"He that would govern others, must first master himself". What a powerful words by Massinger!
Mastering oneself is true power. Being self-aware is true power.
It is important to understand key factors of our own strengths, inclinations and styles. Are there any scientifically validated information that link self-awareness to managerial success we can evaluate?
Self-acceptance and self-awareness affect our psychological health, personal growth and ability to accept others. But... We can't improve ourselves if we do not know what capabilities we possess. Individuals who are self-aware are healthier and more successful.
Are we avoiding personal growth in a fear of finding out some painful truth? In reality, we deny our own greatness because it is often uncomfortable.
Understanding ourself is the path to advancement.
We need to be able to understand the sensitive line, at which we are being protective and defensive of the truth. How often do we feel the need to defend ourselves? Others judging us may cross sometimes that sensitive line. When we face uncomfortable situations we become rigid psychologically and emotionally. Our body tightens.
Ask for feedback!
Information that is predictable and controllable is less likely to cross the line. If we, for example, ask for the information the feedback is more likely accepted. We already validate our own information about ourselves, but as we seek honesty we can gain very useful insights.
People can help us to gain self-understanding. Self-disclosure, is therefore, essential for our own understanding of ourselves. We can analyse ourselves for weeks or meditate for months, but we must first open to another person. It can be very helpful to discuss our insights with someone else and not in isolation.
Low self-disclosures are less healthy. Those people who are high-disclosers are liked the best. Insufficient disclosure results in less acceptance of others.
We can control what type of information we receive and this way involve others in our self-understanding.
The differences
Another important part of self-awareness is that we can process important information about others. Seeing those differences makes us better managers and leaders. It is important to recognise certain differences in the way we manage others.
Self-awareness allows us to determine our thoughts, assumptions, sensitive lines, comfort zones, strengths and weaknesses. This way we may recognise value in which we can contribute value in different situations.
Seeing the differences in others helps us being better managers. People like being around who are like them. Managing diversity can be very rewarding. Diversity brings productivity.
To manage organisations effectively we must focus on differences and not distinctions. Recognising differences allows us to take advantage of their contributions.
Seeing differences, however, cannot occur in isolation. We need to engage and sharing and trusting conversations.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to correctly diagnose manage our own emotions and relationships with others. It is more powerful then IQ, technical expertise and predicting success in life.
The topic of emotional intelligence become very popular in recent years.
Science says that everything can be measured through our emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence refers to recognising our own emotions, control them as well as recognising emotions of others and rect to them appropriately. It can be enhanced with practice. We can change the level of our emotional intelligence. Emotionally intelligent people are less likely to brow up and lose control. Less likely to experience anxiety and depression. They remain in control of their emotions and aware of them.
They are also able to accurately diagnose others feelings. Emotionally intelligent people can share and understand others feelings, not necessarily having previously experiencing them before themselves.
They have ability to connect and understand others feelings, even if they have never experienced them before. They do not need to be depressed themselves to understand depression of others. They response appropriately to the emotions of others, with the same intensity. They support and encourage emotional expressions. If others are happy, they are happy too.They are not manipulated on their feelings and responses. They remain personal control over their responses.
Don't you think that our emotional intelligence deteriorated over the years? This can be easily judged by the amount of litigations, bullying, harassments and number of divorces.
Emotional intelligence in business, however is a power that leads to successful management. It is far more important then the IQ. IQ have almost nothing to do with life success. Emotional intelligence, on another side, has more predictive results. Studies suggest (Feist and Barron, 1996) that emotional intelligence is four times more important then the IQ to determine achievements in a career.
Studies also suggest that those who engage in more social interactions have higher emotional intelligence. It is always a good idea to attend classes, join groups and expand our networking activities. It has been found an important precedence of managerial success.
A research at PepsiCo found that the managers with high emotional intelligence outperform other managers by 15 or even 20%.
Emotional intelligence assessment test
You should answer the questions for yourself without discussing with others. I will present you with three stories and in each to choose one decision. You will also need to rate an importance of each question about the story. After you have completed your ratings, select four most important questions and rank them from one to four.
If you cannot make sense of a statement mark it 5 of no importance.
The assessment was adapted from Narvez, Thoma and Bebeau (1999).
Rating scale
1 - Of great importance - crucial in making decision about the problem
2 - Of much importance - major factor in making a decision
3 - Of some importance - something you care about, but of not a great importance
4 - Of little importance - not very important to consider
5 - Of no importance - completely unimportant in making a decision
Story 1
A man has been sentenced to prison for 10 years. He escaped from prison after 1 years and took a name of Thompson. For 9 years he worked hard and started his own business. He was fair, paid good wages and gave much profits to charity. One day, a neighbour recognised him.
What should the neighbour do?
........ Report him
........Can't decide
........Not report him
Score your importance
Hasn't Mr Thompson been good enough for long enough to prove he is not a bad person?
Every time when someone escapes punishment for crime, it encourages more crime?
Wouldn't we be better without prisons?
Has Mr Thompson really paid his debt to society?
Would society be failing what Mr Thompson should fairly expect?
What benefit would prison be apart from society, especially for a charitable men?
How can someone be so cruel to send Mr Thompson to prison?
Would it be fair to prisoners who have to serve out their full sentences if Mr Thompson is let off?
Was Mt Jones a good friend of Mr Thompson?
Wouldn't it be a citizens duty to report an escaped criminal, regardless of the circumstances?
How would the will of the public good best be served?
Would going to prison would do any good to Mt Thompson or protect anyone?
From the list of questions above select the four most important.
Story 2
A women was dying of incurable cancer. She had about six months to live. She was in a terrible amount of pain, but large doses of morphine would kill her. She was delirious with pain. In some periods she would ask doctor to give her enough morphine to kill her.
What should the doctor do?
....... Give her overdose that will make her die
.......Can't decide
.......Don't give her the overdose
Score your importance
Is the women's family in favour of giving her the overdose?
Is the doctor obliged by the same laws as anybody else?
Would people be better off without society regimenting their lives and even their deaths?
Should the doctor make the women's death from drug overdose appear to be an accident?
Does the state have the right to force continued existence of those who don't want to live?
What is the value of death prior to society's perspective on personal values?
Should the doctor have sympathy for the women's suffering, or should he care for what society might think?
Is helping to end another's life ever a responsible act of cooperation?
Can only God decide when the person's life should end?
What values has the doctor set for himself in his own personal code of behaviour?
Can society afford to let anybody and his or her life whenever he or she desires?
Can society allow suicide or mercy killing to protect the life of individuals who want to live?
From the list of questions above, select the four most important.
Story 3
Rami, a senior in high school wanted to publish a newspaper for students so that he could express his opinions. He wanted to speak up against military build-up and some of the school rules.
Rami asked his principal for permission under the condition that before publishing Rami would submit the paper for principal approval. In he next two weeks two newspapers were approved.
Rami's newspaper have received a lot of attention. Students started organising protests against the government and other school rules. Parents objected to Rami's opinions. The principal have wondered whether he should let Rami to publish his opinions.
What should principal do?
....... Stop Rami's newspaper
.......Can't decide
.......Don't stop it
Rate the questions
Is the principal more responsible to the students or to the parents?
Did the principal give his word that the newspaper will be published for a long time, or did he just promise to approve the newspaper?
Would the students start protesting even more if the principal stopped the newspaper?
When the welfare of the school is threatened, does the principal have the right to give orders to students?
Does the principal have the freedom of speech to say no in this case?
If the principal stopped the newspaper, would he be preventing full discussion of important problems?
Would the principal's stop order would make Rami loose faith in him?
Is Rami really loyal to his school and patriotic to his country?
What effect the stopping of paper would have on the student's education in critical thinking and judgement?
Is Rami in any way violating the rights of others in publishing his own opinions?
Should the principal be influenced by some angry parents when the principal is the one who knows best what is good for the school?
Is Rami using the newspaper to steer-up hate?
From the list of questions above, select the four most important.
There are no right or wrong answers. Your scores will allow you to identify your areas of strengths as well as aspects of emotional intelligence that you can pursue to become more capable.
Personal values
Our personal values also play important role. They are at the core of our behaviours. Personal development in the area of values makes us better managers and leaders. It connects the ethical decisions.
Values help define our morality and our conception of what is "good". These are, unfortunately often taken for granted. People are often unaware that they hold some values.
Nationalities, ethics groups, industries or organisations have their own values. Many managers are now also lead teams across many national boundaries. Knowing these different values will allow us to manage others more effectively.
Cultural values can define how individuals refer to other people. For example United States, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland express values called universalism. These are the universal standards: not lie, cheat, run at red light.
Korea, China, Indonesia express Particularism where individual relationships are valued.
People of universalistic cultures are likely to refuse people of particularistic cultures.
Source: "Riding the waves of culture", Thrompenaars and Hampden-Turner (2011)
Collectivism is when the emphasis is on the group and on joining with others. If we asked Eastern Europeans (Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary) most of them would agree that individual credit is to be achieved, where Asians ( apan, India, Nepal) would value the collective efforts more.
Another dimension refers to displaying of feelings in public. There is an affective versus neutral orientation. Iran, Spain, France, Switzerland would value more to show emotions openly. During business relationships there would be much laughter, anger and intense passion. Cultures with neutral cultures are more rational and stoic in their approach to problem solving. An average manager in Japan, Ethiopia or Hong-Kong would refuse to show emotions publicly. Kuwait, Egypt or Spanish managers would not refuse.
Another dimensions - specificity versus diffusion describes the differences between cultures that segregate the different roles in life to maintain privacy and personal autonomy. Some cultures separate work relationships and personal relationships. Some people will be harder to work with as they keep a boundary between their personal life and work life. People with diffuse values seem to share personal information freely.
The fifths dimension looks at cultures that emphasise achievement versus aspiration. In some cultures people acquire high status based on their achievements ( United States, Canada, Austria, Norway), wheres in others status is defined by age, gender, family heritage or ethical background ( Egypt, Indonesia, Korea, Czech Republic) where more value is put upon the task on hand and being true to ourselves then achievement.
The sixth dimension relates to how people manage their time. The emphasis in on the present, past or future. Some cultures value past and traditions ( United Kingdom, France, Japan) and others place more emphasis on the future then the past ( United States, Holland). These differences also relate to short-term or long-tern goals. Some people think in terms of minutes and hours and some months and years.
The final dimension focusses on internal or external control. Some consider individuals to be in control of their actions and desires ( United States, Canada, United Kingdom). In others, external forces control what happen. Managers often deal with people from different countries and its worth to understand those differences. Stereotyping can be misleading.
Each organisation also have their own organisational cultures. Researches show that those who have their own values aligned with the business values are more productive and effective.
Personal values
Each individual also has certain personal values relating to morality and competency. For managers these often relate to sense of accomplishment. However, studies suggest that those managers who pursue more humanistic values (compassion, humility, trust, kindness) tend to succeed more.
Individuals also differ in the level of values maturity developed. People progress from one level of maturity to another and their priorities change. These will drive the process of decision making.
This was studied by Kohlberg (1981).
Source: Kohlberg (1981)
The stages are sequential as presented in the table above and represent the higher level of maturity.
The pre-conventional level of maturity focuses on personal need on the consequences of an act. Most children operate within this level of maturity. These individuals see rules and norms as outside of themselves.
Level 2 - conventional level relates to conformity to rules of society. It emphasises the conformance to rules and laws.
The last and most advanced level - post-conventional level - where judgements are based on core values. These values are comprehensive, consistent and universal. Only few people meet this higher levels according to the author.
Becoming more in values requires individuals to develop set of internal principles which govern our behaviour. The more discussion is within the values and principles, the more development is noticed in their maturity.
Ethical decision making
The understanding of the level of maturity will have implications for ethical decision making. Majority of public things that managers are goal-oriented and dishonest. Even if companies have written codes of conducts, researches established that they have a little influence on the managerial behaviour. Almost every day we hear in the news of some unethical behaviour in business.
Many managers also feel that they have to compromise their own personal standards to meet business goals. There are conflicts between maximising economic performance and the social performance of the organisation.
You can test your own values with the below proposed standards through answering few questions.
Would I be embarrassed if my decision become a headline in the local newspaper? Would I be comfortable describing my actions to and decisions to customers or shareholders?
Would I be willing to be treated in the same manner?
Are the dignity and liberty of others preserved by this decision? Is the basic humanity of the affected parties enhanced? Are their opportunities expanded?
Are the rights, welfare and betterment of minorities and lower status people given full consideration? Does this decision benefits those with privilege but without merit?
Is an opportunity for personal gain clouding my judgement? Would I make the same decision if the outcome would not benefit me in any way?
Is this decision or action consistent with my personal principles? Does it violate the spirit of any norms and laws?
Can the procedures used to make these decision stand up to scrutiny to those affected?
Does a benefit for some cause unacceptable harm to others? Hoe critical is the benefit. Can the harmful effect be mitigated?
Whether or not anyone else knows about my action, will it produce a good night sleep?
Does this represents the best of human condition or the highest aspirations to which human beings aspire?
Cognitive style
Cognitive style refers to inclination each of us to perceive, interpret and respond to information in certain way. We have specific manners in which we gather and process information.
Cognitive styles are not the same as personality styles. They relate to information and learning we have developed over time. We may test the style in terms of knowing, planning and creating through below exercise.
Cognitive style indicator
Here, you can assess the way you gather and process information. Adapted from Colls E. and H. van den Broeck ( 2007). There are, again, no wrong and right answers. The more honest answers, the more accurate results.
Use the following scale to respond to each question:
Totally disagree
Disagree
Neither agree or disagree
Agree
Totally agree
Questions and statements
Developing a clear plan is very important to me.
I like to contribute to innovative solutions.
I always want to know what should be done and when.
I prefer to look at creative solutions.
I want to have a full understanding of a problem.
I like detailed action plans.
I am motivated by ongoing innovation.
I like to analyse problems.
I prefer a clear structure to do my job.
I like a lot of variety in my life.
I engage in detailed analyses.
I prefer well planned meetings with a clear agenda.
New ideas attract me more then existing solutions.
I study each problem until I understand the underlying logic.
I make definite appointments and follow-up meticulously.
I like to extend the boundaries.
A good task is a well prepared task.
I try to avoid routine.
Individuals who score high on the knowing style tend to emphasise facts and data. They seek clear and objective solutions to problems. They are careful with their decisions. They are inclined in career in technology, engineering and law.
Individuals who score high in the planning style produce agendas and guidelines. They have systematic solutions and are well prepared. They are thinking through problems to seek solutions. They prefer analytical problems, readings and lectures. They tend to major in economics, accounting, operation, mathematics, engineering and medicine, informational science and research fields. They like to gather information.
Individuals with high creating style tend to experiment. They seek uniqueness and novelty. They are comfortable with ambiguity. Rules and procedures are viewed as obstacles and they may appear disorganised. They are imaginative and emotional. They thrive in art, history, political science, English and psychology, marketing and human resources.
No matter what problem we face, we use certain cognitive style to approach it. These can create differences in decision making of the managers. Cognitive styles, however, do not influence intelligence and competence. Knowing our style can be of advantage. It helps which field of study would be compatible and enhance our decision making.
We also change them as we engage in different activities.
Attitudes towards change
We should be aware of our attitude towards change. The environment is which we operate tends to be more chaotic and complex.
The first important indicator is the tolerance of ambiguity. We asked to make decisions with limited information and we cope with those situations in different ways. Individuals with high tolerance express more complexity in their cognitive thinking. They are open to new information. We can check and test our level of tolerance with below exercise.
Tolerance of ambiguity
This assessment will help you better understand how comfortable you are with situations that appear ambiguous. Honest and realistic responses are essential.
Adapted from Bunder ( 1962).
Rating scale
Strongly disagree.
Moderately disagree
Slightly disagree
Neither agree or disagree
Slightly agree
Moderately agree
Strongly agree
Questions and statements
1. An expert who doesn't come up with a definite answer probably doesn't know too much.
2. I would like to live in a foreign country for a while.
3. There are really no such thing as a problem that can't be solved.
4. People who fit their lives to a schedule probably miss most of the joy of living.
5. A good job is one when what is to be done and how it is to be done is always clear.
6. It is more fun to tackle a complicated problem then to solve a simple one.
7. In a log run it is possible to get more done, by tackling small simple problems, rather then a large and more complicated ones.
8. Often the most stimulating and interesting people are those who don't mind being different and original.
9. What we are used to is always preferable to what is unfamiliar.
10. People who insist upon a yes or no answer just don't know how complicated things really are.
11, A person who leads an event, a regular life in which few surprises or unexpected happenings arise really have a lot to be grateful for.
12. Many of our most important decisions are based upon insufficient information.
13. I like parties when I know most of the people, more then ones where all or most of the people are completely strangers.
14. Teachers or supervisors who had our value assessments give one chance to show initiative and individuality.
15. The sooner we will acquire similar values and ideas the better.
16. A good teacher is one who makes you wonder about your way of looking at things.
In general, the more we are tolerant to novelty and complexity the more successful we are as managers. Most of us also can learn to be more tolerant. The first step would be to determining where we are.
We often receive reinforcements and able to change attitude. We interpret feedback and either process it as an internal control or factors beyond our control. Studies show that managers with internal locus of control are more satisfied with their work, are healthier and experience less stress. Internals tend to outperform externals in work situations. But this cannot always be positive in terms of attitude. Internals are less likely to comply with leaders and have more difficulty at arriving at decisions. No matter on whether we are the internals or externals we can always be great managers.
Both tolerance of ambiguity and locus of control have been found to influence managerial control.
Core self-evaluation
Every person is unique and has their own personality. We have control over it. We often talk about the Big Five: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.
Core self-evaluation is referred to positive self-regard. It is wired around our self-esteem, self-efficacy, neuroticism and locus of control. The exercise below will allow us to determine where we stand.
Core self-evaluation scale
Research has identified four core elements of self-evaluation. Below are several statements with which you may agree or disagree.
Adapted from T. Judge, A.Erez., J Bono and C. Thoerson (2003).
Rating scale
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
Statements
I am confident, I get the success I deserve it life.
Sometimes I feel depressed.
When I try, I generally succeed.
Sometimes when I fail, I feel worthless.
I complete tasks successfully.
Sometimes I do not feel in control of my work.
Overall, I am satisfied with myself.
I am filled with doubts about my competence.
I determine what will happen in my life.
I do not fill in control of my success in my career.
I am capable in coping with most of my problems.
There are times when things look pretty hopeless to me.
When people view themselves in positive way they also seem to perform effectively and feel control in different circumstances. They feel emotionally stable.
We meet people who are narcissistic and self-centred. These people are insensitive to others. When threatened, they emphasise winning and getting their way. They need to be in the spotlight and are manipulative in relationships to others. They are simply, selfish people.
Positive core evaluation means being sensitive to others and working on building relationships rather then destroying them. It is also strongly related to job performance. When people develop a positive self-regard they tend to function better at work, relationships and in life.
Summary
Understanding our morale and conducting self-awareness training at work can benefit organisations in many different dimensions. It helps to reduce conflicts and brings productivity.
We not only manage ourselves but also understand the differences in others. This can be a very valuable tool to develop empathy.
We should try to identify our sensitive line, see and understand what offends us. It is also helpful to identify some universal principles in which we can base our behaviour. We can also try to expand our cognitive style, tolerance of ambiguity and our internal locus of control. We can enhance our emotional intelligence by continuously observing our emotions, working on self-control and understanding emotions of others. Its helpful to develop a positive self-evaluation and capitalise on our personal strengths. Keeping journal could be a great start.
References
Cools E., and H. van de Broeck. (2007), "Development and validation of the Cognitive Style Indicator", Journal of Psychology
Feist, G., J. and F. Barron ( 1996) "Emotional intelligence and academic intelligence in career and life success", San Francisco
Judge, T. A., A. Erez.,J. E. Bono. and C. J. Thoerson (2003) " The core self-evaluation scale. Development of a measure", Journal of personality and social psychology.
Kohlberg L. (1981) "Essey in moral development", New York, pp.409-412
Narwez, Thoma and Bebau (1999) " Adopted from Rest"
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