In the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment, I scored:
- Self-Awareness: 18/20 (High)
- Internalized Moral Perspective: 17/20 (High)
- Balanced Processing: 13/20 (Low)
- Relational Transparency: 14/20 (Low)
My high self-awareness reflects my ongoing commitment to knowing my values, strengths, and areas for growth. Regular reflection, honest feedback, and learning from experience have helped me understand both my impact and how to lead with intention. My strong moral perspective shows I make decisions based on values, not convenience, which comes from my belief that leadership is about modeling integrity and consistency. There have been many examples in my career where I have not followed the status quo because it wasn’t authentically me.
I scored the lowest on balanced processing, which tells me I can improve in seeking out and weighing perspectives different from my own. While I value input, I sometimes lean on familiar viewpoints, often due to time constraints or confidence in my own judgment. I am aware at times that when I get a path and a decision in my head, that I hear what other people are saying, but the fact is that I am not truly listening because again I am so committed to my decision. In my defense this is not only based on experience, but my personality is to really analyze all situations and options before making decisions. That could also lead to trouble because there is no way that I could know what researched all the options and that is where fostering different perspectives will round me out as a leader.
To grow as a leader, I will:
- Enhance Balanced Processing by actively seeking opposing views, using team feedback, and pausing before big decisions to ensure all perspectives are considered.
- Increase Relational Transparency by sharing both the reasoning and the emotion behind decisions, and by demonstrating openness which will empower the team to do the same.
I enjoyed this assessment because it confirmed that my leadership foundation is strong but also reminded me that authentic leadership is a continuous journey. Even with high scores in some areas, blind spots exist which could lead to less-than-optimal results and relationships with my team. I learned that being more intentional about gathering diverse perspectives and sharing more of my authentic self will make me a stronger, more adaptable leader.
Nick, I really enjoyed reading your post. I would tell you that the areas you scored lower in are things that come with age and time in my opinion. The fact that you are in this class to develop yourself and you have a willingness and a commitment to address these areas sets you on your way as a leader from my perspective. I have worked with some who never recognized their deficiency, nor would they address it if they were aware. Needless to say, they were not very successful leaders over time.
Nick, Very insightful post. "I scored the lowest on balanced processing, which tells me I can improve in seeking out and weighing perspectives different from my own." I believe this is the appropriate takeaway. As Betsy aptly states, experience is an effective teacher. If you complete this same questionnaire 3-4 years from now you'll score higher.
"...and pausing before big decisions to ensure all perspectives are considered." Pausing before a critical decision gives you the chance to consider the second, third, and fourth order effects. However, be aware of "paralysis by analysis". In other words, don't wait for perfect information to make a decision. Team members appreciate timely decisions. In the military, there's a saying: "lead, follow, or get out of the way". Follow your intuition and you'll be a respected leader.