Lifestyle Inventory Paper

The Life Styles Inventory (LSI) identifies the underlying thoughts and motivations that guide an individual's behavior. The quality of an individual's thinking and behavior contributes greatly to that person's work performance. The Life Styles Inventory (LSI) is based around the Human Synergistic Circumplex, describing constructive, passive/defensive, and aggressive/defensive behaviors. In the LSI, the feedback is normed against how 9,000 individuals have described themselves (LSI 1) and how 5,000 individuals have been described by 25,000 others (LSI 2). (LSI Human Synergistic www.human-synergistic.com)

Part I: Personal Thinking Styles (primary, backup, limiting)

My primary and backup management style is Constructive. I scored a raw score of 40 and in the 99th percentile in Achievement and a raw score of 37 and in the 93 percentile in Self-Actualizing. Constructive Style individuals reflect on a healthy balance of people- and task-related concerns and have a tendency to promote the fulfillment of higher order needs. Often times, people associated with this orientation are directed toward the attainment of organizational goals through the development of people. Constructive styles account for synergy and explain why certain individuals, groups, and organizations are particularly effective in performance, growth, and work quality (http://www.humansynergistics.com/system/constructive.aspx).

The Achievement Style person will usually set goals and be enthusiastic about working towards these challenging but realistic goals. In pursuit of these goals and achieving high quality results, they are likely to follow a well-developed plan that has been considered in depth. This kind of person will carefully examine their options before deciding on a plan of action. This describes me to a tee.

With my career and personal life, I always like to plan ahead and set goals before I take action. My husband calls me a “planner”. Before starting any type of project, whether at home or work, I have to look at all the facts before figuring things out.

Once I have the facts, I let the facts lead where they lead, and accept the ideas that works best. I also possess effective planning and problem-solving skills which is the main reason I chose Industrial Engineering for my field of study when obtaining my Bachelor of Science degree. Industrial engineers are known for analyzing and evaluating methods of production and pointing out ways to improve them.

My backup style of Self-Actualizing is based on one’s need for personal growth, self-fulfillment, and the realization of one's potential. People with this style demonstrate a strong desire to learn and experience things, creative yet realistic thinking and a balanced concern for people and tasks. They also place high importance on learning and experiencing new things. This style is the one that could have been my strongest style. My friends and I enjoy life and live in the moment. I am motivated by my own values and beliefs and I don’t need approval from or to be recognized by others.

I think that my Limiting Style is Affiliative, which scored in the 90th percentile. People who have an Affiliative style are more focused on the social aspects of work. I am a very social person. Often times I find myself too concerned with building interpersonal relationships with the people I work with and helping others. I like to help other people feel worthwhile and have a need to build relationships that are meaningful. While this trait can be a positive, it also can be a negative trait. Sometimes I can be too friendly and over trusting. I am naturally curious about people and I don’t mind sharing my experience and view with others. The most important thing I had to