Improving Attitudes and Personality Traits

* I step forward and take charge in leaderless situations

* I’m dependable; when I say I will do something, it’s done well and on time.

* I think well under pressure with problem solving and love to motivate and positively help others to do the same

Areas to Improve:

* Need for power, I always feel the need to take charge and control; I feel ideas are always the more sensible one

* I am sometimes emotionally unstable; my feelings are all over the place

* I become negative and complain when things don’t go as I planned

I feel my number one area of improvement would be #1, my need for power and to be in control at all times. My husband is someone is quick to point out my need to control and run everything and that I don’t listen and downplay his ideas. Furthermore, I run an in home daycare so I don’t interact much with people to get their ideas. In this personality flaw of mine I can combine my strength of being a leader and continue applying it at all times but practice being more sensitive to other people’s views. I can learn convey a better interest in other people ideas, be flexible and open to negotiation. So I think my best time to try and implement my plans is in February when my husband returns from deployment. We normally unwind and recap our day and discuss business between 7-8pm, right before we get ready for bed. At that time when my husband expresses any ideas that he have, I will try to be more sensitive, and optimistic to his views.

Another weakness of mine would be that I can sometimes become emotionally unstable and my feelings can go from “0-60” within seconds depending on different situations. With looking at the fact that I need a clear head as a leader, some things that I could do in this situation is to use my strength of thinking well under pressure to help me keep in frustrating circumstances; “to have high levels of self-awareness, maturity and self-control, having the ability to handle setbacks as well as enjoying success with equal parts of joy and humility. Leaders who lead with both their head and heart encourage and promote teamwork, collaboration and motivation among their people”. (Real Leadership based on Emotional Intelligence)

My last area of self-improvement would be that I become negative and complain when things don’t go as I planned. I pride myself and rate myself on my achievements a lot. There are so many things that I want to do with my career, leader, and manager. And sometimes when there are setbacks I get discouraged. This has been a battle of mine for a while. After giving this trait some thought, I think the one strength that I can utilize in this flaw is to focus on doing a good job on the tasks that I can complete. “Consciously try to have and maintain a positive, optimistic attitude. I also need to realize that there are few, if any, benefits to negative, pessimistic attitudes about others” and myself. (Leadership: Theory, Application, and Skill Development, chapter 1, Robert N. Lussier, Ph.D., Christopher F. Achua, D.B.A) And most importantly, I should start avoiding negative people. I often notice when I talk to family members and friends who are having bad days and they are complaining; I tend to mimic their behavior.

With my last two areas of improvement, the best way to implement changing them is to set short term goals. I know with accomplishing this goal, I would need to take it day by day. And I think the best time to start practicing this is on this upcoming Sunday (11/4/12). My parents will be in town visiting me for 3 days and so for the next 3 days, I will not complain about my life or career and try to maintain a calm emotion that doesn’t include blowing up at my family or crying over things that I have no control over.

References:

Leadership: Theory, Application, and Skill Development, chapter 1, Robert N. Lussier, Ph.D., Christopher F. Achua, D.B.A, 2007 Real Leadership based on Emotional Intelligence, http://www.centreofexcellence.ie/Sectors/SFA/SFANCEDocLib.nsf/441763b04b0320b68025722e003fb55a/bc12f53469df45728025722e003f060f/$FILE/Emotional%20Intelligence.pdf