One of the hardest things to do is assessing one’s self as a leader, and a very powerful
tool for leading a team is self-awareness. This is the ability to be intuitively in tune with
ourselves and our emotions. Taking the personality leadership profile test created a moment of
self-awareness for me and due to the positive impact from the test experience, I have concluded
that the development of this kind of awareness as a leader will not only strengthen my individual
performance, but also have a great impact on my organizational performance as well. I have
basically taken a great step to be equipped with skills that are critical for success. This paper is a
compilation of my personal assessment result from the John Maxwell’s 360-degree leadership
test, and Marita and Florence Littauer Personality Assessment Questionnaire. I will be describing
my leadership style based on the result and in the end, draw up a conclusion that shows
application of the initial points to my present leadership opportunity.
Based on the Maxwell’s Leadership Assessment, my results are as follows Position 6.3,
Permission 6.5, Production 5.9, People Development 6.5, and Personhood or Pinnacle; Self 6.2
and Others 6.8. My results are very impressive however, what do they really mean? what does it
really say about me regarding leadership? Position is seen as the first level of leadership where
people follow solely because they have to and based on the position held.1 Even though the
position was given, and comes with the various rights and authority, Maxwell states that people
do not have to follow only because they have to by means of a title, they will follow you better if
you increase your level of influence.2 The fact that I was selected for various positions
throughout the years such as assistant choir director, vocal director, and president of church
youth group, just to name a few, implies that others have observed that I possess the basic skills
needed to function as a leader or the promise of a future leader. These positions have opened the
door to other leadership opportunities, and I am grateful that people did not just follow me within
the boundaries of my job description.
This brings me to the next level of leadership, Permission. The summary of this level of
leadership is basically the idea of not followed because its required, but because followers also
want to.3 My average result here was 6.5 which is higher than the previous and goes to show that
the impact of my leadership on my followers flows mainly from my relationships developed with
1. John Maxwell, The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the
Organization (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 5.
2. Ibid., 6.
3. Ibid., 6.
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them. When working in teams, achieving goals are important however, I take great interest in the
lives of the people I work with, to ensure that they are also achieving their personal goals,
learning, growing, and excelling. I have and continue to excel in this area and still maintain
relationships after leaving such teams.
Due to my emphasis on relationship building and personal growth of team members,
overall team results are affected – Production. At this level people follow based on performance
and results.4 This is also due to some areas where growth is needed as it pertains to planning,
prioritizing, decisiveness, vision casting, strategic thinking organized, and executing various task
to achieve goals. It is not that I desire to be solely about results but having a balance to would
improve my track record as a leader of not only meeting goals and expectations but exceeding
them.
Another level of leadership I enjoy engaging in is referred to as people development. In
this level, “people follow because of what you have done for them”.5 I enjoy aiding and
observing the personal, spiritual, and professional development of friends, family, and followers.
Even today, I still encourage and provide advice to members of teams that I have worked with in
the past. One of my main strategies involved networking for the sake of my followers’
development. As the Vocal Director at my church, I was able to introduce team members to a
professional sound engineer to teach new techniques, manage sound and improve skills for
operating sound equipment. I also had the opportunity to train members to hear various parts and
improve vocally with knowledge gained through my undergraduate program. The idea here is
centered around the ability for a leader to pour out his or herself into the individuals that they
lead.
According to Maxwell, the Personhood or Pinnacle level is one where people follow you
because they have observed who you are and what you represent”.6 This is surprisingly my
highest level as it is centered around people and their development. Some people know me as a
perfectionist, others as a hard worker and that I function in excellence. I believe that I have the
gift of discerning, reading people and understanding their need and emotion. I use this to my
advantage when dealing with followers to discover more than what is implied by their words, to
4. John Maxwell, The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the
Organization (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 6.
5. Ibid., 5.
6. Ibid., 7.
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see their desires and work towards improving their current situations. I was surprised at this
being my highest because according to Maxwell, “It is not a level one can strive to reach,
because reaching it is outside of your control.”7 I feel like this is a sign for a great future as a
leader because it is a level that leaders attain only after years of great investment in the lives of
people that follow them.
One of my biggest discoveries based on Maxwell’s Assessment that I need to work on is
my productivity level. It is true that I am more concerned about individual members that I lead
more than focusing on the results which is obvious from my average score in “production.”
However, I need to find a balance between the two.
After completing the Personality Assessment Questionnaire by Littauer, I was surprised
that the results are spot on and this further gave me a detailed description of my personality.
Founded on my responses, the “Perfect Melancholy” personality profile best suited me. Based on
reflection of Maxwell’s assessment, Littauer confirms that my basic desire is to “have
perfection.”8 While growing up, I was mostly alone, stayed away from people and social events
and engaged in reading and writing songs. Although this personality type is usually depressed or
experience negative mood swings, God has used some of the traits in this profile to be a blessing.
According to Littauer, the visual clues are the second most obvious.9 My quiet nature is truly
very obvious when communicating with friends and family. My voice is generally very soft and I
enjoy traditional colors and classic styles is emphasized from my Nigerian heritage. “I like my
space.” This is what I would usually tell anyone trying to intrude. My ‘closed’ nature is sacred to
me and granting me the freedom of having my personal space translates into one’s respect for
me.10 The final obvious visual clue, is that I am neat and tidy. I empathize with my husband
whenever he has to arrange my clothes after laundry. I am very detailed when it has to do with
placing various clothes on specific hanger colors and in a specific direction, folding clothes in a
particular way, and ensuring that the bed is always made and things are usually in place. I always
watch the expression on his face and it makes me laugh. After all the hard work he puts into it, I
7. John Maxwell, The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the
Organization (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 7.
8. Marita, Littauer, and Florence Littauer. Wired That Way: Companion Workbook: a
Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Maximizing Your Personality Type. (Grand Rapids,
MI: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 16.
9. Ibid., 33
10. Ibid.,36
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still go behind his back to fix somethings which makes him tease me a lot. This also translate to
my surroundings and lifestyle in general.
The strengths and weakness in this personality profile are categorized in three main
topics; Emotions, work and friends. According to Littauer, melancholy personalities are very in
touch with their emotions and as a result, this helps them show sensitivity to others and their
situations.11 God has used this strength to comfort many individuals because of my patience to
listen, understand and encourage. Due to this deep level of sensitivity, Perfect Melancholies
communicate with metaphor, used excessively by brilliant poet and artisans.12 This has led to my
excellence in writing and composing original songs for the glory of God. However, I must be
conscious about the fact that I tend to get very moody depressed easily due to situations beyond
my control and this is a weakness which I have to work on in order to be a better leader.
Regarding work, I am a visual learner. Seeing various concepts drawn out gives me the
opportunity to understand faster and better. I generally write on post it and I am always creating a
list for activities that need to be completed. This make me feel and ease and more organized and
it is easy to see what should be done rather than committing it to memory. On the other hand, the
challenge for perfectionist is that they “spend too much time planning and is hard to please.”13 It
gets difficult for me to decide on something when there are many options to select from and also,
this happens a lot with my school work and projects. I usually wonder why I have an assignment
that requires only about 350 word but I end up with four pages most times. This gets me worked
up because I would have probably used that time for other assignment of maybe even relaxed my
brain.
Although, I do not frequently contact my friends especially during school terms, I have
deep concern for them and I am always willing to help whenever a need arises no matter the cost.
This strength has been used by God to draw many of my unbelieving and backslide friends to the
saving power of God and I am grateful for the opportunity to keep exploring this side of my
leadership strength.
11. Marita, Littauer, and Florence Littauer. Wired That Way: Companion Workbook: a
Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Maximizing Your Personality Type. (Grand Rapids,
MI: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 65.
12. Ibid., 66
13 Ibid., 67
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In Conclusion, while taking these tests and assessments is helpful for me to be aware of
my personality type and skills for leadership purposes, it will be of no effect if I do not begin to
explore with the knowledge I have gained from this exercise. It is vital for me to look at my
leadership strengths and weaknesses with a biblical lens that incorporates mixing of words with
action which can be interpreted as diligence. After listening to the presentation by Dr. Gary
Mathena, Diligence was one of the qualifications that he listed for being a spiritual leader. He
said that diligence helps leaders cultivate their own vineyard because the grass is always greener
where it is cultivated and tendered to. Also, I am reminded to be disciplined according to 1
Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have
preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 14 Haven said this, I will strive to
increase my productivity level by setting real expectations and goals for myself with boundaries
that will help guide my result. This will also help the issue I face with perfectionism. I will also
do my best to stay in touch as much a possible with friends so that I do not find myself in
isolation due to the love of my personal space.
Bibliography
14. The Holy Bible
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John Maxwell, The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the
Organization (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011).
Marita, Littauer, and Florence Littauer. Wired That Way: Companion Workbook: a
Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Maximizing Your Personality Type. (Grand
Rapids, MI: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014).
The Holy Bible.
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