Portfolio Part 1: Interpersonal Effectiveness

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PORTFOLIO PART 1: INTRAPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS 

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Student number:

Tutors name:

Due date: 31st August 2016

Semester 2

Word count: 1099

Table of contents

1. Introduction        2

2. Intrapersonal Effectiveness        2

2.1. The Big Five Model        2

2.2. Analysis and reflection of results        3

2.3. Goal setting        4

3. Conclusion        4

4. References        6

5. Appendix        7

1. Introduction  

In recent years the study of personality has received far greater levels of attention from both the academic community and the professional business world.  Businesses are becoming more aware of the abundance of research that indicate possessing specific personality traits are imperative to the success of an effective manager. By using NEO IPIP, a measurement of personality traits, I will be able to identify which of my intrapersonal skills serve as professional strengths and weaknesses in the workplace for my desired career as a manager of an international business. I will also specify how I intend to develop the necessary competencies to be a successful international manager in the form of the ‘SMART’ criteria.

1. Intrapersonal effectiveness

Intrapersonal effectiveness is defined as ‘understanding yourself’ “and your goals, strengths, weaknesses, style and biases” (Dowd & Schneider, 2006, p.3). It will be used in association with a well adopted model of measuring personality traits the ‘Big Five”.  

1. The Big Five model

The majority of empirical research linking personality traits with work success has relied on the “Five factor model” (Costa and McCrae, 1992).  Comprised of broad, multi-faceted personality traits – Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability (originally described as its opposite, “Neuroticism”), Extraversion and Openness – the “Big Five” traits have been validated in many settings and been related to job performance (Salgado, 1997), job satisfaction and financial success (Judge et al, 1999).  An academic paper released this year in the Journal of Managerial Psychology found the core traits distinguishing managers from those in other occupations displayed higher levels of agreeableness, extraversion, emotional stability, assertiveness and work drive. (Lounsbury et al, 2003). In particular the results demonstrated that managers who scored highly on extraversion and emotional stability correlated with much higher levels of overall career satisfaction and job performance.  

1. Analysis and reflection of results

According to table one in the appendix, by scoring lowly in emotional stability but highly in extraversion indicates that although I am sociable and outgoing I tend to crack under pressure when faced with stressful situations (Costa & McCrae, 1999).  Scoring highly on extraversion was almost inevitable due to my talkative nature. People in the past have called me the life of the party due to my ability of being able to talk and get along with everyone. It is also regarded as a core competency for me as an international manager as communication is an essential part of daily activities (Tett et al, 2000). It is estimated that almost two-thirds to three-fourths of a manager’s time includes interacting with and listening to peers, customers, managers, vendors and executives (Mintzberg, 1975). Therefore, by possessing this personality trait it will significantly benefit me to be an effective and successful manager.  However, an area that needs to be addressed is my low score in emotional stability.  

Theory has suggested that measures of emotional stability are powerful predictors of important criteria not only for job satisfaction and performance but also on social relationships and life outcomes (Roberts & Goldberg, 2007).  It has also been suggested that because leadership is “an inherently emotional process” (Judge et al. 2009) leaders with low emotional stability create and foster toxic environments. The tendency to ‘blow up’, show off, or conform under pressure were also seen as predictors of managerial failure (Hogan and Hogan. 2001).  

These findings are no surprise and are consistent with past experiences. I have a tendency to experience unhealthy levels of stress and anxiety even when organising what should be enjoyable occasions such as having friends over for a BBQ. I tend to regard myself as a perfectionist where I believe every little detail needs to be just right and when something doesn't go to plan I tend to take out my frustration and anger on the people around me.  This has caused toxic relationships with people I consider close to me and has impacted the amount of satisfaction I derive from hosting such events. Having low levels of emotional stability would also have a detrimental impact on me as an international manager as daily I would be dealing with stressors from a variety of sources including, but not limited to role conflicts, role overload and work/non work conflicts (Clegg, 2012). It has also been found by a 2009 paper in the Journal of Managerial Psychology that emotional stability was the most elevated of the Big Five traits in personality profiles of managers, significantly higher than supervisors and front-line employees (Dilchert, 2009). Therefore, it is imperative that I find methods on improving my level of emotional stability if I want to be a successful and competent international manager.  

1. Goal setting

A research paper has found that emotional stability relates to reactive stress not anticipatory stress (Daniel J, 1997). Hence my low emotional stability does not derive from my fear of the future but the way I act in stressful situations. Therefore, my aim for the next three years is to improve my self-awareness. In particular I will need to pay extra attention to the physical and emotional signals that my body sends me under pressure.  This can be done by having a greater understanding of emotional intelligence. Which is the ability to understand the emotions, wants and needs of myself and others (Hasson. Gill, 2014).