Developing Management Skills

Chapter 1:
Developing Self-Awareness

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 Learning Objectives
Increase personal awareness of
your:
1. Sensitive line
2. Emotional intelligence
3. Personal values and moral maturity
4. Cognitive style
5. Orientation toward change
6. Core self-evaluation

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 Keys to Self- Awareness
“Know Thyself”
Carved on the temple to the Oracle at Delphi
“He that would govern others must first
master himself”
Messinger
Book p. 69

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 Key Dimensions of Self-
awareness p. 68
• knowledge of the self has been
considered at the very core of human
behavior.
• Lao Tsu famously stated: “Knowing
others is intelligence. Knowing oneself
is true wisdom. Mastering others is
strength; mastering yourself is true
power

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 Key Dimensions of Self-
awareness
• Self-awareness involves developing an
understanding of many dimensions of
the self, and provides an essential
foundation for general personal
mastery as well as other personal
management skills.
• Self –awareness lies at the heart of the
ability to master oneself and therefore
to lead and manage others effectively .
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 The Enigma of
Self-Awareness p. 69

•Seeking self knowledge is a prerequisite

for personal growth and the ability to
know and accept others , it also may
inhibit growth and improvement
because of fear of knowing more
•Personal change is preceded by self-
awareness .

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 • The knowledge we possess about
ourselves, which produces our self-
concept, is central to improving our
management skills .

• However, we avoid seeking

information about ourselves because
it may make us feel inferior, protect
our self-esteem or self-respect .

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 The Sensitive Line
The point at which individuals become
defensive when encountering
information about themselves that is
inconsistent with their self-concept.

Ex: you look tiered but you are fine

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 Crossing the
Sensitive Line p. 70
• Crossing the sensitive line creates
rigidity and self-preservation

Our sensitive line is less likely to be

crossed…
•When information is verifiable,
predictable and controllable.

•When we self-disclose( self-

understanding )

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 Appreciating Individual Differences

Successful managing
focus of differences –
not distinction
Differences Distinctions
• We observe • We create distinctions
differences

• Appreciating • Making distinctions

differences helps creates social barriers
eliminate social
barriers
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 Five Areas of
Self Awareness

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 1-Emotional Intelligence
• Emotional intelligence is the ability to
correctly diagnose and manage one’s own
emotions as well as relationships with
others.
• Difficult to measure and define.
• Considered to be an important measure of
managerial success.

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 • Research suggests that emotional
intelligence is four times more
important than IQ in determining job
performance and life success.
• It is not based on a memory of having
experienced the same emotions.
• for example, emotionally intelligent
people can share in and understand
those feelings even if they have never
experienced something similar
• Book p. 73, 74
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 Components of
Emotional Intelligence
• The ability to diagnose and recognize
your own emotions.
• The ability to control your own
emotions.
• The ability to recognize and diagnose
the emotions of others.
• The ability to respond appropriately to
emotional cues. Book 74

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 2-Values ( study from slide )

• Values are a person’s stable and

taken-for-granted standards that
define what is good/bad,
worthwhile/worthless,
desirable/undesirable, true/untrue,
moral/immoral.

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 • Foundation for attitudes and personal
preferences
• Basis for important life decisions
• Help to define morality and ethics
• Cultural values explain patterns of
shared values among people in
various countries, as well as difference
between them

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 Trompenaars Cultural Value
Dimensions

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 Personal Values
• Instrumental Values: desirable
standards of conduct for attaining an
end
• Terminal Values: desirable ends or
goals for the individual
• Values maturity suggests that a
person’s values develop and mature
over time.

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 Values that
Managers Desire

• Sense of Accomplishment
• Self-Respect
• A Comfortable Life
• Independence

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 Kohlberg’s Stages of
Moral Development (read)

A. Preconventional (Self-Centered)
B. Conventional (Conformity)
C. Postconventional (Principled)

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 Recent Examples of Unethical
Decision Making (read)
• Enron collapse
• Bernie Madoff
• Lance Armstrong
• Hewlett-Packard spying scandal

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 Ethical Decision Making And
Values (read )

• Most managers feel they are under

pressure to compromise standards to
meet company goals*
• Conflict between maximizing
economic and social performance

* Study by American Management Association.

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 • Managers often have to weigh competing
values, such as those associated with
maximizing what is best for the company
versus what is best for other groups
(customers, employees, suppliers, society,
etc…).
• Managers best deal with these tradeoffs
when they that have a clear sense of their
own values and universal principles.

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 Standards for Making Ethical
Decision (book p.83) (read )
• Front Page Test
• Golden Rule Test
• Dignity and Liberty Test
• Equal Treatment Test
• Personal Gain Test
• Congruence Test
• Procedural Justice Test
• Cost-Benefit Test
• Good Night’s Sleep Test
• Virtuousness Test

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 3-Cognitive Style

• An individual’s inclination ( wish )to

perceive, interpret( explain), and
respond to information in a certain
way .
• Over time we all develop a strategy to
what kind of information we
suppressing or paying attention to .

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 • Cognitive style is based on two
dimensions :
1. Gather information .
2. Evaluation and act on information .
• cognitive styles are not the same as
personality types
Book p. 83

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 Dimensions of Cognitive Style
developed by Cool and Van den Broeck (2007)
Skill assesment section

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 Cognitive styles includes three styles : ex p.84
1. Knowing Style emphasizes facts, details, and data.
It gives preference for data that confirms one’s
argument. Knowers are well suited to evidence-
based argumentation. Ex. careers in technology,
engineering, and law.

2. Planning Style emphasizes structure, preparation,

and planning. It seeks clear agendas and well-
defined processes. Planners tend to be well-
prepared and follow-up meticulously. Ex. major in
economics, accounting, operations, mathematics,
engineering, and medicine.

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 3. Creating Style emphasizes
experimentation and creativity. It seeks
novelty and embraces ambiguity.
Creators tend to respond to information
quickly and impulsively. Ex. major in the
arts, history, political science, English,
and psychology.

( ex Book p.84+ p. 85)

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 4- Attitudes Toward Change
• In order to capitalize fully on the
strengths of your own cognitive style,
you also should be aware of your
orientation toward change.
• Graduates of management schools
today will face an environment unlike
any person has ever experienced
before

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 Change Orientation

To be aware of your own orientation

toward change , two dimensions
relevant for managers :
1. Tolerance of Ambiguity: The extent to
which individuals are comfortable
coping with unclear situations.
Book p. 85,86

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 Change Orientation (cont’d)
2. Locus of Control: The attitude people
develop regarding the extent to which
they control their own destines.
• When individuals receive information
about the success or failure of their
own actions or when something
changes in the environment, they
differ in how they interpret that
information
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 Locus of Control

Internal Locus of Control:

“I was the cause of the success or
failure.”
External Locus of Control:
“Something else caused the success
or failure.”
Depends on the score of control .

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 Internal Locus of Control
Associated with…
• Managerial success (at least in North
America)
• Less alienation ( away ) from work
environment
• More satisfaction at work
• Less stress
• More position mobility ( move)
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 External Locus of Control
• Most commonly found in managers
from Eastern cultures
• Tend to use coercive power more than
internal leaders
• Perform poorly in stressful situations
• Ex : Crown prince Mohammed bin
Salman ( does not reflect that study )

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 Personality
Personality: The relatively enduring
traits that makes an individual unique.

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 Determinants of Personality

• Some of our personality may be

attributed to biology and genetics
• However, people can make changes to
their personality if they are
determined

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 Personality Traits
The Big Five Dimensions of
Personality (OB course )
1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
5. Openness

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 5- Core Self-Evaluations
Core evaluations subconsciously
influence people’s appraisal of
themselves, the world, and others.

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 Core Self-Evaluation ( slide )
Four Components
1. Self-esteem is the extent to which people see
themselves as capable, successful, and worthy.
2. Generalized self-efficacy is a generalized sense of
one’s ability to perform capably across a variety of
circumstances ( different situation ).
3. Neuroticism ( emotional stability )is the tendency
to have a negative outlook or pessimistic
approach to life.
4. Locus of control is a person’s belief about the
extent to which they can control their own
experiences.

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 The Effects of
Core Self-Evaluations

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 Self-Awareness and Managerial
Implications

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 Behavioral Guidelines
• Identify your sensitive line
• Use the dimensions of national culture
to understand differences between your
values and those of other cultures
• Identify a set of principles on which you
will base your behavior
• Seek ways to expand your cognitive
style, tolerance for ambiguity and locus
of control

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 Behavioral Guidelines
• Enhance your emotional intelligence by
monitoring your responses to others
• Develop your core self-evaluation by
capitalizing on strengths and
accomplishments
• Engage in honest self-disclosure
• Keep a journal for self-analysis

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