Module 8 Personal Balance Sheet

In your "Resonant Leader" workbook, at the end of Chapter 5, is a Personal Balance Sheet. This is an exercise to support you to assess your personal assets and liabilities. Promoting assets and limiting liabilities can help you to achieve your hopes and dreams.

Complete the personal balance sheet exercise, and create a reflection blog that summarizes your assets and liabilities. Use the outputs from the exercises that you have completed in the course workbook and your reflections of those assessments as your guide. 

In the blog, discuss your assets:

  • My distinctive strengths (things I know I do well and strengths that others see in me).
  • My potential strengths (things I could do better or more often if I focused or things I do well in some situations and could begin to apply more broadly).
  • My enduring dispositions that support me (traits, habits, behaviors that I do not want to change and that help me to be successful).

Discuss your liabilities:

  • My weaknesses (things I know I don’t do well and want to do better).
  • Weaknesses I want to change (things I know I don’t do well and want to change).
  • My enduring dispositions that sometimes get in my way (traits, habits, behaviors that I do not want to change and that sometimes cause me to be less effective).

Discuss how you plan to grow your weaknesses into strengths.

Submit the link/URL to your blog. For guidance on completing this assignment and using Canvas ePortfolio, review the Reflection Blog Assignments page.

Links to an external site.

Personal Balance Sheet


    To know oneself is incredibly important through a self-awareness lens in order to grow as a person and as a resonant leader. It can be easier to brush off criticisms instead of internalizing them and taking them to heart. McKee et al. (2008) discuss how "because of ego defense mechanisms and our habitual patterns of interaction with others—patterns that develop over a lifetime—it is easy to avoid looking at aspects of ourselves that make us uncomfortable or do not fit our self-image" (p. 137). The ability to overcome egotistical barriers is important in discovering one's Real Self in an undistorted way, and to align how one views themselves such as characteristics, values, and beliefs, with how one is perceived by others. For example, sometimes one may not see some incredible qualities in themselves that other people do. On the other side of the same token, one may believe they are strong in something, but are actually not. Either way, "understanding who [one] is as a person and the strength and weaknesses [one] possesses can make it easier for [one] to identify the areas [one] needs to work on to become a more effective leader" (Forbes Coaches Council, 2018). 

    To become the best person one can be, an understanding of one's Real Self is crucial, and part of that process is a self-assessment, or audit, of one's strengths and weaknesses. Jamal (2023) states that "one of the most important steps to personal growth and self-improvement is to identify your strengths and weaknesses," which highlights that it is not enough to know one's strengths and weakness, but it is vital that one should strive for personal growth. However, this does not necessarily mean that one should always try to improve a strength or weakness, because everyone has both; no one is perfect. Pillay (2014) writes, "Don't try to fix or get rid of weaknesses. It won't work. Instead, work around the weaknesses. Find ways where they don't hinder or stand in the way." Just like different cars, computers, planes, methods, and plans, there are always pros and cons when it comes to people's strengths and weaknesses. But if a leader can leverage others to supplement their weaknesses while leaning into their strengths, then they will likely encourage renewal and resonance in many ways. This type of action builds teams, solidifies trust and confidence, and makes people feel valued. But a big step in this is knowing and acknowledging one's strengths and blind spots (McKee et al., 2008, p. 137). Moreover, "we are often just as unwilling to look at our strengths as we are to see our weaknesses," so this skill is vital for consolidating one's personal insights and preparing for change (McKee et al., p. 149). Therefore, a self-aware leader is a more effective leader.

    For myself, I have been through quite a few questionnaires, personality tests, feedback sessions, and reflections, and I often find themes, even if I do not like what they say. Sometimes it is hard to hear that I have certain characteristics and behaviors that I perceive as undesirable; it really does hurt my ego and serves as a reality check. But on the flip side of that, I am often surprised at the good characteristics that surface (i.e., my strengths). I also notice that I am a dynamic individual, just like most people are, who is constantly changing and growing. 

    Regarding my current self, I would say that my distinctive strengths are in planning, multitasking, analytical and logical thinking, one on one communication, and a desire and drive for success. My potential strengths are emotional intelligence, compassion, and collaboration. My enduring strengths are patience, listening, and observation skills. I find that I am not one who seeks or thrives on being the center of attention, but I enjoy being at the right hand of the person who is. I have a keen eye for the bigger picture, and I can gather information quickly and effectively through my strengths. I have always been good at puzzles, and I believe I have had a logical and analytical mindset since a very young age. I feel in myself and know through feedback that others enjoy working with me and see me as collaborative, caring, and diligent; I'll always do my best to get the job done, and I will not quit. Though, in some ways, I realize that my strengths can also be weaknesses if I am not careful. For example, being overly analytical can lead to overthinking and 'paralysis by analysis.' 
    
    My weaknesses include micromanagement, lack of delegation, poor coordination, poor communication in group settings, overthinking, lack of creative thinking, lack of directness and authoritativeness, not being a role model (i.e., practicing what I preach), not being consistently positive and enthusiastic, and emotional control (i.e., bottling up emotions instead of consistently expressing myself, and timeliness. In an ideal world, I want to change and improve upon all of these, but that is not realistic. Some traits are just part of who I am (i.e., analytic type), so overthinking naturally comes with that. This is what I would call an enduring disposition. Other enduring dispositions for me beyond being analytical are timeliness, poor creativity, and having a 'softer' approach when it comes to leadership and relationships with others. For these types of weakness, for example, I recognize that I need to rely on others to help drive solutions across the finish line instead of pontificating over and over again until the deadline. I value people who are go-getters and task accomplishers because it helps me be more productive in less time. Although enduring dispositions can get it the way and cause me to be less effective, they are okay with me because they are also part of my what makes me strong (i.e., they are my strengths). However, there are some weaknesses I want to change such as improving my communication and collaboration in group settings, bettering my delegation ability, micromanaging less, being more positive and enthusiastic, and being more expressive so I do not seem so mysterious and bottle up my emotions until I lose emotional control. 

    Overall, my strengths are valuable to a team, and as long as I know my weaknesses and can be open to others knowing what they are, then I can leverage my team to compensate. In professional sports, medicine, and industry (among many other examples) are specialists for different specialties. In football, a quarterback is expected to be a great passer, but is not necessarily going to be a phenomenal receiver. In medicine, an optometrist may not be the person who can best help you with a stomach issue. The list goes can go on. The important takeaway for me is that it is important to understand one's self as it is in its current state, but also what one wants to be in the future. McKee et al. (2008) explains that it may be necessary to expand ones characteristics to "reach [one's] Ideal Self and dreams" (e.g., "experiences, roles, identities, strengths, weaknesses, and ways of moving through the world") (p. 147). Ultimately, it is important for one to know oneself as they are now, where one wants to be, and what inspires said individual. Change is not impossible and people are malleable. We will not be 'stuck in our ways' if we make efforts to become more self-aware and creating a learning agenda to reach our dreams.


Chad R.

References:

Forbes Coaches Council. (2023, September 12). Council Post: Best tests to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/01/22/best-tests-to-help-you-understand-your-strengths-and-weaknesses/?sh=1762ed88495a

Jamal, H. (2023, February 14). Identifying your strengths and weaknesses for self improvement. Medium. https://medium.com/mind-talk/identifying-your-strengths-and-weaknesses-for-self-improvement-4c90e4d52db7 

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader: Develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness. Harvard Business School.

Pillay, H. (2023, May 8). Why it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses. Leaderonomics. https://www.leaderonomics.com/articles/personal/why-its-important-to-know-your-strengths-and-weaknesses 

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