Running head: INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
My Individual Learning Project
BUSI 240 – ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR I
Professor Gregory Gomez
Jacob Griffin
Liberty University
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Abstract
I am currently employed by the United States Air Force as a flight engineer. My scope of
duties include preflighting safety essential equipment before takeoff, computing aircraft
performance data, operating aircraft systems in flight, and being a systems expert to alleviate
aircraft emergencies. Attention to detail is crucial for my job; I am responsible for the safety of a
two billion dollar asset, along with a thirteen-member crew. I must keep refreshed with a
working knowledge of the airplane, which requires continual study on and off duty. When I am
not flying I have an additional duty that requires me to plan training exercises for the entire
squadron. This requires me to be familiar with the requirements of the users that we support. My
squadron consists of 342 members and 10 aircraft that are under the ownership and responsibility
of my commander.
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Are You Introverted or Extraverted?
1. The purpose of this assessment is to determine my personality traits that result in how
social I am around others.
2. My score for this assessment was 15
3. The scoring scale from the assessment ranges from 0 – 40, the lower the score the more
introverted one is, and the higher the score the more extraverted one is. I fall within the
region of moderate introversion.
4. By taking this assessment I am made more aware of the personality traits that I already
carry. Personality is defined as “the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and
behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those
characteristics.” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 39). Personalities are characteristics
make us similar or dissimilar, and are observable by a third party. When taking an
assessment such as this it takes a third party source and combines it with a first person
view. I do not think that personality differences are a bad thing as it creates uniqueness
amongst our society. What it does, is create a scope for individuals to understand
situations they are fit for and how to be a better fit for situations in which they wouldn’t
typically be comfortable. My introversion causes me to not socialize with people, but that
can enhance my ability to be more observant. On the contrary, my introversion when
socializing in any forum allows me to realize that I have to be more interactive with
people. Overtime, I have enhanced my ability to work better in teams, decreasing my
stress level. This has added to the value of friendship that I have gained in my work
place, which positively affects my emotional and behavioral characteristics on a day-to-
day basis.
How Do You Cope With Stressful Situations?
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1. The purpose of this assessment is to measure stress coping ability based of difficult
situations and a reaction to each situation.
2. My scores were as follows: Problem Solving – 10, Social Support – 12, Avoidance – 6,
Blaming Others – 6.
3. Based in the results of this assessment I have above average problem solving skills and I
prefer to tackle the situation head on. While I am a problem solver I also tend to attempt
to gain feedback from others about the situation and also use this as a coping method for
stress.
4. The field of aviation requires high levels of stress management. Whether it be
avoiding an in air collision, proper execution of air traffic control requirements, following
flight publications as published, or handing an aircraft recovery to ensure safety of the
crew. All of these tasks require management of stress and following detailed instructions
properly to help mitigate added stress. As the aircraft systems expert, I am relied on to
ensure that when the stress gets high I can still react properly to a situation and keep
everyone of the airplane safe. This is all built around trust from the pilots, which is “the
positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk”
(McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 108). This trust is built by problem solving ability that
an individual has. No emergency or anomaly on an airplane is ever black and white. It
takes the trusted skills and ability to find the best solution for the given time.
Communication is also key, and it allows all crewmembers to be one the same page and
back each other up. These skills surround stress and allow crew members to cope with a
stressful situation by trusting each other to ensure safety and mitigating further damage.
How Strong Are Your Growth Needs?
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1. This assessment is a measure of ones need for growth needs and motivators of growth on
a personal scale.
2. My total score for this assessment was 32 points.
3. By analyzing the results from this assessment, I have moderate need for growth. I
understand my desire within the organization, as well as specific achievement I seek to
gain.
4. For the past six years that I have spent in the Air Force, organizational feedback has
always been a vital part of individual success and efficiency. Each quarter we are required
to do a feedback session. In these sessions we are to list out goals, which are realistic and
attainable. This is commonly referred to as goal setting, which is “the process of
motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by establishing performance
objectives” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 138). This directly ties to an individuals
growth needs, not only by finding out ways to motivate one, but also creating a culture
that strives to takes steps of responsibility. The military is constantly shifting and
changing, and this requires members to step up and be leaders. I have a moderate need for
growth. I have a high level of specific achievement for personal goals and trying to be the
subject matter expert in my job. As good as that characteristic is to an organization, one
can only sustain that for a period of time before coming burnt out. For myself personally,
I work hard at work, and I want to achieve growth within my unit. But these goals come
within good reason, and I believe that it takes a good employee to understand to invest in
yourself as well as your organization. This allows individuals to be continually motivated
to keep achieving growth, which allows the unit to grow.
What Is Your Preferred Decision-Making Style?
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1. This self-assessment determines decision-making style based on organizational up
bringing and past experiences
2. Results are as follows: Rational Decision Style – 20, Intuitive Style – 14.
3. After reviewing my score, it can be determined that I have lean strongly towards rational
decision-making based on facts and logic. I also have a moderate tendency to make
intuitive decisions, also know as a gut feeling.
4. I have always leaned toward rational decision-making. While others prefer the
intuitive style, I have always been grounded in making informed decisions based on
knowledge. As a tactical level supervisor in the military we are often responsible with
expensive equipment or sensitive information. Proper use and handling of these items is
always a requirement, and takes facts, rationale, and procedure to carry out tasks. This is
where rational decision-making comes into play, and when questioned having the
knowledge base to back choices and decisions is typically the preferred method. There
are times within reason that we as members are required to make intuitive decisions, but
not as often as rational takes place. I think that this also makes me an effective member in
terms if employee involvement. Employee involvement is “the degree to which
employees influence how their work is organized and carried out” (McShane & Von
Glinow, 2018, p. 203). When new processes are carried out, it takes a good employee to
influence the way things are done. This refers to how processes are carried out and how
they can best benefit the employee as well as the organization. This requires knowledge
based on previous processes, but also takes small amount of calculated risk. I think that is
where a good balance such as reflected in my assessment to make decisions.
What Team Roles Do You Prefer?
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1. This assessment determines a preferred role based on how one would react to team
activities or tasks.
2. My overall score was a 47 for this assessment.
3. After analyzing the results I have a high tendency to be an encourager for the team, as
well as keeping the team on tasks, and mitigating tension. I am not typically as drawn to
managing the fine details, and I am rarely the central focal point for discussions.
4. This assessment gives key feedback to what my role is as a team member. My job
requires high amounts of task interdependence. Task interdependence is defined as “the
extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise in order to
perform their jobs” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 222). As a planner, there are many
moving parts for training exercises and I have always found myself to be the encourager
by finding creative ways to make the tall task seem more manageable. I also try to avoid
the tension, and I believe that in most cases avoiding that tension helps keep forward
progress in play. I am a firm believer that, in most cases tension and differences do not
get you anywhere. It takes compromise for a team to be successful. This not only lowers
stress levels amongst employees that you work with, but it also gains a level or respect
when you have a leader that stays caged on the task rather than losing sight of the goal
because of a road bump. Teams can be complex but if managed properly can be very
effective. I tend to not worry as much about the fine details and stick to making sure big
goals are achieved. Giving the smaller tasks to other employees gives them a sense of
satisfaction. This results with the entire team feeling satisfied having played a part and
accomplishing the task.
Are You An Active Listener?
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1. This assessment is a measure of ones attentiveness to others and the ability to focus on a
conversation and active engage the other person.
2. Based on the results, I score a 23 for this assessment.
3. After further analyzing, I am a moderate active listener with a strength on maintain
interest in a conversation and showing my interest. I have a weakness of organizing
information and thoughts as I engage in the conversation.
4. I believe an important part of being a leader is having social presence in any forum.
Social presence is defined as “the extent to which a communication channel creates
psychological closeness to others, awareness of their humanness, and appreciation of the
interpersonal relationship” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 258). Having social
presence gives subordinates good face-to-face conversations required to build
relationships. This characteristic also gives others a feeling of easiness, and that one can
be a relatable person. This adds to the value of respects, and in turn colleagues will seek
out your opinion and expertise.
After reviewing my results, my traits represent what it takes to have social presence. I
think that I can further improve on my ability by socializing with colleagues more in
order to improve this skill. If I make better attempts to right down vital information and
organize thoughts more thoroughly I can also improve my ability to remember key items
and tasks. But, most importantly the key characteristic to remember is having empathy
for the other individual. This feeling of connectedness is what allows a team to increase
ability to work together.
What’s Your Approach to Influencing Co-Workers?
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1. This assessment gages your ability to find out the best ways to influence co-workers
based on different scenarios.
2. I obtained a total score of 73 points for this portion.
3. After reading each sub section of the results, I an emphasis on ingratiation along with
information control. I tend to lean to gaining support through charisma and available
information.
4. Employees that you encounter typically fit into one of a few categories based on what
motivates them. Each of them are influenced by something that benefits them or gives
them an intrinsic feeling of motivation. Influence is defined as “any behavior that
attempts to alter someone’s attitudes or behaviors” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p.
291). One may use a system to reward someone for their work, or they use legitimate
power to influence somebody to do something because of their positional power. But,
others have the ability to influence somebody because of their knowledge level about the
job, or by the charisma that they exhibit. These are what separate the difference between
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It is key as a leader or even front line supervisors to
find out what motivates your subordinate. This is what is used as a success multiplier to
add to the value of a company.
As a front line supervisor I have to use discretion based on what tactics are used to
motivate an individual to become a better team player in an organization. For example, I
cannot promise an employee a pay raise because that is not within my scope of power.
But I have found overtime is that people have intrinsic motivation to some extent. Having
charisma opens doors to finding out ways to use referent power to influence employees.
What’s Your Preferred Conflict Handling Style?
1. This test measures conflict management according to personal reactions to outcomes.
2. I scored a total of 74 out of 100 points for this assessment.
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3. Based on the results, I am a strong compromiser always trying to find common ground. I
tend to avoid tension or conflict by meeting in the middle. I have an overall moderate to
high ability to handle conflict.
4. Conflict is defined as, “a process in which one party perceives that its interests are
being opposed or negatively affected by another party” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018,
p. 305). Organization Behavior also categorizes conflict into two categories, which
results in negative consequences and positive consequences. ((McShane & Von Glinow,
2018) Conflict is always present and will always be present as part of human nature. But
I believe that avoiding conflict to the best of your ability is always the best course of
action. Compromising opens the forum for discussion about what can be improved, as
well as what is lacking that caused the conflict. It is also important to see the stressful
things that employees deal with. Then, as a supervisor you are better able to help them
understand why something has changed, and reason with a team member. Or you are able
to invoke the change, or compromise in order to improve the team cohesion and not all
performance to degrade.
I think that exhibiting strong compromising skills will help improve workplace
performance. It lets employees know that I am always open to talk to them about
problems. This makes approachable when something needs to be fixed. Lastly, meeting
in the middle shows that I want to continue moving forward instead of backwards, and
that is key to organizational success.
Do Leaders Make a Difference?
1. This tests ones opinion of a leaders influence on an organization and how those action
affect or do not affect the members of the organization.
2. I ended this assessment with a total score of 40 points.
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3. According to feedback, I have an above average romance of leadership. I find an
organization leader to be the focal point. Rather than blaming outside sources for failures
I believe in a good leader to have the problem solving skills to keep the organization
moving forward even when things do not go as planned.
4. Based on my results I am a big purveyor of the romance of leadership. This reflects
me perfectly, because I believe that a leader is always vital to organization success, even
during hard times. Leadership is about “influencing, motivating, and enabling others to
contributes towards the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are
members” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2018, p. 337). Leaders should lead from the front
and not the back. A leader is always the result of an organizations success and its failures.
They have the ability to invoke the change needed, and motivate the team to be
successful.
Leaders are chosen to be enablers for the organization and they are to fight for the
resources needed to keep the machine turning. We are always told in the military that as
leaders we should give credit to subordinates where it is due. We are also told that we
should always take care of team members first. As a leader one should not be afraid to do
the dirty work and to step in and help where it is needed. Exhibiting these true leadership
traits will gain the respect of team members and that adds to the effectiveness of the team.
What Organizational Structure Do You Prefer?
1. This assessment determines ones preferred organizational structure according to beliefs
or superstitions of organization structures.
2. My score was 24 points overall.
3. After review of all results, I believe in tall hierarchy and the leadership chain associated
with it. I have an above average preference to more rigid structure and higher levels of
formality.
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4. My results reflect a preference of tall structure, and I think that there are a number of
benefits to using this organization structure. I believe that large organizations need a tall
structure for formality, as a checks and balance system, and to simplify the workload.
Because when you take a deeper look, organization success dwindles down to simplicity
and effectiveness. This is carried out by the division of labor, which refers to the
“subdivision of work into separate jobs assigned to different people” (McShane & Von
Glinow, 2018, p. 363). The division of labor allows departments to be subject matter
experts on more technical matters, and to know the finer details of their department. This
view has come about by my upbringing in the military.
I believe this is a preferred style of structure because the team members or
departments are able to carry out work efficiently. To add, the superior leaders of an
organization are focused of the vision of an organization and can drive the success based
on this structure. I think that this also gives employees their own responsibility to their
successes because they are not manages as closely. Lastly, this gives employees more
freedom of movement on how to carry out their work, because superiors usually aren’t
concerned with how the work is carried out.
Bibliography
McShane, S., & Von Glinow, M.A. (2018). Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
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