Introduction

Roberts, Spreitzer, Dutton, Quinn, Heaphy, and Barker (2005) discussed a way to receive feedback that would accentuate the positive. Using their concepts I sent an email to 23 people asking them to tell me of a time when they had seen me at my best as well as how it was meaningful and what it had accomplished. I received responses from all 23 people that I contacted. Those I contacted included my wife, my current direct supervisor, several whom I had worked under previously, several who are peers, and several who reported to me directly at some point. I also received responses from two brother-in-laws, our church choir director, and one of our church pastors. I also requested feedback from a couple of close friends who have seen me at times of great trial as well as times when things were going well.

I sent the exact same instructions for response to each person regardless of their relationship to me. I found the responses to be very interesting and surprising.

Analysis of Results

The following table contains an analysis of the results of the Reflected Best Self survey.

Common theme	Examples given	Possible interpretation
Values others, compassion	I consider the ramifications for students, facilitators, and fellow employees when making decisions. I work at making decisions that are in the best interest of our students. I set the needs of others ahead of my own. I am available to others when they need encouragement or assistance. I take the time to listen to others even if I cannot change their circumstances. I make students, faculty, and peers feel good about what they are doing. I go to bat for those I lead. I helped two family members with young children when their husbands were killed in accidents	I truly do value others. I have compassion for those whom I have influence on. I am driven be a desire to help others. I am there for those family members and friends in need.
Decisive	Once I have considered the options and ramifications and make a decision I move forward decisively I demonstrate a willingness to stand by decisions that are in the best interest of students even when they are not popular.	I am willing to act decisively even if the action may be unpopular with some. Once a decision has been made I implement the plan decisively.
Passionate	I demonstrate a passion for Christ I demonstrate a passion for education I demonstrate a passion for life	I am passionate by nature. My passion is seen by others.
Character	I am willing to admit when I am wrong I live out what I teach I seek to be Christ-like in all that I do.	I am a changed person through the grace of Jesus Christ. Because of the Holy Spirit who dwells within me I show evidence of being a man of character.
Communication	I have the ability to communicate with others I look at communication as a two way street. I have the ability to perform in public	I enjoy interacting with others I desire to receive feedback from others The indication that I am a “performer” based on the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (Keirsey, 1998) is pretty accurate
Commitment	I am committed to Christ I am committed to my family and friends I am committed to my job I am committed to reaching others for Christ	My commitment is evident by how I live my life. Others are seeing my commitment and view it as positive
Vision	I have a vision for helping to create world changers through our online programs. I have a vision for reaching the world through our international program. I have a vision for what earning a doctorate will allow me to do in the future.	I am learning to be more visionary than I realized. My vision is having an impact on others.

Self Portrait

People see me at my best when they are in need. I exhibit a desire to help those in need and to encourage those who are discouraged or frustrated. I desire to be available to my family and friends whenever they have needs that I can address or just need a listening ear. I show those I come into contact with in my work environment that I value them by being willing to listen to them and by attempting to think through all of the ramifications of decisions that are made and how they impact those around me.

I am at my best when decisions must be made. I carefully look at the possible impact the decision will have and then move quickly to implement a plan of action that will be the most positive based on the information I have gathered. I am also at my best when there are times when my integrity is at stake. I am willing to acknowledge when I have done or said the wrong thing and to make amends for the mistake. I refuse to allow myself to be a part of anything that would put my integrity at risk even if only by perception. It takes far too long to build a good reputation to take a chance on risking that reputation.

I have a passion for life and for serving Christ. When I choose to participate in a project I am always passionate about that project. Whether it is for providing a quality online education to adults in the United States or for international students I put every bit of energy I have into the task. I am at my best when challenged to give evidence of my passion.

I am passionate about understanding how to develop a vision for the future. That is part of the reason that I chose to enroll in this doctorate program. Vision has not been an area of strength but over the past few years I have become increasingly aware of the need for vision and the data I gathered for this paper indicates that people are seeing an increased vision on my part.

Redesigning My Job

My contribution to redesigning my job is well under way. By carefully considering all of the alternatives and presenting them to those I directly report to in my position I have begun to build credibility. I am being asked to participate in higher level meetings to discuss issues that in the past people in my position were never invited to attend. Decisions were made and we have always been expected to implement them even on the occasions when we knew the decision would cause problems that those making the decisions had considered.

I understood that becoming angry is not the way to become a positive influence for change and so I began to carefully and strategically offer informal input to those involved in the decision making process and over time I have gained enough credibility that I am now a part of that process to some degree. I solicit feedback from our staff as well as from staff members in other departments in gathering information in order to attempt to see the big picture and how the decisions that we make will affect either positively or negatively multiple departments.

I can make the greatest contribution as a leader in my current job by continuing to assist in the development of a vision statement for our department that is in line with the overall vision statement of the university. When I did a cultural assessment a short time back, I discovered that most of those who work in our department believe that what had been presented to us as the vision for our department, the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL), had been abandoned and it has had a demoralizing affect on the members of our team.

There are a couple of results that must be achieved in order for my leadership to have been shown to make a difference. The assistant directors in our department must continue to earn credibility with those they report to in other departments. Since all of us report to directors in addition to the director of CDL, we must all develop the type of credibility that will allow us to be a part of the decision making processes of these departments.

Secondly, we must improve the overall morale of our department. Contributing to this improved morale will be a clear explanation of the future of our department. There are so many options being explored without any input on our part that it really interferes with the ability to do our jobs even better. I need to be a positive influence on those around me to focus on the task at hand and to deal with change as it comes in the future.

Kevin and Leadership

I have been surprised to learn that people consider me to be a leader far more than I had ever realized. The feedback I received for this exercise was fascinating in that it consistently mentioned varying leadership skills. Of most importance to me was the feedback I received from several people about how I had positively influenced people with my vision for the future and that this influence had helped make a change in their lives.

I also was reminded that it makes a positive impact on people when you take the time to listen to those around you. Several people commented on how I had taken the time to listen and then to act on their concerns. Frankly, most of the things they mentioned I had entirely forgotten about and viewed as small things and not having been a very big deal. This exercise reminded me that if someone takes the time to talk to you about an issue than it is important to them and as a leader who values people I must demonstrate that value by listening and acting as though it were the most important thing in the world at that moment.

I have learned that I must be extremely careful in how I act on a daily basis. People are watching us as leaders far more closely than we often realize. Some of the feedback concerned things that I did not realize had been observed by those providing the feedback and caused me to be thankful that I had acted with integrity.

Overall this exercise was very enjoyable and enlightening. The lessons learned about what people perceive to be my positive attributes in leadership are things I will focus on in an effort to become even stronger in those areas.

References

Keirsey, D. (1998). Please understand me II: Temperament, character, intelligence. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.

Roberts, L. M., Spreitzer, G., Dutton, J., Quinn, R., Heaphy, E., & Barker, B. (2005, January). How to play to your strengths. Harvard Business Review, 75-81.