American Tutor to finish Self Assessment Exercises

Assessment 16: Intuitive Ability:

My intuitive score was an 8, and I was a bit surprised I didn’t score higher. I work in an area where “going with my gut” is my decision-making strategy. I am in marketing, and while you can poll, review surveys, and discuss campaigns; ultimately there is no definitive way to market products. Some of our best campaigns were created at the last-minute, or were the result of an excited utterance or desperation. While I’d like to take credit because of my years of experience, sometimes you just don’t know why marketing campaigns take off and succeed, while others that were based in data and analysis never seem to generate the revenue intended.

For my scoring, I was a 4 and 4, and even looking at my answers, I wouldn’t change anything. There wasn’t an answer where I could have gone another way depending on the day or my mood, I was pretty definite. While I am hopeful that my decision-making skills are sound, I’m happy that intuition is not how I handle all situations. I see my score as a happy medium where I am using empirical data and my training mixed with intuition to make successful decisions.

I believe my team likes the fact that I’m not always “by the book,” but rather take from experience, especially bad experiences, when we are discussing our marketing campaigns. There is nothing worse than someone making decisions solely based on the numbers or data. Sometimes the human element of our own biases helps to create something amazing.

Assessment 17: Decision-Making Bias:

I loved question one, only because in law school this was a point of many discussions in my Torts class. Of course, driving a car is riskier behavior – only because more people drive a car on a daily basis than fly anywhere. Of course, one assumes that flying is inherently unsafe, but according to the NTSB, it’s one of the safest methods to get anywhere! So, I almost feel like I had a unfair advantage over my fellow classmates, only because I’ve worked on transportation cases, and the resounding problems all arose from driving.

I fell into the trap of only thinking about the letter “r” and focusing on the fact that it’s the leader in a word. It actually makes a lot of sense that as a third letter it would be more prevalent because the odds are far higher that it would be used more. In fact, just in this post the letter “r” has been in more than half the words I’ve written, which actually brings the point that focusing on the first letter is not very logical.

Again, I’ve fallen into the trap of assumptions, rather than making an informed decision through analysis. I assumed an artist would be interested in remaining in the arts, with no evidence, other than my opinion. Certainly I am interested in entering the management consulting field because I’m working on my MBA, so why should I automatically assume Mark wants to remain in his field of study?

This question was very odd to me, only because how can one assume that a candidate is worthy of the position merely from the fact that they are the 6th hired? I couldn’t see the logic in answering any other way than incorrect. I’ve been a hiring manager, and I only hire qualified candidates who are vetted through a rigorous interview, test, and interaction with team members’ review.

What does it say about me that I doubled the salary of the engineer? I’ve always seen engineers as people who are extraordinarily intelligent, so my assumption is there worth would be very high. In fact, I would probably rate the engineer at a higher salary than myself, and I’m a former lawyer. Even though I don’t work in the field of engineering, my belief is that engineers are more credentialed and are innovating at a much higher pace than most industries.

Assessment 21: Organizational Design Preference:

My score was a 59, which means I am not very comfortable with Organizational Design. This doesn’t surprise me because I work in a creative environment, where I am driven by unique product and marketing opportunities. I also started my career as a lawyer, so many of my intrinsic decision-making and work history were based in a mechanistic design. Lawyers are driven by rules and regulations, and having to follow the rule of law. Having a hierarchy in a law firm setting is required (more like mandated) in order for the legal industry to thrive.

I’m in the middle because I was able to recognize that I didn’t need to continue in a mechanistic design, especially because I enjoyed the “creative” parts of the law. Being a lawyer doesn’t leave room for “out of the box” thinking, so I was happy to transition into legal publishing and ultimately into legal marketing. I’m happy to see that I can go either way, which is something I really pride myself. I work with members in a mechanistic design hierarchy, but I can enjoy the fact that my daily work is in a more organic design, which truly at this point in my career, is my preference. Especially in light of the fact that more organizations are taking on organic characteristics, and one would need to be comfortable in those settings.

Assessment 22: Which Culture Fits You:

The culture that I feel most comfortable working is “The Baseball Team.” I like a culture that values talent, entrepreneurial activity, and I especially like that it offers large financial rewards and individual recognition. My first year at my current job was all about creating new revenue streams. I didn’t have a lot of direction from my senior manager, but I noticed a very important marketing segment was being missed. I focused my efforts to learn about the segment, competitors, how our products could be placed, and how I could best leverage the unique nature of what we do. It was the magic mix, I brought the association an extra million dollars that year. I have subsequently continued to drive revenue through this segment, to the amazement of everyone. No one believed that legal products could fit with this opportunity, but I saw a need for the future.

Technology and the need for knowledge became the two reasons why I built the consumer channel as a new revenue-generating model. I was given great acclaim, an excellent bonus, but most important, I was able to create something valuable. This is what drove me to succeed, knowing that I would be in the million dollar club, knowing I conquered something no one else could do. I was different than the others, and was recognized for it. It still drives me three years later; I want to be recognized as the best in the department.

Assessment 3: Turbulence Tolerance Test:

My turbulence tolerance test score was a 1.5. I must admit, I was quite surprised, as I would have thought I could handle change. According to the test, I scored the average, but according to the author, I scored a “C.” Where the situations accurate or a real depiction of what could actually happen to me? I’m not sure, but I would assume because of this test I need to work on my adaptability skills. I know that I am self-aware regarding how my emotions drive my work, but it’s because of my emotions that I succeed at what I do. I have a high job involvement psychologically, which drive me to work beyond expectations on all projects assigned.

I am driven to succeed, but also hate when something derails what I’m working on, like an external force, which stops me from following the path I’ve selected to complete my project. My performance causes satisfaction; I feel good about my job when I succeed and receive praise from my supervisor. I control whether I can succeed, which wouldn’t work in a turbulent environment. I need to control my surroundings and ability to create unique marketing campaigns, having changes to what I perceive as the best way to achieve success would be difficult for me to handle.

Assessment 5: Personal Values:

I’m not surprised at my score, as I’ve been very career driven and am a fiercely loyal person, especially when it comes to my spouse and family. But, I’m also very loyal to my core of friends, which I keep limited. I am fairly open, but believe my friendship circle is complete, and don’t really look to add more people. I’m happy and pleased with the small core I can trust. This is probably why I have no interest in supporting my community, as I don’t view myself as needing to support the community with the little extra time I have. Because my spouse works in the non-profit, community development sector, many of my activities are “forced” because I want to support my husband. I’m his number one volunteer because of my love and loyalty to him, not because I’m interested in supporting these groups.

Because I spend the bulk of my days at work, it is significant that I have a job that is both enjoyable and satisfying—otherwise the bulk of my life would be spent miserable. I am also the main bread winner in my household, so having a high paying job is very important. I place the value of the efforts and work on my compensation structure, which is one of the reasons why I have been so successful in my career, I’m revenue and compensation driven in my goals and focus my efforts on achieving them. While a career with challenge is what really makes me happy, I also am a big proponent for intellectual development. I’ve been to law school, and now business school, where I have been able to apply my personal and professional skills into a desirable career path. My scores are as follows based on highest score: professional, financial, intellectual, family, and social. This is a perfect view of who I am, and anyone who knows me or works with me would agree with this assessment.

Assessment 6: Intolerance for Ambiguity:

I’m not surprised that I scored close to the median of 49. At 53, I’m happy with this score because I have been suffering from a large amount of ambiguity at work because of a massive reorganization that has shifted all work responsibilities and employees in our division. I have a high tolerance for ambiguity, especially because of the career path I’ve chosen. I’m in sales and marketing, so there is a high level of creativity, self-direction, and innovation. I do not have a set of standards in order to successful complete my job, nor do I have a set series of standards that my team must follow.

Because marketing is unique in its nature, there are options and basic standards that one can follow, but ultimately, my team members can follow their expertise and experience in order to launch successful, revenue-generating campaigns. What drives me toward success is the ability to plan my path, and deviate when necessary in order to succeed. Having strict guidelines and rules would hamper my ability to assess situations and shift focus as needed. Creative environments that rely on customer engagement cannot be restrictive and rigid.

Assessment 7: Two-Factor Profile:

My MF score is 38 and my HF score is 22. I’m not surprised by this score, as I place a lot of importance on motivating or satisfier factors in my job. Job content is significant to me because I place great emphasis on how satisfied I am on how challenging by job is. Much of my life satisfaction is built around the success of my work, how I feel about my work, and how I can apply the applications of my education in a work environment. My HF score is almost half because I don’t focus on job context, as that is not a significant driver in how I perceive my work environment to be. Rather, I don’t rely on the job environment to be strict and rigid, but rather organic and innovative in order for me to succeed.

I like my locus of control to be within my power, and the success I have at work must be wholly because of my efforts to control the outcome and successes I have. Focusing on context would make my work life miserable, and I would not feel successful but constrained because of these factors. I like being able to guide and manipulate my path, not have a boss or management tell me how to do my job. I have cultivated an environment of success because of my educational and work experience. These two factors drive most of my success and drive most of my confidence in making the right decisions.

Assessment 8: Are you Cosmopolitan?

I scored a 25, which has me square in the middle of the mixed orientation. I find this very interesting because I would have assumed that I was cosmopolitan. In all the other assessments I identify with the career profession, but this assessment I also identify with the employing organization. I’m not sure if it’s because of the type of work day I had, or because of the fact that I spend the day interviewing new candidates for an open position in my department.

I was also surprised I didn’t have more “strongly agree” answers, as I’m generally very definitive in my beliefs and values. While I have a strong affinity toward independence at work, and I gravitate toward others who are like me, I was not surprised that I would rather be judged by my peers, people who understand my work and have similar education backgrounds, rather than a review from a manager who may not share the same expertise. My personal drive and incentive has always come from my work, and the sense of fulfillment I receive from accolades in a work setting, which I would have assumed placed me in the cosmopolitan side, so I am quite surprised even reviewing my answers, that I wouldn’t change any of my responses. Perhaps what hurt my score was the “1” that I placed on having interest in moving up to a top administrative post in my company. I see no value in becoming part of the problem (management), when I can continue succeeding at my level, middle management, where I can continue to accomplish things.

Assessment 9: Group Effectiveness:

When I first started my job, the team dynamic on the group of people I managed was awful. It was very negative, bitchy, and lacked structure. With the release of several employees who were encouraging the negative behavior, and were not working to the team’s potential, the team dynamic shifted. Rather than water cooler meetings to discuss negative things, the water cooler talk became about what projects people were working on, and what revenue target they had. Each team member began to take ownership of their piece, trying to make sure their targets were being met. While we all looked at the main revenue goals, each member took a level of ownership that didn’t exist when I first started.

I was especially happy to see that group values and goals were developed under an MBO model, where I would work with each team member to create joint goals that were attainable. While they weren’t too high, they also weren’t so low, that the lower achievement hurt morale. In fact, the team was willing to help each other with certain goals that may have been set a bit higher, just to make sure the team was succeeding rather than the individual marketers.