Self Awareness Worksheet
Kristi Lewis Tyran
Organizations frequently facilitate employee self-awareness by engaging in
teambuilding that helps employees understand themselves and others as they work
together. In this class, we use six measures that provide feedback about three personal
dimensions: personal values, cognitive style, and attitudes toward change. We use
measures of these dimensions to provoke thought about how you interact with others in
teams and organizations in general. When analyzing the results of any survey, it is
important to be critical. Remember: the objective is reflection and thoughtprovocation – accuracy of the results is not necessary for you to benefit from the testing
experience! It is important to be critical of the results in terms of how you feel they reflect
your values, personality, attitude, and interaction style.
Below is a summary of each of the self-awareness dimensions we explore, along
with a description of the measures used to enhance reflection on how each individual
interacts in the team setting.
Personal Values: Personal values are the criteria we use for the choices we make.
They help us decide everything from the trivial to the very important. At work and in
teams, our values influence how we interact with others. Our priorities in terms of
relationships versus tasks, quality versus quantity, or time spent at work versus time spent
with family are determined by our values. Our values guide us when we need to make
trade-offs between things we need and want to do when time, funds, and/or opportunities
are limited.
The Rokeach Value Survey provides you with an opportunity to choose and
prioritize among values that will be pertinent to your teamwork. This instrument requires
you to rank order both terminal values (1st list) and instrumental values (2nd list). After
completing this survey, transfer the top five values for each list to the worksheet attached
to this handout.
Cognitive Style: A person’s cognitive style reflects their approach to life in terms of
how they think about situations and act on those thoughts. We primarily think of a
person’s cognitive style as their personality. Knowledge about how your personality is
perceived by others can be very useful when working in a team. It can help you “play to
your strengths” and be aware of what can cause you stress. Your “sensitive line” is the
place where certain situations, people, or behaviors can cause you stress and thus to
behave in ways that are not productive for either yourself or the others involved. Selfawareness of your sensitive line is imperative for effective interaction with others in the
work place.
Understanding the personalities of those you work with is important as well.
Personality tests are frequently used in the workplace to enhance understanding of why
people approach work differently. Many organizations use the following personality tests
in their employee development efforts.
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter 2 assesses your personality from your responses
to an online survey. This personality assessment is modeled after the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI) and will provide you with an analysis of your personality temperament
(one of four) and a 4-letter acronym of your personality type. As with any survey, these
results are based on your responses and may or may not be accurate in your view. Make
sure to read about your temperament and type on the website and reflect on whether or
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not this information is accurate. If the results don’t feel right to you, look at how you scored
on some of the dimensions. Sometimes a change in one dimension can lead you to a
better view of your personality. Take some time to read through the other temperaments
to see if there is another one that is a better fit in your opinion.
The Assertiveness profile is a fun on-line test that can give you some feedback on
how assertive you are with others. If you find this survey intriguing, take the time to pay for
the other more involved (and accurate) assessment at Queendom.com. For this exercise,
however, it is only necessary to take the free test via the link on the worksheet.
The Learning Style Inventory provides feedback about your preferences when
learning from experience. The learning cycle includes four processes: experience,
reflection, planning, and experimentation. Each individual naturally prefers one or more
phase, and in teams, individuals tend to gravitate more toward their preferred learning
process. Understanding your preferences can help you to make efforts to compensate
when working alone or with others.
Attitude Toward Change: In the New Economy, change is not only inevitable, it is
necessary to stay competitive and dynamic in the business world. Understanding how you
cope with change – and various types of change – can help you anticipate issues
surrounding change that may be more challenging for you, and also areas that you can
excel. In teams and organizations, it is often important to take time to plan and implement
changes so that everyone can work more efficiently and effectively. Understanding how
each individual approaches change can help the team or organization as a whole plan
change efforts that all can accept and work toward.
The Tolerance of Ambiguity survey measures how you respond to change – does it
make you uncomfortable, or are you enthusiastic when faced with uncertainty or complex
situations? There are three dimensions measured: Novelty (comfort with new situations),
Complexity (comfort with complex situations), and Insolubility (comfort with problems that
have never been solved before).
Locus of Control indicates a person’s perceptions of the limitations on their abilities
to change the status quo. Individuals with a more external locus of control tend to perceive
the control they have as limited by fate or other external factors. Those who have a more
internal locus of control tend to feel they control their own destiny – they see their own proactivity as instrumental in affecting their future. Understanding your own locus of control –
and those of your teammates – can help you to best facilitate change in your team.
Self Awareness is an essential skill for effective team members, leaders and
managers. Developing self-awareness is a lifelong process, and so periodically reflecting
on your own values, personality, behaviors, and attitudes can be extremely important to
enhancing your own career potential. In addition, as you work in teams in the future,
utilizing self-assessment tools will be a necessary method (frequently required by
organizations) in increasing self- and other-awareness.
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Self-Assessment Worksheet
MBA 516 – Dr. Tyran
Name:
Instructions for all surveys:
Complete and score the four surveys handed out in class, including the Rokeach Value
Survey, Learning Style Inventory, and Tolerance for Ambiguity Scale. Also do the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter II found at www.keirsey.com , the Locus of Control Web Survey (Free) at
http://www.careerdiagnostics.com/surveys/locus_control.htm , and the Assertiveness
Personality Test (Abridged which is Free) at
http://www.queendom.com/queendom_tests/transfer?req=MXw2NzR8NjI2ODk1MnwwfDE=&r
efempt=1 . The scoring instructions are attached to the survey when needed. Follow the
scoring instructions carefully. Complete these 6 tests: Keirsey Temperament Sorter II,
Assertiveness personality profile, Rokeach Value Survey, Learning Style Inventory, Tolerance
of Ambiguity, and Locus of Control. Remember: surveys provide you with information about
yourself, they do not tell you who you are! So be critical in your analysis. This completed
worksheet is due during the 10-12AM class session on June 26th, 2012.
Keirsey Temperament (one of four):
________________________
Keirsey Personality Type (one of sixteen – 4 letter type):
__________________
Rokeach Value Survey
Top 5 Terminal Values (1st list):
1._________________________
2._________________________
3._________________________
4._________________________
5._________________________
Top 5 Instrumental Values (2nd list):
1._________________________
2._________________________
3._________________________
4._________________________
5._________________________
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Assertiveness Personality Profile Score: __________
Learning Style Profile (use map for scoring*): ____________________________________
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Novelty Score
_____
Complexity Score _____
Insolubility Score _____
Total Score
______
Note: Novelty+Complexity+Insolubility = Total
Locus of Control – Total Score _______
Category : _______________________________________________
(click on Find out what your score means to identify your category)
Second Part of the Assignment – the Self Assessment Write-up (Due June 26th at 2PM)
After discussing your results during our class session on self-assessment, you will be asked to
provide a brief, 2-3 page (typed, double-spaced) summary of your perceived skill strengths
and weaknesses based on the assessment above. In your summary, you may use bullets if
you like. I encourage you to integrate the assessment from this assignment with any other
feedback you have received throughout your work and school careers that seems relevant to
develop a summary of your strengths and weaknesses that is insightful and useful.
Criteria for evaluation: Content (Do you address the assignment correctly and completely?)
40%; Integration and Insight (Does your write-up reflect an insightful and thoughtful evaluation
of your strengths and weaknesses?) 40%; Writing and Organization 20%.
Please attach this worksheet to your write-up.
* NOTE: Your preferred learning style is the quadrant on the map with the most area, a mix of two of the
axes (for example, the lower right-hand quadrant would be a mix of RO and AC)