LSI research paper

Dennis Miao dmiao8@gmail.com MGMT 591
Professor Rick Lochner
09 September 2013

My primary (highest percentile score) personal thinking style according to my circumplex is Humanistic-Encouraging at the 1 o’clock position. And my “backup” (second highest percentile) personal thinking style shown on my circumplex is Achievement at the 11 o’clock position. My Humanistic-Encouraging and Achievement are both scored at 99%, therefore my primary and secondary thinking styles were established by looking at the self improvement plan section of my LSI.
According to the LSI self development guide the Humanistic-Encouraging style can strengthen both knowledge of people and the quality of relationships. I can agree with the majority of the statements when it talks about how to become more Humanistic-Encouraging with my own life and work experiences. The LSI talks about thinking of qualities that I admire in someone who has made a difference in my life with my growth and development and recognizing the difference they have made in my life. I find that a lot of times when somebody has made that difference in my life I do my best to appreciate the positive difference they have made and try to take on the qualities that has made that person somebody that I admire. The LSI guide also states this style tends to ask others what they think. Thinking back on it, I do that quite often especially in the military. When I was in ROTC we were always told to let senior NCO’s develop us. When I am at drill and I have an idea, I usually ask my senior NCO’s for their opinion before becoming the idea fairy to my commander. My First Sergeant would usually let me know from his experience which ideas were too far fetched and which ideas were feasible. Also when I was transferred the 709th Area Support Medical Company in Peoria I made the extra effort to call my previous Commander, and Platoon Sergeant about what things that I should sustain upon, and what I needed improvement on because there is always room for improvement.
Letting senior NCO’s develop me as a leader also leads into learning how to ask others for help, which is another characteristic of a Humanistic-Encouraging. Although senior NCO’s were not always the people that I asked for help, I find that I am able to identify when I need help and ask for it. When I was being transferred to the 709th I was asking other Platoon Leaders that were previous Lieutenants at the 709th about their Platoons and how to deal with certain problem Soldiers, and how to deal with the Commander, because the Commander at the 709th was a prior service infantryman, and I have never been under the command of someone in a line unit. The LSI also says that to improve towards a Humanistic-Encouraging style you should put yourself in other people’s shoes, and see their point of view. I find that I tend to do this more often in my personal life. As an example whenever I get into an argument with my siblings or friends, I tend to forgive them easier because I find myself putting myself in their shoes and how they may view the situation. Sometimes when my siblings are arguing with each other I will tell them to consider the other’s point of view.
Also noted in the LSI is that a Humanistic-Encouraging style would talk less and listen more. I have seen this a lot in my personal life, because in my culture when your parents are nagging/lecturing you, you are not allowed to talk back. Therefore ever since I was growing up my parents have molded me into somebody that listens instead of talks. This can be seen during class this past Monday, when people are talking and discussing in class, I tend to like to listen more to what others have to say. After interpreting the LSI guide for Humanistic-Encouraging I can clearly see how I have adapted this style through my work and personal experiences, and I agree with myself being a Humanistic-Encouraging style.
In the LSI guide my backup style is Achievement. I also agree with this style as one of my highest styles of management. Some suggestions that the LSI guide has given to become more of an achiever is to set goals for myself and seeking support from others. This is very apparent in my life, each time I accomplish a goal I set more goals that I can attain. I usually ask my parents for advice on major life goals and seek their support.
The LSI guide also states that an Achievement style will set goals that are attainable to make goal setting a habit. I do this constantly in my life without knowing it. I do this especially when I am working on my basketball skills. I will start out with goals of working on my layups, afterwards I will move on to free throws and so on.
The LSI guide talks about how an Achievement style will work on going beyond my current skill level. I have done this numerous times. I believe that being able to work beyond my current skill level comes from my ambition, and always wanting to do more. When I was enlisted, I was able to perform my job and duties very proficiently. I would start asking for more responsibilities, and ultimately stepped into a Sergeant position as the NCOIC of the unit infection control program a Specialist. I have also stepped into rolls beyond my skill set when I graduated college and earned my commission. My Company at the time had no XO during my first year as a butter bar, and I worked with my commander and was able to take lead of my Platoon while working as the acting XO in my Company. I also like to calculate risks and not take very high risks. Instead I tend to take moderate risks. Taking moderate risks is an example of what the LSI guide has suggested somebody without a high achievement score to work towards. When I am playing basketball, instead of taking a three point shot with a higher risk of missing, I would rather look for somebody that is open for an easier two point shot. Another reason why I agree with the LSI guide about being an Achievement style is because I am able to focus on what I think is important to me, and not on what others think I should be doing or what others want me to do. An example of this would be the countless arguments I have had with my parents about my career path. My parents have been pushing a physician career path on me, but I want to pursue a career in medical management and health services. It was very hard at first to work towards doing what I wanted to do instead of what other people think I should be doing. Overall I strongly agree with both of my results for my primary and backup personal styles of Humanistic-Encouraging, and Achievement.
As I have stated before, there is always room for improvement. Therefore I cannot just look at my highest styles, but I also need to look at my limiting style. According to my LSI test results, my limiting style is Conventional style at the 4 o’clock position. I have scored in the 83 percentile for the conventional style. I believe a high score on my Conventional style is confining me to see everything in almost black and white, and not taking many risks and makes me uncomfortable to change. I believe it is also what makes me more reserved and not as outspoken.
Some of the characteristics of what describes a Conventional style are reluctant to try new things, uncomfortable varying a daily routine, have difficulty making decisions, fear of being asked my opinion, seldom question or dispute a rule. I can see each of these characteristics in myself and see how it has been limiting my effectiveness in organizations. My biggest concern is difficulty making decisions, because when it comes down to it that is ultimately what I have to do to be able to lead my Platoon. I find myself constantly asking others on advice between two different decisions that both have very high risks. Also having a fear of questioning or disputing a rule can be very harmful. This could lead to potentially stretching out my Soldiers too much. As an example if my commander expects my Platoon to do too much and I do not question it, then I may potentially stretch out my Soldiers too much. Although it is good to stretch people out and push them to the limit, pushing pass that limit could end in major consequences. Another characteristic of this style is fear of being asked my opinion. This could limit my professional effectiveness in an organization, because if I noticed something that I think can be done more effectively and I do not voice my opinion, then things will always be done the same way unless somebody else also notices it. Being reluctant to try new things is also a very bad characteristic of the Conventional style. If somebody comes up with a new idea of doing things, and I am reluctant to implement it then I am doing everybody a disservice, especially when that new idea was a good idea. Even though it is hard to come to terms with it, I chose this style as my limiting style because I have seen all these characteristics in my management style and it is something that needs to change. I would like to change all these behaviors of this style, but the behavior that I would like to change the most is the difficulty of making decisions. Changing this behavior will boost my confidence in my ability to lead Soldiers, and it will help me learn how to take larger risks and overall effectiveness of myself and my Soldiers. Sometimes I do not have a hard time making decisions, for example when my convoy is lined up and ready to SP early I have the decision to sit around and wait for our SP time or I can request and early SP. During these types of situations, I will usually make a quick decision to request an earlier SP. When I make this decision, I feel a confidence boost of my command of the convoy, and when we arrive at our final destination my Soldiers are happy that our timeline is pushed forward and they work harder and faster in hopes of an earlier bed time.
My personal styles of Humanistic-Encouraging, and Achievement have had a great impact on my management style. From the Humanistic-Encouraging style it has impacted all four functions of management, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. According to the LSI a Humanistic-Encouraging manager puts a lot of trust into their subordinates, appreciating the strength in others, asking insightful questions designed to help subordinates arrive at their own solutions. For the planning function phase with the Humanistic-Encouraging style I like to gather all my subject matter experts and plan together with them, constantly asking them questions of how we can make things more effective, giving them ideas, and making necessary changes. I will not plan anything I do not believe my Soldiers cannot accomplish, but I believe my Soldiers can accomplish everything. For the organization function I delegate all tasks out to my subject matter experts or to other leaders (platoon sergeant, squad leaders) in my platoon to figure out how they want to organize and delegate. Although I am still there to help them collaborate and coordinate, I tend to let them organize the way they feel necessary. During the leading function I am there to oversee everything, and make sure everything is running smoothly, I will give support and motivation. For the function of controlling there is very low supervision until I feel like I need to step is, which is very rare. I put a lot of trust on my junior enlisted, junior NCO’s, and senior NCO’s. Almost like the leading function I will not micro manage my Soldiers, I am there for the major issues that may effect overall mission capability. This helps my effectiveness, because I am still able to have a hand in everything but still give my Soldiers a sense of achievement. My Soldiers will be more developed, and they will achieve and sustain higher performance because of their added responsibilities.
The Humanistic-Encouraging, and Achievement almost overlap each other. According to the LSI the Achievement style manager prefers to lead by example, and encourage subordinates to give their best effort. These managers set realistic goals, promote teamwork with subordinate input, and value self-starters. For the planning function instead of having my subject matter experts to help me plan because I trust them, I have them help me plan because I am seeking their input. This input will ensure that I set realistic goals for my Platoon. During the organizing function I will delegate still and allow my Platoon to organize on their own, to make them work together to organize as a team. For the leading function I will do some of the same things they are doing to lead by the example, and push my Soldiers to work harder. During the control function, I will still have minimal supervision to enable them to start things on their own and take initiative. This helps to be more effective, because my Soldiers are constantly working as a team building their moral. They will put a lot of effort into achieving their goals that they can achieve. The Soldiers will feel more attached to the project because of their input in the planning process. The Soldiers will also not be lost when I am not present, and they will need little to no supervision because they will be used to being self-starters.
While analyzing the Humanistic-Encouraging style, I have noticed that some of the characteristics of this style could have been developed throughout my life. The LSI guide states that one characteristics of a Humanistic-Encouraging style is a focused concern for the growth and development of other people. I think I developed this characteristic by taking on some of the qualities of my managers that I admired in the past. When I was enlisted my supervisor would have feedback with me about my job performance. She took great interest of my own personal goals of commissioning as an officer and supported me throughout my endeavor of achieving my goal. She gave me feedback of what I was doing really well, and some areas that I could improve upon. She took the time to coach and mentor me to make sure I would be able to achieve my goal. This was one of the characteristics that I admired. Instead of leaving me to figure things out on my own she genuinely helped me grow and develop. This characteristic ties into another characteristic of the Humanistic-Encouraging style which is having the willingness to assist others with self-improvement. Another characteristic of the Humanistic-Encouraging style is the appreciation of the strengths in others, and belief in their potential for improvement. I have developed this because when I was growing up, my mom always taught me how to see the good in others. This gave me the ability to put a lot of trust into people, especially when I am aware of what their strengths are. When I am delegating tasks out to my Platoon I know who my subject matter experts are so I know who to delegate which tasks to.
My optimism regarding what people can do, which is another characteristic of the Humanistic-Encouraging style, comes from my father and basic training. As a child I always believed that I could achieve anything any thing I put my mind on, because my dad had molded me this way. He would always encourage me to put 100% into everything I do. There were not a lot of goals that I could not accomplish when I was younger. How does that make me optimistic about what others can do? Well when I went to basic military training there were a lot of times it felt like I could not do it anymore, and one of the things that kept me going was when somebody had told me “If they can do it, then I can do it too.” After hearing that, I kept driving on, reminding myself “if they can do it, then I can do it.” Now I feel as if there is not a lot that I can not accomplish, and I am very optimistic about things that I can accomplish myself. This makes me very optimistic about what others can accomplish, because most of the time I believe I can accomplish it myself. In these cases the tables have turned in a sense that, “if I can do it, then they can do it too.” Not only can my Soldiers do it, but they are capable of doing it better.
After taking the LSI survey, and analyzing the data, I am glad that I had the opportunity to take advantage of the exercise. The survey and the exercise were a real eye opener, and it made me realize things I did not realize or subconsciously did not want to realize. It has made me more appreciative of the people, places, and situations that have made me the person I am today. One goal that I hope my work in MGMT591 is to help me become less of a Conventional style leader. I believe this exercise should be very valuable to all companies, and that they should use tools like these to develop their leaders. This is a good tool to help recognize strengths and weaknesses in all leaders, and can help leaders hone their weaknesses. It would be a shame if a leader did not utilize this if provided to them, because they think that they do not need improvement on their leadership style. If you were to ask me if there was one thing I truly believed in, I would tell you that there is always room for improvement.