A641.8.3.RB - Personal Balance Sheet

Promoting assets and limiting liabilities can help you to achieve your hopes and dreams.  Completing the Personal Balance Sheet (McKee,et al, 2008, p. 150) as well as the exercises throughout the course have helped me reflect on my strengths and weaknesses. I discovered that I find strength in positivity and am passionate, driven, and authentic. Some other strengths are that I am flexible and creative.  Some potential strengths are my focus and initiative.  The Enduring Dispositions that support me is that I have a strong work ethic, I listen thoughtfully, and my ability to adapt and get along with almost anyone.  

I feel that my potential strength is empowering others. Inspiring and empowering others is a critical aspect of being an effective leader. Watching employees learn, grow, and reach their maximum potential is one of the most rewarding parts of being a leader. Northouse (2016) defined empowering as, allowing followers the freedom to be independent, make decisions on their own, and be self-sufficient. As a leader, taking the opportunity to mold your employees into successful individuals is extremely satisfying and something that I feel I am very good at, but not something that I am as effective in as I should be.

I wish I knew how to negotiate better. If I can develop the ability to negotiate the points which are essential and compromise on other points it will alleviate the win-lose situation. Therefore, everyone wins some parts, and I will not get so stressed out over the small details. I can encourage other people but seem to doubt myself in taking my own advice. According to Dan Rockwell, there is good doubt that can inspire critical thinking and there is bad doubt that paralyzes us. There is no progress with (bad) doubt. (Rockwell, 2014) Questioning our value could become a good doubt because it forces us to investigate where that feeling comes from. We may even discover new things about ourselves. It is when that questioning leads to inaction or demanding guarantees it can be debilitating and bad. (Rockwell, 2014)

When contemplating what I know I want to improve in, the main thing I want to do better is speaking up to assert myself. At times, I feel like if I am the least experienced person in the room, I don’t have enough credibility or a voice to express an opinion or idea. A weakness I want to change that can help me improve other weaknesses is my lack of self-confidence. Northouse (2016) explains, “Leadership involves influencing others, and self-confidence allows the leader to feel assured that his or her attempts to influence others are appropriate and right” (p. 24). As I develop as a leader, it is critical that my self-confidence improves because if I am continually second guessing myself, I am leaving the door wide open for my team to second guess me.

This personal balance sheet has allowed me to view and discuss my strengths and weaknesses. I understand that there are various strengths that I could display more often, but I feel comfortable with my strengths. My weaknesses, on the other hand, tend to hold me back. I must learn to be view myself in a more positive manner and relinquish the self-doubt if I am going to continue to grow.

Refernces:

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectiveness. Boston: Harvard Business Schools.

Northouse, P.G., (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 7^th Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Rockwell, D. (2014, Apr 26). Seven Certain Steps for Dealing with Doubt. Retrieved from Leadership Freak: https://leadershipfreak.blog/2014/04/26/seven-certain-steps-for-dealing-with-doubt/