My Personal Balance Sheet

My Personal Balance Sheet

Intentional Change Theory, as defined by Boyatzis and McKee, is the concept that to in order to create lasting and markedly improved change, one must define their ideal self and the real self before making a plan forward (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). “The real self is comprised of one's behavior, deeply held values, and strengths where they are in harmony with their ideal self, and gaps, where there is disaccord with the ideal self” (Dyck & Lovelace, 2018). Through the exercises in Becoming a Resonant Leader, McKee et al., show the path towards understanding the real self. “Like assessing the values of a business, a balance sheet is a way to summarize your personal assets and liabilities” (McKee et al., 2008). 

My Assets: 

My Distinct Strengths: things I know I do well and strengths that others see in me

•          My ability to build relationships with the people that I lead and inspire change and improvement in their performance. 

•          I work hard and strive to be the best I can be. 

•          I have a passion for Leadership and improvement in the workplace and at home. 

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

•          I have the knowledge and experience to help develop people and Leaders more effectively. However, often there are demands on my time at work that do not make this a priority. 

•          My ability to positively impact morale at work through relationship building. 

My Enduring Dispositions That Support Me: traits, habits, behaviors that I do not want to change and that help me to be successful

•          I am organized! I have a firm grasp on tasks with deadlines. 

•          I am constantly striving for improvement at work and at home. 

•          I am goal oriented. 

My Liabilities: 

My Weaknesses: things I know I don’t do well and I want to do better

•          At work, I fail to pay attention to the finer details of the position. I need to read/memorize the contract and our policies/procedures. I tend to stay surface level on some of these items. 

•          I take on too many responsibilities and then stress myself out for no reason. If I could learn to step back and say no, then I might be more successful at the items that are on my plate. 

Weaknesses I want to change: things I know I don’t do well and want to change

•          I am very passionate but often times without the right control, this leaks out in negative ways onto the people around me. This has damaging effects on the relationships with people that I work with. 

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

•          My facial expressions and body language often get me into trouble. I have been told that I ‘wear my heart on my sleeve’ in a way that is not professional or political. I feel as though this tendency makes me trustworthy, but I could see how that could make me less effective in the workplace. 

•          My honesty is also something that can have negative ramifications, but I also find to be helpful at times. I find my ability to be honest is a great trait to have with my peers and my superiors, but I need to learn when and where, and to what degree is my honesty effective in my position. 

As do most people, my weaknesses and strengths are fairly obvious to me and manifest in and outside the workplace. Although, the idea of ‘enduring dispositions’ makes me believe that similar items will be on my performance evaluations until retirement, I know I must work to negate the liabilities in myself. The overarching theme for my liabilities is my honesty and my passion. As mentioned, my honesty helps me build relationships with the people that I lead but can also get me into trouble as I am read easily by others. If I am upset, I look it and if I am frustrated, I voice it. This tendency coupled with my passion for improvement and supporting my people, voicing my frustration is sometime perceived as ‘yelling’ or ‘being upset.’ I will continue to work on improving my emotional intelligence, so I know how to control my emotions when I am frustrated or passionate about a certain topic. I believe my weaknesses are not inherently wrong but without the appropriate balance they are not effective.  

This is going to be lifelong work… 

References:

Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing

Dyck, L. R., & Lovelace, K. J. (2018). Alleviating the Effects of Chronic Disease in the Workplace: Opportunities for Intentional Change Theory. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 18(3), 10-23. http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/scholarly-journals/alleviating-effects-chronic-disease-workplace/docview/2135998234/se-2?accountid=27203

 

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