Research Methodology

The behaviours and characteristics of a person have an effect on the person’s suitability in any given situation. As Masters level student, I am aware of the effects that the characteristics of a person might have on his or her career. What has gotten me to the point of studying Masters in Business Administration is the zeal to make a change in the business world and to also equip myself with skills that would make me a success. The changes that have been taking place in the business world have motivated me to be more innovative. Being innovative and delivering in line with the needs of the market needs one to pursue a higher level of education and that is what I have done. It is essential to note that business administration is a wide concept and it deals with business management from various perspectives. A business manager is a person who has control over the affairs of business that take place. Being in control helps one to have an influence on the things that are taking place and at the same time, it helps one to make changes. I have passion for leadership and that has an impact on my leadership skills. I believe in being of help to those who need me and that is what has motivated me to nurturing young leaders and being present when they need me. My journey as an MBA student has not been motivated by the need to seek employment but it has been motivated by the zeal to make sure that I leave a mark in the business world whether I will be an employee of an organization or a person who runs and manages his or her business. The assignment is aimed at looking into my skills and behaviors. With the help of self-assessment tools and my past experiences, I will analyse myself with the aim of identifying my strengths and weaknesses. The results will help to know if I can perfectly fit in the organisation that was presented in the first assignment or not.

In the process of gathering data, there is a need for the researcher to have an independent mind. In this assignment, I played as the researcher and the participant at the same time. The reason behind it is because I collected information about myself (Weston & Laursen, 2015). One of the challenging parts in collecting information about oneself is the observant of biases. Considering that there was no one who monitored the process of collecting data, I took a unique approach in this research (Trofimovich et al. 2016). I acted like an independent researcher and participant and I treated my data like it was the data of someone else with the main aim of eliminating the biases.

The process of collecting data was unique and unbiased and this was for the sake of making sure that the findings would not be compromised. I used some of the past experiences as a way of analysing myself. The past experiences help one to remember about the reactions to the specific experiences. The reactions of a person to issues at hand are enough to dictate the behaviours of a person (Cosmi et al. 2012).

SWOT Analysis

 The reason behind it is because a person can control the behaviours in many cases but when it comes to reacting to different issues, the same person might find it challenging to deal with an issue differently. It is at this point that the true behaviours of a person are revealed and that helps to know the weak and strong points of a person.

The use of three essential self-assessment tools was implemented and this helped in attaining data about me. The tools that I used were Myers Briggs or Jung Typology Personality Type, Emotional Intelligence Test and VIA Character Strengths Survey. The tools helped me to know more about myself in three different ways. I got to know about my personality when it comes to dealing with issues and working with people (The Global EI Test Results, n.d). I got to know more about my emotions and that was essential. At the same time, I got to know the strength of my character with the aim of answering the question on my strengths.

Strengths

One of the strengths that were evident after the collection of the data was that I am a good team player. According to the results, I am the type of a person who considers the will of others before demonstrating my will (The Global EI Test Results, n.d). In team playing, it is essential to note that there are many parties that are involved (Panadero, Brown, & Strijbos, 2016). This means that at the end of the activities within the team, there comes an essential need of making sure that all team players feel as part and parcel of the larger team. It is essential to note that a good team player is a person who is ready to accommodate the views of others and to implement them if they have an additional value to the activities and responsibilities of the team.

I also demonstrated that I know myself better as well as the needs of others. Self-realisation is essential in any given scenario. The reason behind it is because if one does not know his or herself, the person is not likely to help others (Lin, Yang, Lv, Wei, & Song, 2015). The realisation of the needs of others is also essential. I demonstrated that I value others and that pushes me to understand what they want and to make sure that I do not shut them down (The Global EI Test Results, n.d). This strength helps one to easily work with others in avoidance of conflicts.

The two last strengths that I scored highly are associated with management. I realised that I am a good manager of myself. Managing oneself might be seen as a simple task but the truth is that it is complicated. The reason behind it is because of the biases that one might have in handling him or herself (Weston & Laursen, 2015). A good leader must demonstrate that he or she is able to manage him or herself and this is because he or she has effects on the performance of the teams that he or she leads. At the same time, it was evident that I was a good relationship manager. Managing relationships in a team is an essential aspect and this is because relationships have the power to build or destroy a team (?ukuši?, Gara?a, & Jadri?, 2014). When the relationships are positive, they have a positive effect on the team but when the relationships are negative, they negatively affect the performance of the team. A leader has an obligation to direct the relationships and therefore having the knowledge to manage relationships means that one is able to run a team effectively.

SWOT Summary

Weaknesses

Some of the weaknesses that I realised were associated with the results and how I love things being done. I realised that I love things done in a perfect way. This is a weakness because there is no possible way that all things can be running smoothly all through. It is essential to note that a team is brought together for two different purposes. One purpose is to deliver the goals and the second purpose is to make sure that the team members learn (Nikou & Economides, 2016). When a leader focuses more on the excellent results, he or she denies the team players an opportunity to grow. After going through my past experiences, I also noted that I am poor in making decisions for others and at the same time, I am poor in engaging in activities that are not associated to the goals that I have an intention of attaining. In some cases, there is a dire need to make the right decisions for people who might not be in the best position to do so (Rosman, Mayer, & Krampen, 2015). However, I realised that I do not like making decisions for others but instead, I like it when people make decisions for themselves. At the same time, I realised that engaging in activities that are not associated with my growth is a challenge. A good leader should also engage in the activities that add value to the fellow team members.

Opportunities

Looking at my strengths and weaknesses, it is evident that each of them can be turned into an opportunity (Artzt, Armour-Thomas, Curcio, & Gurl, 2015). Being a good team player presents me with an opportunity of being a good leader. A good leader associates the team members in different activities within the group. My strengths present me with an opportunity to learn from others and to promote the growth of others. Being accommodative and socially active leaves me in the best position to interact and understand the needs of the team players (Lima, Newall, Kinney, Jordan, & Hamilton, 2014). My weaknesses also present an opportunity for me to promote my growth. Knowing the weakness that one has helps the person to know the best strategies to employ. After knowing the weaknesses, it is no doubt that I am in the best position to turn all the weaknesses into opportunities.

Threats

One of the threats that I have when it comes to working on my weaknesses is the value that I strongly hold. The reason why I hold firm positions on how people should behave and perform is that I have a set of values that have become a habit. For example, I believe that team members should be nurtured but the decision-making process should be solely left to their jurisdiction. In this respect, bending these values is likely to be a challenge (Khoiriyah, Roberts, Jorm, & Van der Vleuten, 2015). I also hold a strong position in pursuing goals and not deviating. Changing this position might become a challenge and that might stop me from turning some of the weaknesses that I have to opportunities.

Diversity

Observing diversity is an opportunity rather than a challenge. Diversity helps one to be accommodative and to make sure that the will of others is factored in the activities of a team. It is for this reason that I believe that looking into issues from a diversity perspective will help me to understand the value that I should place in the well-being of others (Brown, Andrade, & Chen, 2015). One of the weaknesses that I have demonstrated is associated with the zeal to attain positive results. After looking at this issue from a diversity perspective, it would be easier to understand that not all members of a group are supposed to be perfect (French, Colbert, Pien, Dannefer, & Taylor, 2015). As a result, I can compromise some of my strong positions with the aim of accommodating others so that the group can attain positive results. Diversity also presents an opportunity for growth in different ways. Working with people from different backgrounds will help me to understand the needs of a diverse team and that is likely to help me grow when it comes to the process of making effective decisions.

Organisational Fit

In any given organisation, it is evident that there is a need to have team players who have the zeal to make the goals of the company a success (Behlau et al. 2016). Looking at the findings of my research on my behaviours and characteristics, it is evident that I am the type of a leader that would help the company attain its goals. I strive for excellence and that will be an added value for me to work with the company. I have also proved that I am good in managing myself and that means that I will not need to be supervised to achieve the goals of the company (Boud, Lawson, & Thompson, 2015). Therefore, it is no doubt that I see myself working for the organisation in the future.

Conclusion

The characteristics and behaviours of a person affect his or her performance at an organisational level. After taking the self-assessment tests, it was evident that I had strengths and weaknesses. The strengths and weaknesses can, however, be turned into opportunities by looking at the whole issue from the perspective of diversity. The results have demonstrated that I am in the best position to fit in the organization at hand.

References

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