THEMATIC

ANALYSIS
Fer n ando O ch oa

OGL 482

Pro-Seminar I I

Ar i z o n a S t a t e U n i v e rs i ty
Introduction
Have I “grown” as a person since I began my journey into Organizational Leadership, or have I been,
continue to be or become stagnant as a leader? The research I compiled may not be who I am
(anymore). The personality tests that I have leaned on to complete this thematic analysis might be from
someone I use to be. My Life Story was written by someone who isn’t who they were when my life story
happened, but I will lean on that as well to see who I was, who I am, and who I will become. I have
attempted to present 10 themes, in no particular order, focused on presenting the facts/data in a way
that was easy to understand, for me and the reader. I was embarrassed to analyze some of the data, but it
is there, complete and un-biased.
My Data Sources
◦ Humanmetrics Jung Typology TestTM - HJT
◦ DISC Personality Test - DISC
◦ Kuder Career Interests Assessment - KCIS
◦ Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment ® - KSCA
◦ Super’s Work Values Inventory (revised) – SWVI
◦ Kuder One Page Summary - KOP
◦ Big Five Personality Test - BFP
◦ Three Career Anchors Assessment – CAA
◦ The Three Questions – 3Q’s
◦ Personal Narrative – PN
◦ OGL 482 Module 3 Discussion – MOD3
Theme 1: Balance
Balance means spending quality time doing the things that I like and doing the things I do not like.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ Lifestyle, income and security are my three highest Super Work Value Inventory scores. I believe that my income leads to
security and my ability to live the lifestyle that I want to live. (SWVI)
◦ Life-Style Integration. (CAA)
◦ Extraversion – (BFP)
◦ “I think that the best way to move my career and my life forward is to focus my hobbies on things that can make me more
fulfilled, while making sure that my education is focused on making me stronger or more focused on my RIASEC scores.”
(MOD3)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I have taken other personality tests that said I was an introvert. And I believe that we all are at times an introvert, at times an
extrovert and those realities are what make us more balanced.

◦ Thoughts
◦ Balance is easier said than done. I look at my life and wonder if I am putting enough effort/time into this or that. Am I paying
enough attention to the people I love, do I spend to much time on my hobbies, do I think about work enough. It is a difficult
position to have to balance life, and some day I will get it right.
Theme 2: Freedom
Freedom is all about being able to make decisions for myself without being handcuffed by finances,
emotion or security.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ I scored Independence in my Top 5 on Super’s Work Values inventory. I believe that there is a level of independence
that comes with Freedom. (SWVI)
◦ Autonomy/Independence. (CAA)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I was in the military, and if that isn’t a contradiction to freedom, I don’t know what is. The hard-nosed forced labor of
the military has put me in a position to be and appreciate my freedom now.

◦ Thoughts
◦ I live in a community of “free” people. We are free to spend money the way we want to, free to earn that money the
way we like, free to listen to and interact with whoever we like. I want to know that I did not allow the weight of my
unconscious decisions lean on me so much that I did not exercise the freedom that I have. I did not take the easy
way, just because it was easy, and I did not take the hard way just because I wanted to be different.
Theme 3: Family
Family isn’t only the people you are related to by birth or marriage. I spend more time with my work family
than I do with my siblings. Treating them with dignity and respect is just as important and that is what family
means to me.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ “My parents thought it important that we assimilate, “be American”, but don’t forget where we came from.” (PN)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I will at times think about myself and put myself in a position to make myself happy without thought to the people I
would call family.

◦ Thoughts
◦ Most days I wonder what I am doing to help the people I call family. Other days I wonder if the people I call family
are asking themselves if they are helping me. Either way, I never want to put myself between family and their
happiness.
Theme 4: Learning
Although my “book” learning will be ending soon, the learning never ends. Being able to continue growth
through observation and trying new things will fill the void that graduating will surely leave.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ “When I was 13 my father took me outside, pointed at my mother’s Oldsmobile and said that the brake pads needed
to be replaced.” (PN)
◦ “I have a passion for doing things that take me outside and help me understand the way our ancestors lived their
lives.” (3Q’s)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I know that I contradict myself anytime I am watching a nonsense tv show or movie without any redeemable quality. I
probably won't learn anything from that, but I also know that sometimes I just need a break.

◦ Thoughts
◦ I think that in a few years or maybe a few months after I earn this degree, I may want to re engage formal learning.
But I think that my informal learning will never end, and hopefully that is plenty.
Theme 5: Independence
The ability to maintain a level of independence while being part of a team is very important to me. My
marriage is a team affair, but we both remain independent people with personal goals. I think that having
independence means that we still fulfill ourselves, but we don’t do it at the cost of our relationships.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ I found out about making money shooting pool with adults who couldn’t believe the kid was as good as I was at 16.
(PN)
◦ Having Independence in my job means that I am trusted to make many decisions on my own and do not have to
constantly report to a supervisor. (KOP)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ None

◦ Thoughts
◦ My independence is only ever diminished by the fact that I have to make at least some money. If not for taxes, some
of us could survive on the things we make, sow, or kill. I will always work towards getting as close as possible to that.
Theme 6: Adaptability
I have needed to adapt throughout my entire life to the environment. Sometimes I was a fish out of water, but
adaptability means that I succeed no matter the environment.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ You have moderate preference of Sensing over Intuition (28%) and having the sense of how to deal with what is around me is
part of my adaptability. (HJT)
◦ My second highest score in the DISC Personality Test was Influence and being able to influence the things around me is part of
my ability to adapt to the things around me. (DISC)
◦ According to the Big Five Personality Test, I am not easily upset in stressful situations, I am relaxed, resilient and calm. (BFP)
◦ When my parents asked me how my first couple of weeks went, I told them I was not exactly excited for my role of towel boy.
(PN)
◦ Confident in persuasive, leadership, sales, and entrepreneurial skills. (KCIS)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ None

◦ Thoughts
◦ I believe that I am and will remain adaptable. It is truly the thing that I believe to be my strongest attribute. I can and do talk to
anyone and can assimilate easily. But that is because of all the other themes I listed here.
Theme 7: Confidence
Confidence means that I put myself in position to make decisions, stand in front of “the man” and take
charge of situations when necessary.
◦ Supporting Data
◦ You have a strong inner motivation to influence people and circumstances. You thrive on competitive situations and
challenging assignments. The stresses and pressures of everyday work and life are unlikely to reduce your
effectiveness and enthusiasm. (DISC)
◦ You have distinct preference of Thinking over Feeling (66%). (HJT)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ The evidence suggesting that my confidence is at times low, is just about every time I turn in a product for work or
school, I think I will fail.

◦ Thoughts
◦ I think that I sometimes feel less confident in my decisions when I am new to something or don’t have an example to
follow. I like to try new things out, but when a grade or work can suffer because of it, my confidence drops
significantly. I will always try, and sometimes I get shot down because of it.
Theme 8: Adventurous
Being adventurous means wanting to try, and then trying things, even when there is a high likelihood of
failure. Its not only about doing new things, anyone will do the easy things, its about the hard things, the
truly scary things that people only try if there is a safety net.
Supporting Data
◦ Being an outdoorsman provides me a sense of pride and self-esteem. Helps to see myself as a provider and gives me
self-confidence. (3Q’s)
◦ “I did get a chance to see many, many things while in the military, but really it started with being stationed in North
Carolina.” (PN)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I have a hard time trying new foods, but work, school and other important things make me/give me the courage to
be adventurous.

◦ Thoughts
◦ I hope that I never say to myself that my times being adventurous are over. I want to have stories to share around a
table with friends and those stories come from being adventurous.
Theme 9: Security
Security means that I am not afraid that I will not be able to provide. Not being able to provide my half
would make me insecure in a way I do not ever want to feel (again).
◦ Supporting Data
◦ You have a strong inner motivation to influence people and circumstances. You thrive on competitive situations and
challenging assignments. The stresses and pressures of everyday work and life are unlikely to reduce your
effectiveness and enthusiasm. (DISC)
◦ Highest score on the Career Anchor Assessment was Security, Stability, Organizational Identity. (CAA)
◦ Third highest score on the Super’s Works Value Inventory was Security. (SWVI)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I have a very hard time leaving a job without having one ready for the next workday. It has made me stagnant at
times.

◦ Thoughts
◦ Someday I hope that I will simply jump into situations, especially in my work life where I do not know what tomorrow
will look like.
Theme 10: Teamwork
Security means that I am not afraid that I will not be able to provide. Not being able to provide my half would
make me insecure in a way I do not ever want to feel (again).
◦ Supporting Data
◦ Fourth highest score on the Career Anchor Assessment was Workplace. (CAA)
◦ I am not easily upset in stressful situations, I am relaxed, resilient and calm which all come from being in good teams. (BFP)
◦ I have a distinct preference of Thinking over Feeling because I want the team to succeed. (HJT)
◦ “I told him my team wasn’t going to be the only ones working, and he needed to put together a roster. In the military, we have
tons of different manuals that tell us what we can and can’t do, and as part of getting promoted, learning what those are is
very important.” (PN)

◦ Contradictory Evidence
◦ I sometimes will eat the last donut. But I work with a bunch of health fanatics, so I eat the first and last donut more than I should.

◦ Thoughts
◦ I never thought of the importance of being a part of a team that is pointed in the same direction until I became a leader. The
force that a good team can become is amazing and enjoy it more than I ever did enjoy working as an individual.
Personal Mission Statement
To provide safety and security to the people I love while maintaining my independence.

Reflection: When I was writing my Mission Statement, I realized that this “personal” thing, is really about the
people I love just as much as it is about how I will do whatever I believe is my mission. The safety and
security of my wife, mother and other family members is as important as how I get to be an independent
person. So, while maintaining a level of independence is very important it must be done in conjunction
with providing safety and security to the people I love. Being able to sit and think about this while listening
to music helped me come to my mission statement.
Personal Vision Statement
To live a life that other people tell stories about, while making people laugh and growing as a person.

Reflection: Thinking about my long-term goals and how I get there is always a bit tough. Last year I wanted
to run a marathon and this year I am thinking of doing some bass fishing tournaments. I haven’t started
training for either. It was important that I figured out a vision statement that was broad enough to be
fulfilled no matter what I was doing. I want people to remember me, and to make people laugh all the
while being someone who is growing as a person. And that is how I came to my Vision Statement.
Conclusion
Although the data is accurate (today), I never know who I will be
tomorrow, or a year from now or ten years from now. This will be
interesting to go back to in a few years and see if I am still pointed in
the same direction or if I have succeeded in some way that I hadn’t
thought about until now.