Attitude and Core Value Army Insights

As indicated by the McGraw-Hill Connect Assessment, there are numerous dimensions of organizational and personal behaviors that are assessed dependent on a series of survey questions. These questions are defined to react to the different types of qualities and personal characteristics. Learning from this experience in taking the surveys with allow me to become a better leader within any organization I am a part of. With learning these traits, there will also be new things that I find out about myself while leading a business. Most evaluations give essential bits of knowledge to how one's identity, character, and conduct demonstrates an impression/reflection of their ethics, measures, values, and qualities. It is critical to take note of the after effects of said evaluation with the goal for anybody to buy in to their own potential. In doing as such, this evaluation and assessment can reduce the negative things that can come up while working or leading within an area where there is little to no interest in the subject. The assessment allowed me to question my leadership and identify areas in which are in need of change. Additionally, some of these surveys will not have much influence on my behavior within the workplace due to them not having to apply within the Army.

The big five personality dimensions demonstrates the diverse attributes inside individuals of their identity and how they mean to work. The Myers-Briggs Big Five is expressed as being “extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience” (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018). The assessment taken through the McGraw-Hill Connect allowed me to consider myself as an extrovert which was no surprise given my career as an Army Recruiter. I often work very effectively in a group setting due to the many other perspectives that can be gained. The first question in this survey called for my attitude toward teamwork. Scoring out of 50 points, I was very high and have a positive attitude when working in a team setting (McGraw-Hill Connect Assessment, 2018).

Core values have been embedded in me since childhood. My parents constantly expected a lot out of me being the oldest brother of five siblings. Additionally, being in the Army only continued to grow and foster my core values. The Army values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity and personal courage. These values allow me to be an effective leader within my organization by applying these values every day. The McGraw-Hill Connect Assessment identified my organization ranged from the medium to high volume of leadership, processes, TQM and employee awareness. These scores included 12 out of 12 points, along with 17 out of 20 points recorded within the assessment. Additionally, in my organization the acceptance of TQM helps ensure my vision and career plans are enacted upon. My career plan and personal vision were very high on the identity spectrum meeting a score of 75 out of 80 points.

Motivation is the processes that underlie direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior or thought (Kinicki & Fugate, 2018). Motivation is an area to which I am most known for throughout my organization. When I come to work, I make sure I create the environment where everyone is motivated. This could be another reason why I am an extrovert and I feed off of the motivation and interaction of others. Additionally, I am constantly pushing others within my organization to accomplish their goals. Being in the Army, it is a necessity that confident and competent leaders are placed into key leadership roles so that they can be effective in leading other Soldiers to be the best people that they can be. My score on this assessment was not surprising being 50 out of 50 points. Leading enables oneself to teach those around him/her making them the best people that they can be.

This area in my organization is an area where every Soldier beneath me has a role to play. If there us a problem, we brainstorm and use effective problem-solving techniques to overcome any problem. Being the Leader in my Recruiting office, I have the ability to lead the way I want to which additionally allows me to hear everyone’s opinion on every matter and problem we face. The assessment rated me at 56 out of the 70 possible points which shows my organization allows for everyone to express their opinion freely. Of course, there are times especially in the Army where there must be a fast execution on specific tasks and there is no room for negotiation or talking. However, most of the time everyone is allowed to brainstorm as a group.

Most organizations can agree that communication is one of the most important keys for success. However, communication is only as good as the people executing and abiding by the polices organizations place on it. Alongside communication, active listening skills are a critical application to communication. Scoring a total of 64 points out of 80 implies that I have an orientation towards Theory Y perspective of employees. This implies that I trust and believe employees are capable of accepting responsibility and hold value within the organization.

Leadership abilities in my opinion completely rely on the ability to effectively plan, motivate, coordinate and execute tasks to subordinates while giving them proper direction. The closeness or cohesiveness of a team is one of the ways in which goals can be obtained. Mechanistic organizations have a tendency to lean towards centralized authority, where rules and tasks are clearly defined, and where employees are in an environment where they are closely supervised. An organization which is highly mechanistic could be any branch of the U. S. Military. Organic organizations have decentralized authority, having far fewer rules and procedures, and expect employees to be able to cooperate and respond quickly to unexpected tasks (McGraw-Hill Connect Assessment, 2018). I believe this area is one where employees can truly be their best self and have the full “buy-in” into the organization.

Conflict resolution is key for organizations to remain focused on a given task. My office is extremely efficient when handling conflict resolution. For example, each of us in my office have specific goals needed each day that have to be accomplished. At the end of each day we conduct after action reviews on what went right, what went wrong and what we need to do the next day in order to accomplish our goals. Social media is a key area for my office and must be used effectively. I have a high positive online social networking use scoring 24 of 30 and a low distracting online social networking use scoring 9 of 11. One of the only reasons I have a social media account is due to the majority of my applicants, prospects and leads come from social media.

Politics within my organization have a small role in Army recruiting. Being in charge of an Army Recruiting Station, the ability to achieve results and win your market are what higher echelons care about. However, utilizing political influence within the organization is a key area that cannot be ignored. You have to have the ability to clearly communicate the areas you are deficient in and have a key plan on how you are going to fix the issue. If you are winning your market and consistently meet your month to month goals, no one bothers you or tries to influence the way you operate.

Satisfaction is a key component in any organization, and it is achieved when the desired result through hard work effort is achieved. This can be achieved by placing the right people with the right skill sets into the areas where they will excel, be challenged and will be able to accomplish the desired task. As a key leader within my organization, it is vital that I place my personnel into the right markets and hold them accountable for the desired tasks needed each and every day. By doing to they will be able to accomplish their goals through the strategic planning and execution each day.

Change is constantly happening within every organization and the ability to react and accept the change will determine how the organization can adapt. The ability to adapt to the change can solely rest on the leadership involved in the organization and how they act when change happens. Leaders must be able to educate their team immediately upon receiving notification of a change. By doing so mistakes can be mitigated and personnel can adapt to change effectively.

In my own experience, I have come to realize that the personality tests I’ve taken thus far enabled me to understand important aspects about my character. In most of my time in the Army, I have not always conducted myself as an extrovert. Initially I was an introvert, I have adapted and have become an extrovert through more experience and being placed in leadership roles. Additionally, being intuitive within my workplace allows me to go with what I “feel” is right when it comes down to making a decision. Critical thinking is vital in making any decision. You must react in the most effective way for the organization. All of the results given from this assessment have made me come to realize that I have so many different characteristics about myself that will allow me to identify my shortfalls and how to increase my effectiveness in leading my Soldiers.

The characteristics about myself that I have learned are those qualities that allow me to achieve the desired goals I have set forth within my organization. One area that I identified with through this personality test is that I have high motivation and if I use this motivation towards accomplishing a specific goal, I will be able to stay on task and continue to be effective every day. Additionally, by being motivated throughout the workday, this motivation will “rub off” on the other employees within my organization.

As I gain more experience every day, I realize that I continue to grow into a better more efficient person. I often attempt to reflect on my own personal growth through a relationship with God and the vital role He has within my life. I’ve come to study the bible and continue to learn more and more about all of the teachings there are. To my understanding, every story identifies and predicts some type of behavior that can be reflected back upon one’s life. Every single person in this world can relate to many of the different stories written within the Bible. A story that can be reflected on was the story of Job, who had lost everything and was tested by God. However, Job did not know it was Satan who had received permission by God to allow those circumstances to happen. Yet Job had accused God while enduring these trials and tribulation. I have also been through similar situations where I had almost lost everything and placed blame upon God. I accused him of allowing such circumstances to happen to me. We are constantly tested throughout our lives and I continue to learn and grow into a better person each day.

Cite this page