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Reflection and Self-Assessment

Dyan Babbitt
Arizona State University
OGL 482: Organizational Leadership Pro-Seminar II
Professor Trista Guzman Glover
March 18, 2024
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Reflection and Self-Assessment

Being self-aware and having a deeper understanding of myself has been a challenge for

me. As I reflect on my current idea of my identity, I realize that I have never given it too much

thought. I know some of my skills and interests and how I use them in my daily life, but I

wondered if there was a deeper connection to make between my interests and how I act on them.

Using reflection and self-assessments, I have a better understanding of what drives me and how I

can use those findings to create a better environment, at home or work. The next few pages will

discuss several different assessments, with varying purposes, and reflect on how the data relates

to my leadership and life planning.

Section One

The Career Interest Assessment from Kuder provided my results as a Holland Code, mine

was ISE. This Code represents investigative, social, and enterprising as my highest interests.

Reading further, it is clear the assessment was right about my investigative interests and how I

love to learn about physical and biological processes and how they work (Kuder, n.d.). I also

scored in the social area which at first made me question the results. After reading a bit further,

the example was being confident in growing and developing relationships and helping others

succeed. This ties closely with my interest in leading people and wanting them to grow in their

leadership. The last type I matched with was enterprising. This type was focused on leadership

and sales and being able to solve problems with social leadership. I relate this type with my

ability to listen to my team and be a point of contact for any problems or issues that might be

happening. I do think I can persuade people to purchase items they wouldn’t normally buy, but

only if I am knowledgeable about the item.

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Besides the style results, I was also given a list of occupations to explore. At first

glance, I see that my Holland Code, ISE, was not represented in this list. There were several

listed like water resource specialists and fire- prevention and protection engineers. I can’t see

myself in those careers currently, but they do sound interesting as they offer space to research

and test theories and experiments. Intelligence Analyst did sound interesting. I never thought of

this occupation, but I would assume that there are many exciting opportunities to gather

information from databases to help with justice. I do think the recommendations from this

assessment missed the mark. I would have liked to see some careers more suited to my Holland

Code as none matched exactly. Taking these results and turning them into useful tools takes a bit

more work.

As far as the findings in this assessment are concerned, I think it was helpful to align

what I am doing now with my deeper interests. As I read about the self-assessment process, I

learned that the final step in this process is taking the data and identifying job implications that

also align with the themes of the data (Harrington & Hall, 2007, p.58). Based on my results, I

would be happy in a position where I could gather information, create connections with my team,

and have confidence in my leadership and persuasion skills. Interest-based assessments can help

someone who doesn’t have a clear sense of self to determine what they like. Someone could say

they like people but are lacking the skills necessary for effective communication. The assessment

might say they are better suited for analytical work than customer service. I imagine students

would use these assessments to help them identify what to do after school and where they would

fit in. I recall taking assessments early in my degree journey, but I believe as I near graduation,

they hold a bit more weight for me.

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Section 2

The Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment provided some different results than the career

interest assessment. I got Social, Enterprising, and Conventional on this assessment. While the

career interest and skills assessment from Kuder uses the same type of examples, the addition of

the conventional skill means solving problems using established rules, practices, and procedures

(Career Assessment, n.d.). I immediately think of my current role as a supervisor at Starbucks. We

have certain policies and procedures that are vital to the proper functioning of the store. We use

tools that are standardized across the board to solve problems in the moment. While this provides

an even playing field across the board, not everyone enjoys playing by the rules. Combining my

other scored types, social and enterprising, I would say I can take those tools and find ways to

make them easier to manage for my team. Values also play a role in this delicate dance as a

leader.

The work values assessment results were no surprise to me. Workplace and coworkers

were the first two listed, and with good reason. I pride myself on taking care of the team and

making sure the workplace is a safe space for everyone. Valuing my environment and fostering

connections with my coworkers allows for a more productive workforce. Placing these values

high on my list shows me that finding a career that meets these values might be tricky. It will be

hard to tell if a workplace meets these requirements before accepting the role.

Looking back on my core competencies from OGL 481, I can see there are similarities.

Some of the competencies from OGL 481 detailed in my electronic portfolio are empathy and

team dynamics and collaboration. I believe those two can tie in with my interests and skills from

the above assessments. Empathy ties into the social type as described in my results. Being able to

grow and develop human connections, especially in leadership, you must be able to show
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empathy for your team. Fostering team dynamics and collaboration also means I must want to

achieve organizational goals so the whole team can be successful. While the skills listed in the

results do not perfectly align with the competencies learned in OGL 481, there are similarities

and clear overlapping ideas. While being aware of your skills is very helpful, taking assessments

can help you analyze them.

As our text states, skills tell you what you can do and how well you can do it (Harrison &

Hall, 2007, p. 37). Using skills assessments can help you narrow your skills and help guide you

in your career path. To me, this looks like me currently back in school at age 34 because I

needed to better myself. I have a great leadership skill set, but I know I could use more

knowledge and insight. I am also working on taking a course focused on human resources so I

can grow my skills to be better suited to my goal career. Being able to assess myself honestly

and move forward to advance or deepen my knowledge will also carry over and move my life

forward. Self-assessment doesn’t always have to be about an online quiz either. Using my past

experiences, I can reflect on things I enjoyed, that weren’t necessarily skills, and turn them into

hobbies for work/life balance.

At the beginning of my degree journey, I took OGL 220- Behavioral Dynamics in

Organizations. This class was full of assessments and one that stood out for me was a values

assessment. I do not remember the name of the assessment itself, and because it was filled out on

a worksheet, I am missing some of the details. However, it is clear from that worksheet that my

top three instrumental values were honesty, broad-minded, and courage. My top three terminal

values were salvation, happiness, and family security. I found these results to still be valid. I am

open-minded to others’ views or opinions, and I like to take input from others at work. Honesty

is something I strive for in my relationships and in my work life, which is such an improvement
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from when I was younger. I found it very insightful to look back at my old work and find

assessments that still rang true four years later.

Section 3

The Motivation and Careers Assessment gave me two career anchors. My primary anchor

is managerial competence and my secondary anchor is security, stability, and organizational

identity. Without reading into the results, I can see that there was a clear gap between managerial

incompetence with a 60 and the lowest 49, lifestyle integration. Looking at the results, the first

example is climbing the corporate ladder, which is the reason I am getting my bachelor's to move

up from retail at Starbucks. Another mention of managerial incompetence is excelling in

analytical competence, interpersonal competence, and emotional competence. I would say this is

accurate because I am always trying to be better with my emotions and how I manage my stress

at work. I think getting this result as my primary anchor makes me happy because of all the work

and emotion I put into leading my teams. I wouldn’t say I do the best job, but I enjoy working

with people.

My secondary anchor was security, stability, and organizational identity. I think this is an

accurate secondary choice because it ties in well with my primary. Security and stability in my

job have caused me to have a strong tie to the organization. I enjoy what we do, I enjoy the

people, and I enjoy learning about coffee along the way. Unfortunately, as time passes, the

company has started shifting in a direction that doesn’t align with my values and beliefs and I

might have to decide soon regarding that. Again, I love to hear that loyalty comes up in the

results. It almost makes me feel that I am doing the right work and that what I am doing is

working.
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Lifestyle integration was my lowest scoring anchor at 49. This probably should be a

higher number for work/life balance. As I read the results, it makes clear sense that I am lacking

in the recreation/ social department. I know I have an issue with this because a lot of my time is

spent either at work, at a computer doing classwork, or maintaining the household. I do have my

little family and we do things on the weekends, but I feel we could be doing more to create a

better balance for all of us. My husband, my son, and my newborn daughter keep me busy and

there is never a dull moment in my personal life. I would love to incorporate more outside

activities to be active with my whole family. I think seeing the results and how low I scored on

this aspect; I should probably start incorporating more balance soon. I have requested to work a

later shift [not 3 am] when I return from leave, and I think that is a great step in creating balance.

During OGL 365, The Integrated Worker, there was a module about having a work/life

balance. While the topic I chose to experiment with was trying not to take a nap during the day,

analyzing my needs and how a shift in priorities would help in various aspects of my work and

personal life. I found myself taking naps almost every day and they lasted over an hour most

days. This was hindering me from completing tasks at home or even being able to go outside in

the sun. I would use the excuse of having to pick my son up later as the reason I would try to

nap. They ended up making me less productive and lazy the rest of the night. Assessing my

actions and finding the pros and cons helped me see that a change was needed to thrive in other

areas of my life. This motivational assessment showed me what I need to work on as well as

what I am doing right in my leadership journey.

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Section 4

For the remainder three assessments, I chose to take the DISC personality test, the Big 5

personality test, and the Jung Typology Test. I recall taking a few of these in the past and I

remember them being very informative. The DISC results stated that I am 32% dominant and

42% influence. I agree with that mixture. As for influence, I am sociable, have interpersonal

skills and I think I am outgoing and enthusiastic (Disc personality test, n.d.). For dominance, I

agree that I am results-oriented and can be assertive at times (Disc personality test, n.d.). I feel

that this was spot on and another kudos that I know myself well.

The Big 5 personality test was a little different than the one I took last. I scored highest in

natural reactions with a 66. I found this a little off-putting because the explanations are about

feeling negative emotions, anxiety, and stress. I feel that maybe as I get closer to my goal of

graduation and then job hunting, I have become worried about how others will see me. I do have

stress, but not significantly higher than ‘normal’ stress. The second highest was extraversion.

With a middle score of 47, I feel that it is a good mix of quiet and reserved with outgoing and

friendliness (Personality Test, n.d.). I also think at times I want to hide from being a leader while at

others I want to take the reign.

The last of the three assessments I took on my own accord was the Jung Typology Test.

The results I was given were E (16%) N (16%) F (31%) and J (1%). These numbers represent my

slight preference for extroversion and intuition over introversion and sensing. It also states that I

have a moderate preference for feeling over thinking with no preference for judging over

perceiving (Discover Your Personality Type, n.d.). The result explanations describe my personality

type as having the power to persuade but not meant as manipulation. I think this helps in my line

of work currently as a retail employee. I used to sell vitamins to wealthy people, and I was good
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at it, I thought it was because I knew the product well, but it might just be who I am. The results

mention a bit of clutter in their offices but not in their interpersonal affairs (Discover Your

Personality Type, n.d.). I find this extremely accurate as I have several things accessible if I am in

a deep working mode. I am also good at keeping conversations going with customers across

multiple days. I think that helps build relationships and trust among people, which is very

important for me.

Conclusion

As I think back through all the assessments I have taken, the one that was the most useful

was the Motivation and Careers Assessment. I found the information to be supportive of how I

see myself as well as providing reassurance that I am doing the right work in my leadership role.

While I understand that my role can change, the motivators in my work life will always resemble

leadership. I plan to always lead with people in mind while maintaining a social aspect to create

effective and solid relationships. Throughout my OGL journey, I have learned that I have skills

that can be developed while maintaining my core values and interests. These assessments were

able to help me reflect on the data and use the information for life planning and my leadership.
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References

Career Assessment, Pathways Planning System Login: Kuder journey. Kuder Journey®. (n.d.).
https://journey.kuder.com/my-assessments/skills-confidence-assessment-results?
ID=29776666

Career Readiness & Assessments. Kuder. (n.d.). https://kuder.com/

Discover your personality type. HumanMetrics. (n.d.).

https://www.humanmetrics.com/personality

Disc personality test. 123test. (n.d.). https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

Harrington, B. & Hall, D.T. (2007). Career management and work-life integration: Using self-assessment
to navigate contemporary careers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Personality test. 123test. (n.d.). https://www.123test.com/personality-test/