Developing a willingness and ability to engage in self-reflection is a critical leadership skill that is not easily learned, yet which reaps many rewards. The Life Styles Inventory enables you to examine your unique way of thinking and how it influences your behavior.
Your Assignment
Complete (on your own) the Life Styles Inventory according to the procedure outlined here, so that you end up with your Life Styles Circumplex profile: 12 personal thinking style scores, with one score for each section of the circumplex. See the embedded link for additional information.
Write a three to five page paper examining and explaining your LSI results. Make sure to comply with the Grading Rubric provided. The required page count does not include the title page or table of contents. Hint: The table of contents should include the four topics in the grading rubric.
Due date: Place the paper in the Dropbox by midnight on Sunday of Week 2.
LSI Style Interpretations
Go to the LSI1 Results page, find your circumplex profile, and click on the circumplex slice of one of the styles. The site will bring you to a customized interpretation of the style you clicked on. Click on each of the 12 slices to see all of the customized style description pages.
How to Use the Inventory
Click here to go to the Life Styles Inventory (LSI) exercise. Follow the instructions given on the LSI website.
Section Points Description Title Page Title of your applied research paper, your name, course number and title, name of professor, and date. Personal Thinking Styles 25
Identify your primary and backup thinking styles: What are your "primary" (highest percentile score) and "backup" (second highest percentile) personal thinking styles as shown in your circumplex? Discuss how your primary and backup personal styles are manifested in your life and work (see the LSI Self Development Guide online). Using the style interpretations in the LSI Guide, describe the styles and give your perceptions about the results. Do you agree or disagree with them and why?
Identify your limiting style: Identify and illustrate one style you think might be working against you to reduce your overall effectiveness. Name the style you have chosen and make a few remarks about why you are choosing this style as limiting your professional effectiveness in organizations.
Select one behavior associated with this style that you think you would like to change and the difference it will make. Be sure to support your interpretation with examples, and so forth.
LSI style interpretations: Go to the LSI1 Results page, find your circumplex profile, and click on the circumplex slice of one of the styles. The site will bring you to a customized interpretation of the style you clicked on. Click on each of the 12 slices to see all of the customized style description pages.
Impact on Management Style 35
What impact do your personal styles have on your management style? Explore and assess the impact of your styles on your effectiveness as a manager in terms of the four functions of management, listed below.
- Planning
- Organizing
- Leading
- Controlling
If you are currently not a manager, assume you are and predict your effectiveness as such.
Genesis of Personal Style 35 Critically evaluate and explain how you developed the personal styles that were revealed in your LSI. What role, for example, did family relationships, school, organizational memberships, culture, and so forth, have in shaping your personal style? Conclusion and Reflection 25
Think about your LSI results and your responses to the above questions. Summarize any concluding comments. Close your paper with a statement of at least one question or goal you hope your work in MGMT591 will help you to address and comment with a few sentences to describe the value of this exercise to your personal and professional development.
Include a copy of your LSI Report. Either copy or paste it into this assignment or include it in the Dropbox as a pdf.
Please note: The LSI Self-Development Guide is integrated into the LSI1 Participant account and is available after you complete the LSI Survey and have access to your results. In-depth and personalized style descriptions can be found by clicking on the style slices of the circumplex. For example, if you would like to learn more about the Humanistic-Encouraging style (Style 1), you simply click on the circumplex slice for that style. The same goes for the other 11 styles.
You can find the Challenge of Change and the Self-Improvement Plan information by using two of the additional links that become available in your LSI online account after the survey is complete. These links are The Challenge of Change and Your Self-Improvement Plan. Good luck with the exercise!