Manar Al Mahmood
February 10, 2020
Reflection Essay
Self-awareness is one of the most important traits to have not only for your own benefit
and personal development, but also for the work you do for and with others. I certainly agree
with Lee and King’s quote: “Knowing yourself makes you more effective in working with
others.” When an individual is self-aware, it means that they are aware of their strengths and
weaknesses, values, priorities, and their emotions. In the case of leadership, a high level of self-
awareness is necessary for excellent performance and influence. As Curtis Brungardt explained
in his paper, the idea of leadership has evolved overtime and have come to refer to the interaction
between leader and follower (Brungardt). He defines leadership as a “collaborative endeavor.”
The article focuses on introducing and applying this new face of leadership, but, in my opinion,
for this definition to become effective, self-awareness is crucial. As Daniel Coleman stated,
“people with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically
hopeful” (Goleman). There are many ways to understand one’s personality, competencies, and
style in work environments to achieve self awareness, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) and the six leadership styles identified by Daniel Goleman.
First, the MBTI personality test’s four basic areas of personalities are important to be
aware of to be productive in our interactions with others. The four areas are: Extroversion/
introversion; sensing/intuition; thinking/feeling; and judging/perceiving. Knowing one’s MBTI
type leads to understanding capabilities and limitations, strengthening and developing
competencies, and building better relationships. For example, someone who is a ENTJ type is
decisive and forceful in presenting their ideas can learn to utilize the best aspects of their
personality type while also working on their weaknesses, such as being empathetic and flexible.
Furthermore, in working with others, leadership style not only impacts the atmosphere of
the work environment, but also the results. Goleman’s six leadership styles suggest that being
aware of those distinct styles is necessary. The reason is not because one style is superior, but
rather, the skillful switching between them when the situation calls for it is what makes
awareness of them effective. In fact, Goleman states that “most effective leaders acts according
to one or more” (Goleman). There are different competencies in each style, which can be equally
as important. For instance, the democratic leadership style is collaborative and communicative,
while the visionary style is self-confident and goal-oriented. Understanding these differences and
being flexible when employing them into your work with others requires you to understand
yourself. Thus, self-awareness does make you more effective when working with others. Having
done both tests for class activities and coming to know my personality type and leadership styles,
my level of self-awareness has increased. In the MBTI test, my result was INFJ, which is a type
that is insightful, organized, seeks meaning in ideas and relationships, and develops a clear
vision. In Goleman’s six leadership styles, I scored equally on the Affiliative and Visionary
styles. These two are in line with my result in the MBTI test.
My service work at Sabin is enhanced by my self-awareness through my interactions with
students and teachers. I work in the library with students from kindergarten to 5th grade, where I
see three different classes in a day. In the library, students are asked by Mr. Diltz to pick a book
and check it out before the end of class. However, some children get distracted by chatting with
friends, playing with legos, or watching the salmon in the tank. According to the MBTI, how I
deal with the outer world is through judging. This means I am aware of time and finish projects
before starting other. This is great for my tasks to help children pick their books or finish some
research they are doing before they are out of time, while also being aware that I am working
with children, so I will try not to be rigid.
Moreover, being in the background helping out when I am needed is great for reflection.
Now knowing I am an introvert who is also affiliative in my leadership style, I can emphasize the
best aspects of these personality/leadership types, while also working on my weaknesses. Being
around children, it is easier to work on being more sociable. Because most children are
extremely friendly, it is a great atmosphere for me to be comfortable with being more bubbly.
Next time I go to Sabin, I will integrate more of my strengths such as creativity and empathy,
while also strengthening my ability to socialize. To continue my journey in self-awareness, I will
take the following strategies: I will perform self reflection at least once a week, ask for feedback
from friends or people who interact with me often, keeping a journal of my service work at
Sabin, and finally, at the end of the term I will retake the personality test to see if there are any
changes.
References
Brungardt, L. C. (1998, April 27). The New Face of Leadership: Implications for Higher
Education. Horizon. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/lead_edu.html
Goleman, D. (1998). What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review. Pg. 82-91.
McKee, A., Goleman, D., Boyatzi, R. The New Leaders: Transforming the Art of Leadership.
Little, Brown. 2002.
