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Unit 1 Self-Assessments

Kaitlyn Upson

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

OGL 482: Pro-Seminar II

Dr. Janice Lawhorn

October 22, 2023

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Unit 1 Self-Assessments

Section 1

My results for the Kuder career interests assessment were as follows: first highest was

conventional, second-highest was artistic, and third highest was enterprising. I am not surprised

that conventional was my highest interest as I consider myself to be a very structured person and

I follow procedures and practices closely. I have learned from this assessment that I am attracted

to roles that allow me to focus on following and enforcing procedures. As a leader, I am very

task oriented and I enjoy working to achieve organizational goals in a structured manner. I have

found myself to be successful in conventional roles which is why I believe that it is my highest

interest.

Enterprising did not come as a surprise to me either because I am very motivated to

achieve personal and organizational goals. When I am a part of an organization, I work hard to

achieve its goals and do my part to fulfill its mission. I also create my own goals that I would

like to accomplish while working for the organization. Through my experience, I have realized

how these interests have shaped my leadership style. I try to motivate others to achieve

organizational and personal goals. I use my social influence as well as incentives to encourage

others. Because of this, I believe that enterprising is accurate in describing my career interests.

Something that did come as a surprise to me while taking this assessment is how many

artistic interests that I have career-wise. When answering the assessment questions, I realized I

could see myself in roles that would allow me to express my creative abilities. For example, a

few of the occupations that were recommended for me were talent director, producer/director,

and writer/author. These positions would cater to my interests while also allowing me to use my
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leadership abilities. After gaining this knowledge, I would like to find a way to implement my

artistic interests into my career.

Taking this assessment can allow me to move my career and life forward by helping me

identify my life goals and personal vision. As discussed in the text, it is important to understand

one’s interests as it helps to motivate them to work to bring their personal vision to life

(Harrington & Hall, 2007). The results of this assessment can help me understand what is

important to me and how I can implement that into my career. Going forward, I would like to use

my conventional, enterprising, and artistic interests to develop a personal vision so that I turn my

career into a passion.

Section 2

My results for the Kuder skills assessment came out to be enterprising as the highest,

social as the second highest, and artistic as the third highest. This means that I am most confident

with my enterprising skills such as sales and persuasiveness. This makes sense to me because the

organization I work for emphasizes having these skills to be successful. In my role, I am

constantly using persuasion to encourage customers to buy our products. I also have to compete

with others across the region who have the same role. Because of this, having proficiency with

enterprising skills has benefited me.

My second highest confidence with skills resulted in social skills. This means that I am

confident in building relationships with others and collaborating to solve problems. This result

was slightly surprising to me because I am not the most extroverted person. Looking back on my

experiences throughout the organizational leadership program as well as my professional

leadership experiences, I have been able to increase my social skills immensely and become

confident in collaborating with others. I highlighted some of these skills while developing my
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portfolio. I discussed my proficiency in competencies including conflict management, empathy,

and team dynamics and collaboration. Having social skills is important for being able to perform

these competencies. Through the several opportunities that I have had to work with others during

this program, I have been able to improve my social skills which has allowed me to become

successful at performing these competencies.

Artistic was my third highest result from this assessment. Based on what the results

revealed, this means that I am confident in art, music, drama, and writing skills. I would agree

with this because I have always been interested in the arts and I would consider myself talented

in some of these aspects. I highlighted this in my portfolio by including some of the writing

pieces that I created during this program. Not only that, but I have been able to reflect on my

leadership abilities through my writing. Through this portfolio, I have been able to showcase my

artistic skills.

By taking this assessment, I have learned my highest strengths skill-wise and how I can

use this knowledge to enhance my leadership abilities and move my career forward. First of all,

my enterprising skills are extremely useful for the current career track that I am on at the

organization I work for. If I continue to focus on building these skills, I can earn a promotion to a

management position. As for my social skills, it is also important to be proficient socially to be

an effective leader. Working in team environments and networking with others is vital to moving

up in my organization. That being said, it is important that I continue to improve my social skills.

Lastly, from what I learned from this assessment, I can use my artistic skills to enhance my

leadership abilities.

Section 3
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After taking the Motivation and Career Anchors Assessment my results came out to be

my primary career anchor being Managerial Competence and my secondary career anchor being

Security, Stability, and Organizational Identity. I am not surprised that Managerial Competence

is my primary career anchor because I strive to be in a leadership position and work my way up

the ladder at the organization that I work for. I enjoy taking on new challenges once I have

mastered my current position. I understand the importance of having analytical, interpersonal,

and emotional competence to be an effective leader. Throughout my experiences with leadership,

I have been able to learn the importance of these competencies and learn how to use them to lead

others. I enjoy leading others to achieve organizational goals and leading others to solutions of

complex problems. Due to these reasons, I understand why my primary career anchor is

Managerial Competence.

My second primary career anchor is Security, Stability, and Organizational Identity. The

description of this career anchor explains that there are two categories that this anchor could fall

into. The first category is employment stability at an organization and the second category is

stability of geographic location. I would prioritize stability of employment over stability of

geographic location. I would consider myself loyal to the organization that I currently work for

and I would be willing to move locations if the right opportunity came along. When I become a

part of an organization, I learn how to identify with the company and its vision and create long-

term goals of how I want to succeed within the organization. Because of this, it makes sense why

Security, Stability, and Organizational Identity is my secondary primary anchor.

My lowest scoring career anchor was Entrepreneurial Creativity. This is because I have

no interest in creating new products and making them profitable. I do not want to own my own

business, I would prefer to lead in an existing organization. Overall, this assessment has revealed
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what I look for in an organization as well as the kind of leader I strive to be. I enjoy working for

an organization where there are leadership opportunities and I can work my way up the ladder. I

also prioritize identifying with the organizational vision and goals to create a sense of loyalty. I

can use this knowledge to further my career in the organization that I currently work for as these

anchors can be useful in leading to success.

Section 4

A self-assessment that I completed during this program that had an impact on me was the

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test. My score for this personality assessment resulted in an INTJ

which stands for introverted intuitive thinking judging. Those with this personality are described

as perfectionists with a tendency to disregard authority. As for personal relationships, INTJs can

face difficulty in this aspect of their life as they are not quick to open up to others (“INTJ”, n.d.).

I believe that this assessment captured my personality to a T. I would consider myself a

perfectionist and I can be stubborn about doing things a particular way. This can cause me to

disregard authority if I do not agree with how they want me to complete a task. I also consider

myself a private person and I can struggle to open myself up to others. Taking this assessment

allowed me to better understand my personality and how it affects how I interact with others.

Understanding this can help me improve my leadership.

Another assessment that I took was the DISC personality assessment. For this

assessment, I scored 41% compliance, 22% dominance, 28% steadiness, and 9% influence. This

combination of scores means that I pay attention to detail and emphasize accuracy in everything

that I do (“Disc personality test result”, n.d.). I value the quality of my work and I often do not

settle for less than perfect. I hold myself to high standards and I am attracted to work that will

allow me to exemplify these traits. This assessment helped me to better understand my abilities
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and how I am able to be motivated. This has allowed me to understand how to be a better

employee and leader.

The last assessment I would like to discuss in this analysis is the Keirsey self-assessment.

My result for this assessment was guardian. Guardians are described as cautious, dependable,

responsible, and hardworking. They are not spontaneous and prefer to create a plan when it

comes to implementing change. They hold others accountable for following procedures for how

tasks should be completed (“Learn about guardians”, n.d.). This assessment has helped me

understand how I behave and how it affects my leadership. Having traits of a guardian has

assisted me in my leadership experiences as I lead by example by encouraging others to

complete tasks according to the organizational standards. I also create a detailed execution plan

during change so that it goes smoothly and the team can adapt efficiently. This assessment has

allowed me to understand how these traits impact my leadership.

These assessments have been beneficial for my growth as a leader as they have helped

me identify my true personality and how it impacts my ability to lead. Throughout this program,

I have learned about myself and how my behavior affects others. I have used these results to

better myself and learn how to lead more effectively. I have also learned about the different types

of personalities which has helped me understand others’ behaviors which has contributed to my

ability to lead. These assessments have allowed me to better understand myself and what I need

to work on to improve. I will use the results from the Kuder Assessments and Motivation and

Career Anchor Assessment to continue to improve my leadership.

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References

Disc personality test result - free disc types test online at 123test.com. Free tests that take you

further! (n.d.). https://www.123test.com/report/B6XPEFHF2PBTDNQTAA/

Harrington, B., & Hall, D. T. (2007). Career Management & Work-Life Integration. SAGE

Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781452278940

INTJ. INTJ Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging. (n.d.).

https://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/intj

Learn about guardians. Keirsey Temperament Assessment. (n.d.).

https://keirsey.com/temperament/guardian-overview/#:~:text=Guardians%20are

%20meticulous%20about%20schedules,and%20look%20before%20you%20leap.