University of Maryland University College
September 27, 2014
Turnitin Score: 6%
Introduction
Taking an instance to reflect on who you are and what it takes to be a leader is one of the few things that many leaders will not do. The mistake of believing that you are a natural born leader will lead you to make many mistakes as a leader. The assessment determined that I am an effective type of leader.
Big Five Assessment
Extraversion was the factor most strongly associated with leadership. (Northouse, 2013) Under the extraversion facets it revealed that I was extremely friendly, gregarious, assertive, cheerful, excitement seeking and that my activity level was high. I have always felt that everyone should be treated as equals and when I am introduced to a new surrounding, I find it appealing to meet new people. I am very outgoing and try to always remain extremely cheerful when dealing with issues of stress or enjoyment. The glass is always half-full. Taking life with more optimism than pessimism leads to calmer circumstances. As a soldier and a leader I have always had to be assertive, there are far too many lives at stake to be timid in giving orders as well as following orders. There are times that I have been overwhelmed, but stopping and assessing the situation always lead to a resolution.
Being conscientious is how we deal with impulses and how to constrain from making any hasty decisions. There are times when the mission will be to make it happen now. Those times when you have to stop and access the current workload of the department and the availability of personnel are critical. The result could have long-term consequences. When your staff works at a certain level of intensity, exposure to an impulsive act could drastically alter the project course in a critical stage of the planning process and hinder results that they are striving to achieve. My results revealed high in self-efficacy, orderliness, achievement striving and self-discipline. I was about average with dutifulness and cautiousness. These assessment hold true that making a list of things that have to be accomplished and methodically working to complete each task at the right juncture are critical to stay on task. I was taken back at the assessment in dutifulness as that score was in the midrange mark. I do pride myself on the hard right. However I do not lead with “a foot on the neck” approach. Realizing that your staff may have minor distractions and that they will not always agree with a decision, allows me to open the floor for discussion. Deviating from an original course to still have the same outcome can be very rewarding.
Openness to experience is a style that a leader will possess that is imaginative and creative that distinguishes themselves from conventional leaders. Under this assessment my score revealed that I was willing to try new things. I was neither complex nor simple, but appeared to others as a well-educated person. My score was average in imagination, artistic interests, intellect and liberalism. I scored high in adventurousness, this I agree, I do enjoy to travel and experiencing different things. I scored low in emotionality, I feel this is due to I never overreact to a mission that strays off task. I work to accomplish the task in the timeframe required.
Neuroticism was average, which indicated that I do feel stressful and frustrated in certain situations, but my coping mechanism allows me to get over it quickly and move forward. My score was average for anger, self-consciousness, immoderation and vulnerability. My score for depression was low, which is head on. As a leader the feeling of dejection cannot compromise what has to be done. Get over the feeling that everyone “hates” you right now for working late, this will come with the territory. Since agreeableness is considered weakly associated with leadership, I can understand this trait being average as my assessment.