Self-Assessment is Key to Effective Leadership Published April 22, 2010 By Col. Gino Auteri 325th Medical Group Commander TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- If there is one thing I have learned in more than 28 years of uniformed service, it is the fact that we groom our enlisted and officer personnel for leadership roles from day one. Reflecting on my own career, I recall new basic trainees assigned as squad/flight leaders responsible for ensuring the compliance to standards for 20 to 30 fellow trainees. In enlisted technical training school we had student leaders, identified with colored shoulder "ropes," that were responsible for anywhere from 30 to 120 fellow students. At my first permanent duty station, enlisted were prepared for leadership roles through military professional education starting with the Noncommissioned Officer Preparatory School (now Airman Leadership School), Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and finally Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. Enlisted career progression on the job depicts a transitional journey advancing us from apprentice to technician, then to supervisor and finally manager/leader. A similar leadership path is followed on the officer side within the basic (U.S. Air Force Academy, Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Officer Training School, etc.) and technical training phases. In many career fields, the officer's first duty assignment typically thrusts that individual into a formal leadership role as either an element chief or flight commander. Given the Air Force's "all-in" approach to leadership, how can we ensure we are effective as leaders? The renowned philosopher Plato once said, "A life unexamined is not worth living." Applying this belief to the leadership question at hand, we can deduce that the key to understanding our leadership effectiveness lies in self-assessment and self-understanding. In other words, by knowing our individual leadership strengths and weaknesses, we can become more effective leaders by 1) pursuing leadership roles that match our stronger, more natural personality traits or 2) cognitively taking actions to adjust our leadership style when our weaker traits are more appropriate. Self-assessment requires more than simply sitting down and listing all the things we do well and those we do not. The problem with this approach is that it fails to account for our "blind spot." In 1955, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham identified this phenomenon in their Johari Window model. This model, depicted as a four-pane glass window, compares known and unknown personality traits from the perspective of others and our self. The "blind spot" occurs in the pane that represents what is known to others but not known to ourselves. So, you may ask, how does one gain this self-knowledge? Fortunately, there are a myriad of self assessment tools available. Many of us are familiar with the Meyers-Briggs Personality Assessment that measures our proclivity for certain trait pairings such as introvert/extrovert, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. Individuals who have taken this assessment typically introduce themselves by their four-letter trait identifier such as ISFP, ESTJ, etc. These letters identify the traits that come to them most naturally. Another assessment tool is the 360 Degree Leadership Assessment. This tool collects survey data provided by not only the individual, but also their supervisors, subordinates and peers. This 360 degree approach provides full spectrum analysis of our leadership effectiveness and addresses all four panes of the Johari Window. With the accelerated rate of change we have experienced over the past few decades, it is important to assess how adaptable we as leaders are to change. The Change Style Indicator is an assessment tool that helps us understand if we are more likely to be a Conserver (resistant to change), a Pragmatist (methodical approach to change), or an Originator (most likely to initiate change). It is important to note that each grouping has advantages and disadvantages and no one style is best in all situations. Communication is also often cited as an indication of effective leadership. The Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior, is an assessment that helps us measure our interpersonal tendencies. This tool measures our need for inclusion, control, and affection in regards to expressed and wanted needs. This assessment gives us insight into how we relate to others, which is critical for us to understand since leadership has been expressed as the art of getting things done through others. From the first day we enter the Air Force we are presented with leadership opportunities. The key to being an effective leader is to have a comprehensive understanding of our own personality traits. The tools I have identified within this article can help you begin to gain this understanding and ultimately improve your effectiveness in any leadership role. Lead on!