Personality Assessment and Development Plan for Future Leadership Skills

This report discusses the results of personality assessment tests such as Myers Briggs Profile, Costa & McCrae Big % Personality Traits, McClelland Needs Analysis, and the Thomas-Kilmann Model Instrument. It identifies strengths and weaknesses and provides a SMART action plan for future leadership skills.

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Organization Behavior
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Executive Summary
Personality is an expression of how a person behaves and how they are different from
others. Some of the models that use to measure personality as discussed in this report include
Myers Briggs Profile, Costa & McCrae Big % Personality Traits, McClelland Needs Analysis,
and the Thomas-Kilmann Model Instrument. Based on this models, I have identified my primary
personality traits are collaborative style in solving conflicts, and being agreeable. Some of my
weaknesses include being emotionally unstable and being an introvert.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Findings.......................................................................................................................................................4
Myers Briggs Profile...................................................................................................................................5
Costa & McCrae Big 5 Personality Traits...................................................................................................6
McClelland Needs Analysis........................................................................................................................7
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument...............................................................................................8
SMART Action Plan...................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Personality refers to the set of emotional qualities as well as the manner in which an
individual behaves, thus making a person different from the others. I have had my personality
since birth and it defines the way I am and the way other people view me. A person can be
outgoing while others enjoy remaining in seclusion. Using Myers Briggs Profile, Costa &
McCrae Big % Personality Traits, McClelland Needs Analysis, and the Thomas-Kilmann Model
Instrument, I have identified my strengths and the weaknesses that will be helpful on my future
leadership skills. I have also developed an action plan using the SMART processes based on my
perceived weaknesses.
Findings
According to the tests, I found out that I have a slight preference for introversion over
extroversion at 22%. Being an introvert, I am usually very quiet and reserved and it takes me
longer to fully open up to others when I first meet them. I find it refreshing to work alone or in
small groups and this makes me very independent (Altmäe, Türk and Toomet, 2013, pp.48).
Also, the test results revealed that I prefer sensing over intuition (12%). Since I fall under the S
category, usually, I begin with the basic factors before forming the bigger picture. The results
indicated that my strongest preference is being a strong feeler at 38%. Falling under the F
category, I always consider other people before I make my decisions.
Nonetheless, I found out that I am agreeable and thus I would do what it would take me
to please others so that they may proceed with their tasks. I consider this to be among my
strengths because I am capable of surrendering my own will for the primary purpose of
achieving an objective. The test also confirmed that I am less conscientious (Boyce, Wood, and
Powdthavee, 2013, pp.291). This means that I am hardworking, organized, and dependable. I
have noticed that my greatest weakness is that I am emotionally unstable, thus making it difficult

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for me to control my emotions. Emotions such as fear, worry, and hastiness influence me to
make poor decisions which later affect my performance. However, I am open to experience and
this helps me to seek new innovative ways and new outlets for doing things. This kind of
personality has been helpful to me since it has facilitated me learn more and looked for other
ways through which I can better achieve my goals (Curtis, Windsor and Soubelet, 2015, pp.51).
Among the motivational factors that I have identified include the need for achievement. This
makes me to be goal-oriented, taking risks, engaging in behaviours that are competitive, seeking
challenges, and taking personal responsibility is solving problems. In regards to resolving
conflicts, I use the collaborative style whereby I find a creative solution that satisfies all the
parties concerned. In this case, I do not give up on my self-interest but rather, I dig deeper into
the issues to identify all the underlying concerns, test my assumptions, as well as understand
others views.
Myers Briggs Profile
This test measures personality based on eight traits that consist of introversion v.
extroversion, judging v. perceiving, sensing v. intuition, and feeling v. thinking. After taking the
test, the results I obtained were no surprise. I am ISFJ person according to the test. My strongest
personality among them all was that I am a good feeler, and this would be helpful in my future
leadership skills (Gerber, et al., 2013, pp.701). This is because when making decisions, I take
into consideration others opinions and how my decisions would affect other people.
Additionally, I fall under the J category, whereby I like being orderly and planning the way I
conduct my business. This kind of personality will be helpful in my leadership skills in the
future. Being organized will ensure that goals and objectives are achieved within the stipulated
deadlines by working ahead of the deadlines.

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(Owlcation, 2018)
Costa & McCrae Big 5 Personality Traits
In psychology, these Big Five Personality Traits are a person’s broad dimensions of
personality. They consist of conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, and
extraversion. Among the personality traits that I discovered as my strengths include: the
personality of conscientiousness (Gore, and Widiger, 2013, pp.816). This will be very essential
for my future leadership skills because it would be helpful in the workplace by allowing other
people to have better opportunities within the organization by encouraging reliability and
punctuality. As a result, this would help me to influence development within the structural
capabilities of an organization. Also, I am open to experience and this will be helpful in my
future leadership skills as I would always look for new means of meeting organizational goals,
resulting in the success of the company (Harms and Spain, 2015, pp.19). However, I experience
emotional instability and this would affect negatively on my future skills as a leader. The
inability to control my emotions would most likely translate into making poor decisions.

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(Psychologistworld.com, 2018)
McClelland Needs Analysis
McClelland Needs Analysis focuses on the human beings secondary needs that are
connected to their nature as social beings. As a result of inconsistent levels of self-confidence
among people, McClelland notes that individuals naturally require to be motivated as a primary
psychological reinforcement to make them become more active (Judge and Zapata, 2015,
pp.1160). I have noticed that the need to achieve somethings acts as my motivating factor. This
motivating factor is essential for my future leadership skills because my motivation is not
primarily focused on me but instead, it is all about setting needs and interests for several people.
Being an idealist would give me the opportunity to give the best shot in all my performance as a
leader. McClelland notes that people who are achievement-oriented are the best at making things
happen and getting results in an organization.

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(Bathiya's Management Blog, 2018)
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
Using the Conflict Handling Styles in a dispute can be considered to be a better way of
describing how other people respond. Every person has got their predominant conflict style that
they apply in meeting their needs (Kaiser, LeBreton and Hogan, 2015, pp.63). Understanding the
McClelland Needs Analysis is important in describing how our personal conflict style affects
other people. In my case, I use the collaborative style that helps me to view a conflict a problem
that requires to be solved and identifying creative solutions that are capable of satisfying the
parties concerned. This style is helpful on my leadership skills in the future because the
collaborative style is concerned with understanding others views and not giving up on a personal
self-interest (Kim and Han, 2014, pp.9). The style encourages trust, respect, and builds on strong
relationships between the leaders and the subordinates. The collaborative style addresses
conflicts directly and in a manner that expresses all parties’ willingness to obtain what they
desire.

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(Ascenditur.no, 2018)
SMART Action Plan
A Personal Development Plan involves identifying a person’s current and the future
needs, as well as working out the mechanisms for meeting them (Sartori, Tacconi and Caputo,
2015 pp.39). Producing a development plan against the SMART processes involves improving
awareness, knowledge, potential, becoming a self-leader, or even building self-esteem. To
improve my weaknesses that were identified in the previous part, I shall adopt the following
action plan.
In my analyses, I identified that among my greatest weakness was emotional instability.
Being emotionally stable means that I am in a position to handle diversity, withstand difficult
situations, and remaining productive. To enhance my emotional stability, I plan to take around
15minutes or an hour whenever experience emotional instability to fully feel my emotions fully
(Koorevaar, et al., 2013, pp.181). During this time, I shall not be reacting to any given situation
but rather taking deep breathes. Additionally, taking care of myself every day by identifying my
stressors can be essential in improving my emotional stability. This entails allocating around 30
minutes every day to carry out regular meditation, get a massage, or even engage in yoga. These

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things help clear stress thus reducing emotional mess. Nonetheless, my extrovert nature can be
considered as part of my weakness. This is because most of the times I am too quiet and shy to
interact with other people, and this is not a good personality of a leader (Riasi and Asadzadeh,
2015, pp.613). To enhance my personality from introvert to extrovert, I shall use a time frame of
4 months. First, I shall focus on doing things in public such as carrying out presentations in front
of course mates. Within the same period, I shall be reading various books such as The Art of
Living Dangerously or The Magic of Thinking Big in order to overcome shyness.
Conclusion
Personality is an essential factor that should be taken into consideration by every
successful leader. Using the self-assessment library, I have identified some of my strengths that
are important for my future leadership skills. Some of the benefits are that I prefer sensing over
intuition, I am agreeable, the need for achievement, and I use the collaborative style in solving
conflicts. Some of my weaknesses include being emotionally unstable and being an introvert.
Based on my perceived weaknesses, I would engage in public activities and reading broadly to
identify address my shyness issues.

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Bibliography
Altmäe, S., Türk, K. and Toomet, O.S., 2013. Thomas-Kilmann's Conflict Management Modes
and their relationship to Fiedler's Leadership Styles (basing on Estonian organizations). Baltic
Journal of Management, 8(1), pp.45-65.
Bathiya's Management Blog. (2018). A Retrospective Analysis of Employee Motivation Studies.
[online] Available at: https://batkumblogspot.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/a-retrospective-
analysis-of-employee-motivation-studies/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2018].
Boyce, C.J., Wood, A.M. and Powdthavee, N., 2013. Is personality fixed? Personality changes as
much as “variable” economic factors and more strongly predicts changes to life
satisfaction. Social indicators research, 111(1), pp.287-305.
Curtis, R.G., Windsor, T.D. and Soubelet, A., 2015. The relationship between Big-5 personality
traits and cognitive ability in older adults–a review. Aging, Neuropsychology, and
Cognition, 22(1), pp.42-71.
Gerber, A.S., Huber, G.A., Doherty, D., Dowling, C.M. and Panagopoulos, C., 2013. Big five
personality traits and responses to persuasive appeals: Results from voter turnout
experiments. Political Behavior, 35(4), pp.687-728.
Gore, W.L. and Widiger, T.A., 2013. The DSM-5 dimensional trait model and five-factor models
of general personality. Journal of abnormal psychology, 122(3), p.816.
Harms, P.D. and Spain, S.M., 2015. Beyond the bright side: Dark personality at work. Applied
Psychology, 64(1), pp.15-24.

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Judge, T.A. and Zapata, C.P., 2015. The person–situation debate revisited: Effect of situation
strength and trait activation on the validity of the Big Five personality traits in predicting job
performance. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), pp.1149-1179.
Kaiser, R.B., LeBreton, J.M. and Hogan, J., 2015. The dark side of personality and extreme
leader behavior. Applied Psychology, 64(1), pp.55-92.
Kim, M.R. and Han, S.J., 2014. Relationships between the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
personality profiling, academic performance and student satisfaction in nursing
students. International Journal of Bio-Science and Bio-Technology, 6(6), pp.1-12.
Koorevaar, A.M.L., Comijs, H.C., Dhondt, A.D.F., Van Marwijk, H.W.J., Van Der Mast, R.C.,
Naarding, P., Voshaar, R.O. and Stek, M.L., 2013. Big Five personality and depression
diagnosis, severity and age of onset in older adults. Journal of affective disorders, 151(1),
pp.178-185.
Owlcation. (2018). Four Temperament Profiles of the 16 Myers-Briggs Personality Types.
[online] Available at: https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/The-4-Temperaments-of-the-16-
Personality-Types [Accessed 21 Sep. 2018].
Psychologistworld.com. (2018). Five-Factor Model Of Personality. [online] Available at:
https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personality
[Accessed 21 Sep. 2018].
Riasi, A. and Asadzadeh, N., 2015. The relationship between principals’ reward power and their
conflict management styles based on Thomas–Kilmann conflict mode instrument. Management
Science Letters, 5(6), pp.611-618.

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Sartori, R., Tacconi, G. and Caputo, B., 2015. Competence-based analysis of needs in VET
teachers and trainers: an Italian experience. European Journal of Training and
Development, 39(1), pp.22-42.