SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 1
Self-Image Assignment
Luna (Lindsey) Davis
School of Business, Liberty University
BMAL 504-D04
Dr. Jacob Avila
Author Note
Luna (Lindsey) L. Davis
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Lindsey L. Davis.
Email: ldavis197@liberty.edu
SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 2
Self-Image Assignment
Change Management Styles
Change management styles are something that I find are similar to personality types, and
as a leadership student I found a lot of the traits correlating to MBTI types in particular. It is
important to note that before talking about the different styles the bible tells us in Psalm 139:14
that “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I
know that full well” (Psalm 139:14, New International Version, 1978/2011). No matter the styles,
and the positive and negative attributes that may be associated with it, there are ways we
contribute and act in ways the best glorify God.
The director is someone who much be in charge, a control freak but also can be seen as
natural born leaders. Navigators are those who are a bit flexible, but are greatly affected by
external factors, perhaps someone who is a customer role where they cannot control the world
outside the walls of the organization and can diffuse the consumer. Caretakers are individuals
who handle change well from both internal and external factors, and perhaps even get excited by
the change, which means they are keener to find a way to make the transitions smoother.
On the other side, you have the coach style who enjoys building and shaping a team to fit
a need. They see the person, and humanize process, which has pitfalls but also can help find
organizational success. The interpreters are frontline managers who influence others and effects
change through organizational culture, they create meaning for the followers around them.
Nurturers help handled the outcomes no one saw coming, they know that not all things can be
predicted, but rather prepare the organizations through training to handle issues when they do
SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 3
arise. One way they may do this is to ensure organizational culture includes a high expectation of
emotional intelligence (EI).
Assessment Results
My assessment results were not all that surprising based on my current job and other
personality assessment I have taken for other classes during my undergraduate and graduate
career. My top two images were nurturer and interpreter; and while I was hoping to fall more into
the caretaker range because the book does elude that it is the ideal management type I know that
there is a certain amount of success to be found in my two strongest images, along with a myriad
of pitfalls.
For me nurturing means, constantly growing, learning, and evolving. Because there will
always be unknowns, you must be equipped with the skills to handle the emotional and physical
outcomes of them rather then the situation directly. Research has found “that training in basic
abilities such as emotion perception improved emotion regulation” (Geßler et al., 2020). While
you may not be able to predict a shipment that does not arrive, and there is an angry client, you
can train and equip employees with the emotional skills needed to handle the situation
professional and all the emotions that may come along with it.
In addition to this the interpreter image really was spot on. The book writes the
interpreter “has the task of creating meaning for others, helping them to make sense of events
and developments” (Liberty University Custom: Heinz, 2021, p. 42). The text also goes onto
explain that this is often frontline staff tasked with this role, which is exactly where my current
job lands me. I interpret management of meaning as influence and helping others to understand
SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 4
the organizational culture of a business, and in some cases being the change agent when the
culture experiences a shift.
Many organizations have also been seeing a shift because “this is the way things have
always been done” is no longer a viable strategy and that the next generations are searching for
more. Research has also found that “when management communicates a change, it generally
frames it to emphasize the intended benefits and ignore the social costs” (Smollan & Morrison,
2019). This is where having an interpreter is extremely important, and in many cases, it may not
even be someone who realizes they are doing it. In my case, when our organization shifted back
into the office, and there were those who were upset, I pointed out that it would be easier to
handle the workload if someone was out sick or had to leave early; whereas working from home
meant we were not able to share the burden as much.
I think that individuals do possess traits from all of the images, however there are just
ones that stand out more. When needed I can become a navigator, and in many cases I often get
put into a coach role, but it takes more work and effort. I struggle to know if it is better to take
something you are mediocre at and make yourself slightly better at it or take something you are
great at and make yourself a powerhouse (expert vs. well rounded).
Ron Johnson Assessment
Ron Johnson was no doubt qualified for the role, and had seen success within the Apple
organization, however technology and clothing retail are two completely different industries
(with their own challenges). My assessment of Ron is that he is without a doubt a director, a
natural born leader; however, it was clear that Ron experienced many of the pitfalls of the
director image. For example, the text noted that when Ron took over, he did not even ask any
SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 5
questions about how the organization was currently running, which means he neither wanted nor
cared to understand the organizational culture and its existing properties. This is important,
because not everything JC Penny was doing was not working.
While this was not a technically a merger nor acquisition some of the same properties still
apply, such as all new management and an overhaul of systems and processes. Research has
found the “success of the integration process depends on cooperation and requires the ability to
address conflicts and various HR problems” (Dao & Bauer, 2021). By not considering the
organization but internally and externally, Johnson alienated is core customer base which showed
in the 2012 revenue publishing as well as internal rumblings (such as calling the new team “Bad
Apples”).
JC Penny Change Management Approach
It is possible to have a person who is solely a director but there needs to be others around
who fill the other image roles, and the director needs to listen and respond to those individuals.
Even after seeing the loses, Johnson still believed his plan to be working and on track whereas
those with other images (such as the navigator) would have helped changed course in order to fix
the issues that were clearly arising.
Using my dominant images, I would likely not have been spearheading the operations but
rather helping to facilitate and communicate the changes being enacted and providing feedback. I
think this would have greatly helped because customers were outspoken and upset when the
promotions when away, and as a frontline employee I would have relayed the information up the
chain, but the person(s) at the top would have been able and willing to respond to the
information.
SELF-IMAGE ASSIGNMENT 6
In addition to this I believe that as a nurturer I could have alleviated a lot of the emotional
turmoil the already existing employees and leadership were facing. When you think about it, if
you earned that hat, or cup and someone tells you to throw it away that can be quite traumatic
however perhaps there are skills that could have been provided to both parties to teach empathy
and coping skills and a solution could have been made.
References
Dao, M. A., & Bauer, F. (2021). Human integration following M&A: Synthesizing different
M&A research streams. Human Resource Management Review, 31(3), 100746.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100746
Geßler, S., Nezlek, J. B., & Schütz, A. (2020). Training emotional intelligence: Does training in
basic emotional abilities help people to improve higher emotional abilities? The Journal
of Positive Psychology, 16(4), 455–464. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1738537
Liberty University Custom: Heinz, A. (2021). Leading Organizational Change. McGraw-
Hill/Create.
New International Version Bible. (2011). The NIV Bible. https://www.thenivbible.com (Original
work published 1978)
Smollan, R. K., & Morrison, R. L. (2019). Office design and organizational change. Journal of
Organizational Change Management, 32(4), 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1108/jocm-03-
2018-0076
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
