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Reflective Writing

Name
Course
Tutor
Institution
Date
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Description

In addition to the HEXACO tool, I have also picked the Belbin test. The test examines one's
behaviour when working with a team. I chose the tool because one's personality determines
how one behaves when working with others. I did not choose the goal orientation and cultural
awareness questionnaires because I have done such tests before, and I needed to find out my
team's working strengths and weaknesses. The beblin test had questions that figured how a
person behaves while working in a group. The results are categorised into nine key behaviours
with strengths (plus points) and weaknesses (minus points). The behaviours are; plant (original,
creative, and imaginative), resource investigator (communicative and enthusiastic), coordinator
(confident and mature), shaper (motivated under pressure and competitive), monitor evaluator
(judges accurately), team worker (is diplomatic and wise), specialist (extremely knowledgeable),
implementer (efficient), and completer finisher (ensures accuracy). My Belbin test results for
shaper, resource investigator, and coordinator were above 70%, and the remaining behaviours
were below 50%.

My HEXACO test results were 4.75 altruism, 4.06 in openness to experience, 3.75 in
consciousness, 2.75 in agreeableness, 2.25 in extroversion, 3.75 in emotionality, and 3.75 in
honest humility. The results from the 50th percentile indicate that I am below average in
extraversion and agreeableness. I am more open to experience, conscientious, emotional,
humble, and honest than average. The purpose of these tests is to determine an individual's
capability to become an effective leader. To become one, an individual has to get more than
70% in all nine behavioural aspects of the Beblin test and at least a score of 4.00 in four
elements of the HEXACO tool except for emotionality and extraversion aspects. High scores in
the Beblin test indicate that an individual is creative, enthusiastic, confident, a team player,
accurate, and dedicated. High scores in the HEXACO tool indicate that an individual is honest,
bold, organised, flexible, and forgiving.

Feelings

I was energetic and confident when carrying out the Beblin test. I know the type of person I am
when working in a team. When the results came, I was not surprised because I know I work well
under pressure, I am enthusiastic and confident. I also know I am not good at turning ideas into
practical situations. After the test, I knew that I had to develop practical interventions to teach
myself how to be an implementer, specialist, and a plant.
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Before carrying out the HEXACO tool test, I was so tense. I have always feared taking such
tests because I feel the results will be disappointing and discouraging. I had to gather strength
to do the test because I was running out of time. After answering a few questions, I felt confident
because they were not tough questions. The results were not disappointing as I expected. I
know I am an introvert, and I hardly agree with other people's opinions. I felt relieved because I
knew I could train and improve myself in areas not promising. However, I was surprised when I
realised that the HEXACO tool indicated that I am creative (4.00), whereas the Belbin test
indicated that I am not creative (below 50%). The different results made me question the
effectiveness of these tests in determining an individual's personality and behaviours.

Evaluation

Effective management of people requires a person with unique skills and behaviours (Bumphus,
2018). I learnt that a good leader has to be innovative, communicative, confident, diplomatic,
motivated, competitive, and knowledgeable in different aspects (Cragg and Spurgeon, 2018).
From my Belbin test results, not all aspects went well. I have issues with implementing ideas, I
am not a specialist, and I am also not innovative. I found out that my weaknesses include;
inflexibility, being over-optimistic, and impatient with others. Aspects that went well were shaper,
resource investigator, and coordinator. I determined that I work well under pressure, I love
competing with my teammates, communicate well, and am enthusiastic and confident.

Aspects that went well from the HEXACO tool were; honest-humility, altruism, openness to
experience, and conscientiousness. I am not a greedy person, and I am fair, sincere, modest,
diligent modest, and curious. These attributes are vital in ensuring sound management of
people (Bumphus, 2018). What did not go well were the emotionality and the extraversion
aspects. An individual should have a minimum score (below 2.00) in these aspects to become
an effective leader. Being fearful, anxious, dependent, not lively and bold, and having low social
self-esteem are not attributes of a good leader. More so, having different creativity scores in the
two tests indicates the tools' limitations. It is not easy to determine which test gave me accurate
results. Since I am inquisitive and like working under pressure, I believe I am creative. From my
perspective, I believe that the beblin test did not work well. However, that does not mean the
tool is faulty. I have to develop and implement strategies that can help improve my innovation
skills.

Analysis
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The results from the two tests made me identify issues that affect me in school and can
challenge my dream of becoming a manager. According to my Strategic management group
work experience, I was overly self-sacrificing and patronising when working with others in the
team. In the group work of strategic management, I finished all the topics before the group
discussion and communicated with team members in an overly subtle tone. However, the lack
of reasonable supervision and specific instructions lead to the lack of enthusiasm of the whole
group. I have always taken the approach of doing other people's work: rather than waiting for
unexpected results from colleagues. I do all their work myself to ensure quality. From my Belbin
results, it is indicated that I am not good at teamwork. This attribute also coincides with my
HEXACO survey results. A good team player listens to other people opinions and loves working
with others (Karlsen and Langvik, 2021). If a leader chooses to work alone, he discourages
employees, making them feel not brilliant and less valuable (Wilson et al., 2021). At the same
time, my inferiority caused me to subconsciously think that I was not recognised and excluded
from the communication from the very beginning. Therefore, when team members
communicated negatively, I became discouraged and thought that my value would become
insignificant, even though my work was based on reading, thinking and analysis. Also, When
team members found reasons not to discuss with me, I did not actively urge the discussion but
reluctantly gave up my prepared opinions and redrafted an answer consistent with her views. I
lack boldness which is critical in dealing with employees who love challenging the management
(Wilson et al., 2021).

I always keep a modest, polite and gentle attitude when I cooperate with others. However, there
is a hint of ingratiation in my subconscious, probably related to the bullying and rejection I have
suffered since childhood. I once suffered seven years of bullying and humiliation on campus.
What is shameful is that I did not resist bravely but tried to influence them with kindness. But not
surprisingly, I grew up in a family that taught me how to be polite, not how to fight back when it
is appropriate to protect my self-respect. According to Karlsen and Langvik (2021), good leaders
are forgiving, an attribute I possess. However, Harris and Orth (2020) differ by saying that a
person with high self-esteem should handle challenging situations and not sit back and accept
defeat. In general, my self-esteem is easily hurt when I am treated with indifference or
disrespect, which significantly affects my communication skills. When I do not get the respect I
deserve, I turn to disappointment. My mistake was to rely on the approval of others for the
meaning of all my work. Work efficiency is highly correlated with enthusiasm, so my
performance may rely heavily on positive feedback from colleagues.
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Conclusion

I have accepted the results from the two tests. I understand that no one was born perfect, and
an individual can improve self through learning. I have realised that my strengths are being
honest, humble, competitive, communicative, enthusiastic, prudent, open to experience, and
conscientious. These strengths will help me in my future career, especially if I become a
manager. My weaknesses are; being introverted, emotional, and not being an implementer and
a specialist. I have to develop an action plan to help me overcome these weaknesses that
reduce my competitiveness.

Action plan

Issue Intervention Timeframe

Low extraversion scores  Join support groups Two to eight weeks

 Participate actively in
group discussions and
raise concerns
professionally
whenever my points
are not embraced
without good reasons.

 Take leadership roles

Not being an implementer and  Carry out an extensive Four to ten weeks
a specialist research in Bussiness
Administration to
become
knowledgeable in my
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field of study.

 Learn to implement
ideas that have been
discussed

 Setting goals and

Bibliography

Bumphus, W.G., (2018). The attributes of a great leader. Community College Journal, 88(4),
pp.32-32.

Cragg, R. and Spurgeon, P., (2018). Competencies of a good leader. In How to Succeed as a
Leader (pp. 33-40). CRC Press.

Harris, M.A. and Orth, U., (2020). The link between self-esteem and social relationships: A
meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of personality and social psychology, 119(6),
p.1459.

Karlsen, H.R. and Langvik, E., (2021). Facet level effects of extraversion on leadership
behaviours rated by subordinates. Cogent Psychology, 8(1), p.1930712.

Wilson, J.M., Fletcher, T.D., Pescosolido, T. and Major, D.A., (2021). Extraversion and
leadership emergence: differences in virtual and face-to-face teams. Small Group Research,
p.1046496420986620.