That's One 'i' Personality!

I have been asked the question, "What matters to you and why?" a lot lately in some form or another. And from that I have had to create promises and commitments involving this love for things that matter to me. Thus, I have spent a great deal of time holding that question in my space. I have come up with the answer that connections matter to me and from that I created two unique projects. One from which I'll need the help of the #sachat community and one which is a smaller research project within my own community. From these bigger ideas I have created a few smaller ones, (happens the other way around usually, I know).

As part of the requirement of my Student Affairs cohort this semester we were each asked to take an hour of the seminar and present about what matters to us. (Connection, if you forgot). Through a series of great connections, I was able to get my hands of 5 copies of the DiSC Personality Test. Awesome! I took this test when I was a sophomore in college and on the Leadershape retreat and was curious to see if anything had changed over the 5 years since I last took it.

Diligently we all used paper clips to mark the preferences that would determine our leadership personalities. If you are not familiar, here's a quick summary:

Dominance- emphasis on shaping the environment by overcoming opposition to accomplish results.

influence-emphasis is on shaping the environment by influencing or persuading others.

Steadiness-emphasis on cooperating with other within existing circumstances to carry out the task.

Conscientiousness-emphasis is on working conscientiously within existing circumstance to ensure quality and accuracy.

Here's a longer description.

5 years ago I was a D with a close C. Let me just tell you, 5 years can change a person immensely. I am now a high i and D is my lowest.

So what does that mean for me? For starters, I am good at persuading people.  AND, surprise, it means I like connecting to others and am good at it!! That makes sense. Other things include that I am articulate, motivating, enthusiastic, optimistic, and I like participating in groups. My ideal work environment involves social recognition, freedom of expression, counseling, and opportunities to verbalize ideas. That could explain why I am struggling to grow in my current work environment!

Some of the areas in which I need balance include time management, working with 'things' instead of people, follow-through, decision making, realistic expectations of others, prioritizing, and being more firm.

What else did I learn about myself? Well, I am self-promoting, in case you couldn't tell yet, (I have the Promoter Pattern). Besides that, I also discovered (already knew) that my goal is to get approval and to be popular amongst those I know. Another shocking discovery is that I judge others by their verbal skills. Again, this is not surprising to me as Facebook statuses that have 'your' and you're' wrong in them drive me crazy. I overuse praise and optimism, but also am influenced by them. I like to interact with others even if I am not that interested in the task, and generally don't go into group tasks with the goal of accomplishing them. I tend to overestimate people (check mark in that box!).  I thrive on meetings, committees, and conferences. (check!).

Yet, knowing all this about myself and how much I love group work, it's interesting to note that I hate groups. For example, if a friend invites me out with a group of her friends, I end up not being able to go because the side of me that wants to impress people gets too scared of what they'll think of me. So, I end up staying home and avoiding scenes like that.

Student Affairs applications? In our cohort of 4, each one of us had a different letter as our highest. Yay! That means we can all help each other where we struggle. And...in a way we all sort of complete each other. Cheesy, I know. But knowing that about each other really gives us the opportunity to learn from each other. It also makes us all aware of how we are when we work with others. This allows us to change our approach if we need to, depending on the student or staff member with whom we're working.

This applies to how I learn best and with whom I am most comfortable. Ideally, I need certain people-oriented traits in my work environment. The same goes for the classroom. That might be why I had a panic attack when there were no due dates on two of my syllabi this year. No due dates mean my time management is out of the window!

Do yourself a favor and take a few personality tests to learn more about who you are. And, in a few years, take them again! People change. We have experiences and grow from them, thus changing how we approach things. In order to be good for our students, we must know how we lead.

The Challenge of Certain Communities

It's been a struggle lately to find myself a community in which I feel at home. It's especially discouraging since my main community is within the Student Affairs realm, and Student Affairs is about creating community. As part of an exercise within my SA cohort, we were asked to choose a community we're a part of and describe it. I chose my office at the Center for Health and Wellness Promotion.
I have found myself quite challenged in that environment when it comes to community. There is a clear line dividing the clinical half of the office from the 'other' side, where I work. Often their doors are shut because they have students in their offices, or they are at meetings. We all work in offices, except the student employees and our office manager, but if we're all in our offices we don't see each other. It is sort of like working alone. Which is challenging because I live alone, so there is not a lot of interaction during the day.
The other challenge I find is that most students who come into the office don't really want to be there; they were written up for drinking in the dorms or have worse problems and need to see a counselor. So, I can't just walk out of my office and say hi to these students because of confidentiality reasons. This leaves me waiting for meetings with the group I advise or hoping they'll remember their one on one appointments.
I've always imagined a community as fun, changing and diverse. I know diversity differs in several ways, but we are an office of all white females. And, yes, sometimes there is music playing in the office, but that doesn't always make it fun.
For all of this, however, I have grown to learn that community looks differently in different places. There is some sort of community in the office, even if it's not one in which I feel like myself. I have decorated my office to make it feel mine, but I'm not a quiet person. I like being able to see people and interact. If I have learned anything, it is to be inquisitive with my next job about what community feels like in the office. I will look around to see if there are desks or offices. I will find out who comes into the office regularly. I hope that I will be able to put myself in an office environment with more student and staff interaction.
Knowing that community looks different is an important lesson and vital to me being able to enjoy and grow for the next few months in my position. Not every office has student interaction every day. And not ever office has desks together or offices. When looking for new jobs, those are things to keep in mind. I now know that my strengths are brought out when I'm connected to others, and though some days it is a challenge to feel comfortable in my position, I do know that things will and can change.