What are my scores and why?
I scored a 45 in independent thinking and a 52 in active engagement. That puts me squarely in the exemplary follower category. This is not a surprise to me. I’m almost always actively engaged and I’m relatively comfortable presenting opposing views. Especially recently, Devil’s advocate should probably be my job title.
What did I learn?
I didn’t learn much about myself from the overall scores; like I said, it’s not surprising to me that I landed in the exemplary category. But some of the individual questions did at least bring some things into focus for me. Right off the bat I gave myself the lowest score for “Does your work help you fulfill some societal goal or personal dream that is important to you?” That’s probably a red flag. I think my rating would have been a little higher a couple of years ago.
What Modifications Can I Make?
Most important for my work as a leader at The College is that any dissatisfaction that I have as a result of my misalignment with what’s important to me doesn’t trickle down to my team. That can potentially be poisonous to the morale of the team.
Rob, if you enjoy the Devil's Advocate role, which is a powerful one, you'll love The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership by Steven Sample. Devil's Advocate is often at the root of a first-rate mind. Have you watched the Asch Conformity Experience about groupthink? I put the link below. It changed my thinking into really digging deep into those who push back to tease out the truth! Sheeple and 'Yes People' scare me!
Regarding your low score on question 1, that's why I left my government contracting gig. I woke up one day and thought, how is any of this making the world a better place? So you may be headed for an existential crisis...just kidding! But I do think as we age and grow and stop exchanging time for money, we all begin asking ourselves these questions...and we should!
And such a great insight about keeping our discontent invisible to our team. That is for us to work out professionally; too often, it becomes the center of much workplace conflict! Being miserable at work and letting your team know, see, and hear about it disqualifies the leader.
Tracey
Rob, I commend you for your honesty as being the Devil's Advocate.
@tracey Thanks! I will check out the book and the link! Fingers crossed I can take some action before the existential crisis hits haha!
@tracey Ha it was already on my list! Double rec!
