imaginative artistically sensitive, and intellectually creative. High scores indicate a wide range of interests and a fascination with novelty and innovation.

Low scores indicate individuals more conventional and find comfort in the familiar. An individual's personality score was calculated as follows with reverse scoring on those items marked with an asterisk. Scores in each category will range from 3 to 15: o Items 1, 6, and 11 - Extraversion - I scored 10. o Items 2, 7 and 12 - Agreeableness - I scored 13. o Items 3, 8 and 13 - Conscientiousness - I scored 14. o Items 4, 9 and 14 - Emotional Stability - I scored 15. o Items 5, 10 and 15 - Openness to Experience - I scored 9. The most impressive evidence relates to the conscientiousness dimension. Studies show that conscientiousness predicts job performance for all occupational groups. The preponderance of evidence indicates that individuals who are dependable, reliable, thorough, organized, able to plan, and persistent tend to have higher job performance in most occupations.

My MBTI or Jungian 16 personality scores ENF J. The Jungian 16 type personality framework. It classifies people as extroverted or introverted (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and Hambright 4 perceiving or judging (P or J). These classifications can be combined into sixteen personality types such as INTJ, and ENTP. This questionnaire classifies people as extroverted or introverted. Some examples and interpretations of INTJ and ENTP has illustrations of MBTI or Jungian 16 personality types. INTJ personality have an original mind and great drive for own ideas and purposes of individuals.

Individuals are skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn. ESTJ personality types are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or mechanics. Individuals like to organize and run things in an organizational setting. ENTP personality types are conceptualizes, innovators, individualistic people, versatile, and entrepreneurial.

Individuals tend to be resourceful in solving challenging problems, but individuals may neglect routine assignments. What value can INTJ, ENTP, and ESTJ personalities classification have for individuals? Personality classifications can help individuals to understand their personalities, their strengths and their weaknesses. Personality classifications can help individuals to find job that align well with their strengths and avoid factory and fast-food jobs that are a poor fit.

My score in locus of control is 7. This instrument taps a person's perception of the source of his or her fate. Internals are people who believe that they are masters of their own fate. They believe that they control their destinies. Externals see themselves as pawns of fate, believing that what happens to the them is due to luck or chance. My score can be interpreted as follows: o 8-10 = High Internal Locus of Control Hambright 5 o 6-7 = Moderate Internal Locus of Control o 5 = Mixed o 3-4 = Moderate External Locus of Control o 1-2 = High External Locus of Control.

My locus of control score can provide me with insights into how well I accept the blame for my actions. Also, my locus of control score can help me understand my feelings of alienation or dissatisfaction with work. Research shows that high externals are less satisfied with their jobs, are more alienated from the work setting, and less involved in their jobs than are internals. On the other hand, high externals seem most satisfied in their jobs that are well structured, routine and in which success depends heavily on complying with the direction of others. My flexibility score is 55. This instrument taps a personality trait known as self-monitoring.

Self- monitoring refers to an individual's ability to adjust his or her behavior to external situational factors. Individuals are high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. Self-monitoring individuals are highly sensitive to external cues can behave differently indifferent situations. Low self-monitors tend to display consistent dispositions and attitudes, regardless of the situation in the workplace and home. High self-monitors are defined as those with scores of approximately 53 or higher.

When I am a high self-monitor, I am an expert at reading situations and adjusting my behavior accordingly. Low self-monitors, because they tend to ignore external cues and maintain behavioral consistency even when situations change, are not typically very good at organizational politics. Hambright 6 My terminal values are (4) happiness, satisfaction in life, (5) knowledge and wisdom, (3) peace and harmony in the world, (9) pride in accomplishment, (10) prosperity and wealth, (6) lasting friendships, (7) recognition from peers, (8) salvation and finding eternal life, (2) security and freedom from threat and (1) self-respect. My instrumental values are (1) assertiveness and standing up for yourself, (3) being helpful or caring toward others, (4) dependability and being counted upon by others, (2) education and intellectual pursuits, (5) hard work and achievement, (10) obedience and following the wishes of others, (9) open-mindedness and receptivity to new ideas, (8) self-sufficiency and independence, (7) truthfulness and honesty, and (6) being well-mannered and courteous toward others.

Values are basic convictions of what is right, good, or desirable. My values reflect what I think is important. There are no right or wrong values in personality traits. This self-assessment merely gives me some directive insights into my value structure.

Research demonstrates that people in the same accounting clerk occupation tend to hold similar values in the workplace and home. For instance, a study of corporate managers found that they ranked self-respect and security as their top-rated terminal values. For instrumental values, these same corporate managers rated truthfulness first, followed by dependability. Terminal and instrument values can be helpful to assess my value structure in terms of my career aspirations. Specifically, to what degree do you think your values align with those successful corporate manager in the field to which I aspire? Hambright 7 This motivation instrument taps the three needs of growth, relatedness, and existence.

Motivation instrument is based on what is known as ERG theory. My scores for growth, relatedness, and existence needs are all 20. When I considered all four items within a need category to be extremely important, I would obtain the maximum total of twenty points. However, I can currently have a little income and consider existence needs as most important.

For instance, one student at University of Phoenix in Atlanta, Georgia scored 20, 10, and 15 for growth, relatedness, and existence needs. This should be interpreted to mean that his or her relatedness needs are already substantially satisfied. One student at University of Phoenix in Atlanta, Georgia growth needs, on the other hand, are substantially unsatisfied. Note that a low score can imply that a need is not important to me or that the needs is substantially satisfied.

However, the implication is that everyone has growth, relatedness, and existence needs. So a low score is taken to mean that this need is substantially satisfied. How do my ethics rate? No decision is completely value-free. The ethics rate undoubtedly will have some ethical dimensions. This instrument present philosophical positions and practical situations.

Rather than specify "right" answers, this instrument works best when I compare my answers to those of others. With that in mind, here are mean responses from a group of 243 management students. On which items did I differ most? My answer to questions can provide insights into how well my ethical standards match other people with who I will be working in the future. Large discrepancies can be a warning that other do not hold the same ethical values that I do. What is my face-to-face communication style?

There are nine dimensions of communication style. They are described as follows: o I am dominant and tends to take charge of social interactions. I scored 12. o I am dramatic, manipulates, exaggerates stories and uses other stylistic devices to highlight content. I scored 6. o I am contentious and argumentative in persuading people to buy a product. I scored 6. o I am animated, frequent and sustained eye contact, uses many facial expressions, and gestures of ten. I scored 8. o I leaves an impression in the workplace by doing a big payroll project with other co-worker in prorating vacation and swing holiday to salary and hourly employees.

Am I remembered because of the communicative stimuli that I projected? I scored 10. o I am relaxed and avoid of nervousness in the workplace, in the park and home. I scored 6. o I am attentive and makes sure that the other person knows that he or she is being listened to as a person. I scored 10. o I am not open and being conversational, expansive, affable, convivial, gregarious, unreserved, somewhat frank, definitely extroverted and obviously approachable. I scored 0. Hambright 9 o I am friendly from being not hostile to deep intimacy.

I scored 8. The higher my score for any dimensions, the more that dimension characterizes my communication style. When I review my results, consider to what degree my scores aid or hinder my communication effectiveness. High scores for being attentive and open would almost and always be positive qualities. A high for contentious, on the other hand, could be a negative in many situations.

How good are my listening skills? My score is fifty-one. Effective communicators have developed good listening skills. This instrument is designed to provide me with some insights into my listening skills. Scores range from 15 to 75. The higher my score, the better listener I am.

While any cut offs are essentially arbitrary, few people score above 60. When my score is 60 or above, my listening skills are fairly well sharpened. Scores of 40 or less indicate I need to make serious effort at improving my listening skills. How good am I at giving feedback?

My score is self-perceived strengths number 6, and self-perceived weaknesses number 2. Along with listening skills, feedback skills comprise the other primary component of effective communication. This instrument is designed to assess how good I am at providing feedback. In this assessment instrument, the "a" responses are my self- perceived strengths and the "b" responses are my self- perceived weaknesses.

By looking at the proportion of my "a" and "b" responses, I will be able to see how effective I feel when giving feedback and determine where my strengths and weaknesses lie. What is my leadership style? My leadership style is a concern for people scored 10 and a concern for the task scored 17. This leadership instrument taps the degree to Hambright 10 which I am task or people-oriented. Task-orientation is concerned with getting the job done, while people- orientation focuses on group interactions and the needs of individual members. The cut off scores, separating high and low scores, are approximately as follows: o For task-orientation, high is a score of 10 and above. o For task-orientation, low is a score of 10 and below. o For people-orientation, high is a score of 7 and above. o For people-orientation, low is a score of 7 and below.

The best leaders are the ones that can balance their task- people orientation to various situations. A high score on both would indicate this balance the leaders' task- people orientation. When I am too task-oriented, I tend to be absolute. I get the job done, but at a high emotional cost. When I am too people-oriented, my leadership may be overly laissez-faire. People are likely to be happy in their work, but sometimes at the expense of productivity.

How good am I at building and leading a team? My score is 98. Author Stephen Robbins (2003, pgs. 577-586) of this instrument propose that building and leading a team assesses team development behaviors in five areas such as diagnosing team development for items 1, 16, managing the forming stage for items 2-4, managing the conforming stage for items 10-12, 14, 15, and managing the performing stage for items 5, 17, 18. My score will range between 18 and 108, based on a norm group of 500 business students, the following can help estimate where I am a relative to others: o Total score of 95 or above = I am in the top quartile. o 72-94 = I am in the second quartile. o 60-71 = I am in the third quartile. o Below 60 = I am in the bottom quartile. Hambright 11 How power-oriented am I?

My score is 22. This instrument was designed to compute my Machiavellianism (Mach) score. Machiavelli wrote in the sixteen century on how to gain and manipulate power. An individual, with a high-Mach score is a busybody, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify the mean.

The National Opinion Research Center, which used this instrument in a Random Sample of American adults, found that the national average was 25. High-Machs are more likely to manipulate more, win more, and persuaded, and persuade other more than do low-machs. High-Machs are more likely to shade the truth or act unethically in ambiguous situations where the outcome is important to business managers. What is my preferred type of power?

My score is reward (5), expert (5), and referent (5). Five bases of power have been identified. Reward is based on the ability to distribute valuable rewards, coercive is based on fear, legitimate is based on formal position, expert is based on possessing knowledge or skill, and referent is based on other people desire to identify with me. A high score of 4 or greater on any of the five dimensions imply that I prefer to influence other by using that particular for of power. A low score of 2 or less suggests that I prefer not to employ this power base. Managerial positions come with legitimate, reward, and coercive powers.

However, I do not have to be a manager to have power. When I am not in a position of formal authority, I can still be a powerful person in my organization when I focus on developing my expert and referent power bases. What is my preferred conflict-handling style? My scores are competing (16), Hambright 12 collaborating (17), avoiding (14), accommodating (19), and compromising (20). Research has identified five conflict- handling styles. They are defined as follows: o Competing is a desire to satisfy one another interests, regardless of the impact on the other party to the conflict.

Items 1, 6, 11, and 16 are in this instrument tap this style. o Collaborating is when the parties to a conflict each desire to satisfy fully the concerns of all parties. Items 5.10, 15, and 20 are in this instrument tap this style. o Avoiding is desiring to withdraw from or suppress the conflict. Items 4, 9, 14, and 19 are in this instrument tap this style. o Accommodating is willingness of one party in a conflict to place the opponents interests above his or her own. Items 2, 7, 12, and 17 in this instrument tap this style. o Compromising is when each party to a conflict is willing to give up something to gain. Items 3, 8, 13, and 18 in this instrument tap this style. My conflict- handling score within each category will range from 4 to 20.

The category I scored the highest in is my preferred conflict-handling style. My next-highest total is my secondary style. Ideally, I should adjust my conflict-handling style to the situation. For instance, avoidance works well when a conflict is trivial, when emotions are running high and time is needed to cool the business managers down, or when the potential disruption from a more assertive action outweighs the benefits of a resolution.

In contrast, competing Hambright 13 works well when I need a quick resolution on important issues when unpopular actions must be taken or when commitment by others to your solution is not critical. However, the evidence indicates that most business managers have a preferred style for handling conflicts. When "push comes to shove", this is the style business managers tend to rely on. My instrument score provides me with insights into this preferred style. Use the preferred style information to work against my natural tendencies when the situation requires competing, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating, and compromising styles. In conclusion, it is my ultimate plan and goal to continually learn, develop, and work on my leadership capabilities.

What I plan to do in order to improve my leadership styles is continuing to maximize the good leadership trait I possess and work on the ones that needs improving by attending leadership workshop, continuous reading about leadership in magazines like Accounting Magazines and John Wiley and sons. Also, I plan to learn from other people such as a mentor or business manager, and networking with other successful people. These are other tools and resources I plan to utilize in order to maximize my full leadership potential in my present and future jobs. As I gain more professional experience and expertise in my accounting career, I believe I will be a well prepared leader, ready to meet the demands, and challenges for the future in leadership accounting management. Hambright 14 Work Cited Robbins, Stephens (2003), "Organizational Behavior".

Organizational Change and Stress Management, Chapter 19, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 10th Edition, pgs. 577-586.