self-assessment paper

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NOPMPS5330 Leading People, Spring 2018 Prof. Aaron Wallen Self-assessment Instructions

Recent research confirms what many executives have observed: self-awareness is a major driver of leadership effectiveness. People who understand how they are viewed by others are seen as better leaders, better colleagues, and better performers—and they receive more promotions and higher pay. The Leadership Profile report in this course provides you with feedback on how your perceptions of yourself line up with others’ perceptions of you. One of the primary assignments in the course is to analyze this feedback and use it to improve your leadership potential in a way that matters to you. This document describes the self-assessment project and provides guidance on how to work through this feedback. The self-assessment project The goals of this project are for you to:

● Gather and analyze feedback about your strengths and weaknesses ● Identify and reflect upon a weakness that matters to you ● Create and begin implementing an action plan for improving

Virtually every student in this course emerges from this exercise with a greater sense of themselves and a plan for becoming a more effective leader. To help you with this process, you’ll receive a personalized feedback report and complete a self-assessment worksheet. The project culminates in a written paper with an action plan submitted on the final day of the course. In the first class session, you’ll be provided with instructions on emailing people who can fill out the survey on your behalf (due Thursday, February 15th, 6:00pm ET). A week or two later, you will be provided with a Self- Assessment Report. On the basis of these reports, you’ll complete a self-assessment worksheet, due before our class meeting, on Monday, February 26th at 2:10pm ET (sec001) or 6:10pm ET (sec002). I strongly encourage students to seek additional input from colleagues and classmates after identifying their weaknesses in the self-assessment worksheet. Students who seek additional feedback and clarification tell us it greatly helps them identify the essence of their weaknesses and make plans for change. Before our class meeting for Session 14, you will submit a self-assessment paper describing and analyzing an area for development and outlining plans for improvement on Monday, April 30th at 2:10pm ET (sec001) or 6:10pm ET (sec002). The rest of this document will discuss the process and assignments in greater detail. Self-assessment worksheet The goal of the self-assessment worksheet is for you to identify an issue that is important to you and on which you want to improve. In effect, the self-assessment worksheet yields a statement of what and the self- assessment paper gives you a chance to explore why and what to do about it. The worksheet leads you through a series of questions about your Leadership Profile feedback. Not every answer you give will highlight an issue you wish to pursue. But for nearly every student, a handful of these answers will point to a pattern or theme that they find important. Thus, completing the worksheet is a kind of funneling process: laying out a number of datapoints, picking a handful of important results from this set, looking for

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connections between these points, and then distilling this to a central issue you want to wrestle with further. The challenge for you is to connect the dots and uncover this issue. For many people, the feedback contains a good deal of noise; for virtually everyone, the effort to identify the underlying issue through the noise has tangible rewards. Your goal in reviewing the report should be to look for connections and patterns. The self-assessment worksheet provides a framework for doing this. The self-assessment worksheet is quite self-explanatory, posing a series of questions about your feedback. Some questions require only very brief answers; others require additional thought and analysis. When discussing specific question items from your feedback, refer to an abbreviated version of the question. For example, the item “S/he overanalyzes decisions, spending too much thinking rather than acting” could be abbreviated “overanalyzes decisions.” The self-assessment worksheet is a Microsoft Word form template, available on the Canvas site for the course. To complete the worksheet, download the file and record your answers in the field below each question. Upload your completed sheet into the Canvas assignment to receive credit. Bring a hardcopy of your worksheet to session 6. Self-assessment paper The self-assessment paper is a chance to wrestle with the weaknesses you identified in the self-assessment worksheet in greater depth and then articulate a plan for improvement. Thus, the self-assessment paper draws on the results of the feedback report, the self-assessment worksheet, coaching, and any other input you’ve gathered from classmates and colleagues. The paper should cover three topics: (a) identification of your strengths and weaknesses, (b) a root cause analysis of your weaknesses, and (c) an action plan for how you intend to address your weaknesses and improve as a leader. I strongly recommend using these three areas as a structure for the paper. For more details on identifying and analyzing strengths and weaknesses, and on creating an action plan for development, see the Columbia CaseWorks article, A primer on personal development, which is a required reading. The paper should be four to five double-spaced pages long (12-pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins all about)—plus a coversheet—and is due in Session 14. Please submit via Canvas to receive credit by Monday, April 30th at 2:10pm ET (sec001) or 6:10pm ET (sec001). Papers must be typed and double-spaced; no emailed or faxed copies of the report are accepted. Your name should appear only on the coversheet and the cover sheet should contain only your name and other basic details, not the text of your report. You have the option of including an additional page of graphs and tables as an appendix, if you feel it is useful, and this will not count toward your allowed page limit. Final thoughts Wrestling with one’s own weaknesses isn’t easy. And self-improvement doesn’t necessarily come quickly or without setbacks. But many of the best leaders show high levels of self-awareness and are able to leverage this awareness into continually improving as a colleague and leader. We hope that the feedback you receive and the work you put into the self-assessment project help your self-awareness and improve your potential as a leader. The premise of this project is to help you better achieve your own long-term goals. For nearly all students, the effort is very worthwhile. I hope it is for you as well.

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Your paper will be graded using the following rubric: Criteria Does not meet expectations (<80%) Needs improvement (80-89) Meets expectations (90-100%) Score

Identification of strengths and weaknesses

Tackles too many different topics for length of paper. Identified

strengths/weaknesses have no clear foundation in feedback report or other sources. Unclear what topics are being

identified and discussed. Does not focus on behavior. Completely misunderstood

data.

Some reliance on data, but the connections to identified strengths and weaknesses are unclear. May have too much reliance on a single

source. May address too many topics, or multiple topics that are

unrelated. Some misunderstanding of data.

Data-driven approach that relies on the feedback report, as well as key,

illustrative anecdotes. Obvious connection between conclusions and data. May feature additional

data beyond report and anecdotes, such as follow-up conversation with

raters and/or coworkers. Gap analysis present. Focus on one or

two weaknesses only. Ties strengths to weakness. Clear identification of

weakness and strengths.

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Root cause analysis of

weakness(es)

One or more key sources of raters’ perceptions not discussed in detail or

entirely absent. Puts all the “blame” on “them.” Does not address role of

context/situation.

Some acknowledgement of complex interplay among sources of others’

perceptions, but key pieces missing. Or, logical ties are absent. Takes a

one-size-fits-all approach to underlying behavior.

Acknowledges role of behavior, others’ perspectives, context, and personality in creating perceptions of behaviors. Addresses weakness

within context/situation. Uses context to draw out understanding

of underlying issues. Considers between-rater variance as data source for contextual effects.

Identifies key interplay between behavior, personality, context, and

others’ perceptions. Does not dismiss perceived weaknesses as

purely context driven and strengths as purely personality/skills driven.

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Action plan addressing

weakness(es)

Action plan fails on multiple aspects of SMART. Everything-but-kitchen-sink

approach. Bites off way more than can chew. No consideration of pitfalls or

adjustments that may be required along the way.

Action plan mostly conforms to SMART, but not entirely clear. Little

acknowledgement of need to monitor and adjust, but some.

Action plan is SMART. AP sufficiently addresses near-term changes. AP is

behavioral, clear, and impactful. Paper addresses issues of

measurement and monitoring. Goals are clearly presented.

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Writing/General Paper is almost completely incomprehensible. No clear logic in how ideas are presented. Lacks any central

thread/narrative/theme. Egregious grammatical errors or sloppiness.

Unpolished and unchecked.

Paper is fairly clear, but confusing in spots. Some evidence of sloppiness.

Some logical leaps.

Paper is clear and logical; easy to follow from beginning to end. Paper

has been proofed and polished. Few, if any, typos/errors.

Professional presentation, and clear pride in the deliverable.

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Total /100