What are my managerial strengths?
According to the NERIS Analytics (2024) ’16 Personalities’ online character test, I am an “Assertive Protagonist; a reliable leader type, someone who sees a worthwhile project through, even when the path to completion is difficult. An open-minded leader, who can be fair, respectful, receptive to input from others, thinking outside of usual frameworks, yet with a strong vision of what needs to be accomplished, and deeply passionate about advocating for others and supporting everyone in growing and succeeding.
I was never a manager at work and for years felt unequipped to be a leader in any setting. Yet, in the past five years some leadership qualities must have quietly developed within me. At my prior job, a large corporation, I started a number of unofficial chat groups for our nursing community. These useful chats quickly gained popularity (some have more than 220 members now), and I found myself managing the security and privacy settings, the conditions for participation, the graphic design of the group icons, as well as answering questions and maintaining a hopeful mood on all the posts.
Am I able to get excited and inspire others?
Yes. My NERIS leadership profile correctly identified that I am blessed with the gifts of radiating true passion for something and communicating eloquently to raise awareness and attention and to motivate people to pursue a cause or goal together, while at the same time making everyone feel understood and appreciated.
An example of this is a support group I established two months ago to help a friend of mine finance a cancer treatment that is not covered by insurance. I looked into using available options to raise funds with online programs, but decided against them, because they deducted up to 15 percent from the donations to subsidize their service.
With the patient’s help, I collected names and phone numbers of his closest friends and started texting or calling them one by one to explain the plan. I asked them for their email address to send out a group email as a blind carbon copy (bcc) to protect everyone’s privacy. Next, I created an Excel database of names and contact information and kept a record of how much every person donated and how much I paid for the weekly treatments. I keep emailing the group updates regarding the timing and efficacy of the treatments and how much every member would need to contribute to cover the cost. I seem to find the right words to convey my passionate wish to help our mutual friend in times of need. The responses I receive from the group are reflecting deepest gratitude for the movement I started.
How do I react to changes?
There is no direct comment in the NERIS personality test result on how I would typically react to changes. Yet, as a leader who is receptive to a variety of interests, opinions, and perspectives, I am likely to tolerate, even embrace the introduction of new elements to the original plan. Furthermore, the leadership trait of reliability allows me to stay the course of a project, while incorporating changes into the process, making the result something that everyone involved can be proud of participating in.
Personally, my appetite for variety in life has provided me many opportunities to practice appreciating change. It is a fact that things do not remain static, whether we like it or not. It is our response to this that causes most suffering. Large scale life changes, such as starting a new job, disability, or aging, can be harder to adjust to. As the years pass and technology develops, small changes that add up to making a big cultural difference have become more frequent. I do my best to adapt, to work on my attitude toward acceptance, and to love the miracles of human progress. However, I am often bothered by updates to the interface of computer apps. They cause me to feel disoriented, often for no apparent reason, other than the whims of someone in charge. And especially when I see the alterations benefiting mostly big corporations or those who already have a lot, I feel the need to resist change and instead advocate for more traditional ways of doing things, to not further disempower vulnerable people.
Which areas should I develop in order to become a better manager/leader?
I should learn not to expect too much of people around me or get burned out by taking on more than I can handle. Knowing when to make decisions with my head, instead of my heart or gut feeling would be a great skill to acquire. I also need to remain aware that we are all on a spectrum of life experiences and have different preferences and personality types. Therefore, some people may not have the desire, energy, or expertise to follow the standards I might see as essential. I need to remember to value all fellow humans for what they ARE able to do.
According to a recent Transformational Leadership assessment by Virolainen (2024), I would benefit from learning coaching styles, for example how to ask questions to involve employees more, instead of merely telling people what to do.
References:
NERIS Analytics Limited 2011-2024. Protagonist Personality
ENFJ-A / ENFJ-T. 16 Personalities. https://www.16personalities.com/enfj-personality. Accessed 2.2.2024.
Virolainen, Ilkka 2024. Evaluate Transformative Leadership. What Kind of Manager/Leader Am I? Course material from: Expertise and Leadership 2023-2024. Savonia University of Applied Sciences. https://moodleold.savonia.fi/course/view.php?id=17866#section-1. Accessed 8.2.2024.