Article Summary: How to Play to Your Strengths

The purpose of this article is to describe a method of seeking and using feedback referred to as
the Reflected Best Self (RBS) exercise. The authors recommend it as a tool that can help people
understand and build their individual strengths and find the best qualities in them. The RBS
exercise is based on an area of research called positive organizational scholarship. The feedback
exercise was developed from studies showing that people seem to remember criticism, but
respond to praise. Criticism makes people defensive and less likely to change, while praise helps
build their confidence and the desire to improve. The RBS exercise involves four steps. First, the
tool is designed to help develop a plan for effective action, not as an ego building exercise.
Second, to be effective the RBS method requires a commitment and follow-through. Finally, the
method should be used at a different time of year than the traditional performance review to
avoid interference from negative feedback.
Article Summary: Managing Oneself
In the article Managing Oneself, Peter F. Drucker shows steps of how you can achieve true and
lasting excellence by operating from a combination of your own strengths and self-knowledge. If
you have ambition, motivation, drive and are smart, you can achieve to go to the highest level in
your profession regardless of where you have started out. In order to gain self-knowledge about
yourself you have to ask yourself five fundamental questions:

What are my most valuable

strengths and most dangerous
weaknesses?
How do I learn and work with
others?
What are my most deeply held
values?
And in what type of work
environment can I make the
greatest contribution?
Want to read more about how to
become your own Chief
Executive Officer and drive your
professional career?

The article describes how you can build a life of excellence in a world full of unprecedented
opportunities. The main idea behind it is simple: Focus on your strengths and cultivate a deep
understanding of yourself. You need to learn more about yourself than mere insights into your
strengths and weaknesses. You also need to understand how you learn, how you work with
others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Only then will
you achieve true and lasting excellence.

Lecture Summary:
We need to discover our strength that is within us and what we do best and not just assume what
we do best and use that as a catalyst to manage situation strategically when it is outside of our
comfort zone. A successful manager has both depth and breadth and knows more than one way
of doing things and solving problems and making decisions. Knowing when to look for details
and when to seek the big picture is critical in becoming a successful leader. The lecture briefly
describes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test that is useful for everyone to understand
general patterns of behavioral tendencies and how someone may behave in pairs, groups and
organizations.
Week 2: Discussion 1:
My MBTI test result is: INTJ with the following percentages: Introvert 22%, intuitive 16%,
thinking 16%, and judging 34%. The analysis of the test states that I have slight preference of
introversion over extraversion and so on. I agree with the test results. I do not find any problem
being an introvert; I do speak when it is necessary to do, but I think before I speak and make any
statement. Often, people misunderstand saying that "I am a person"; well it depends on the
occasion or where I am at. At work, of course I am as I focus on my tasks, projects. etc, and
when I have a deadline on a task or a project I am focused and quiet majority of the time when I
am busy thinking. However, I am also a team player and I like discussing any work or project
related issues openly with my co-workers, manager openly. As I work with end users I also have
to extrovert in the sense that I have to communicate with end users in solving problems over the
phone, and face to face.
I do not think there is anything wrong if someone is an extrovert; as we know that as humans
some of us are just wired like that. I, do however think that if I was an more an extrovert than
introvert I would still have to think before I spoke and not speak without thinking.
From the test results as far as the career choices that generally fall in this category describes me
as I am currently in the IT field, and have to use my analytical and logical

reasoning to solve problems and make decisions. I believe the test scored
me somewhat correctly in "judging" criteria as I like to gather
information though not as much as a "perceivers" would do and like to
produce results or draw a conclusion and move to the next task. I,
however, is not fully a "perfectionist" as the INTJ type generalizes -although I strive towards achieving it. There are few characteristics
INTJ's have such as INTJ's are quick to express judgments, and with
their evolved intuitions they are convinced that they are right about
things -- this surprisingly describes me. So, after the test I now begin to
see myself when I say to someone " no, no, no -- you do not understand"
as it actually could be my blaming of the limitations other parties
misunderstandings of a matter is actually my own difficulty of clearly
expressing myself of my idea or a situation.

The opposite of INTJ would be ESFP. ESFP are people person -- and I love the fact that ESFP'
are generally a good organizer for social gatherings such as workplace, home and the impulsive,
spontaneous nature is entertaining. However, ESFP's nature of jumping from thought to thought
in mid-sentence, touching here or there can be incoherent and frustrating to a listener, especially
to INTJ's as the often look for end result or the point of the conversation.
Week 2: Discussion 2:
After this test I have a better understanding as to why I behave or perceive a situation the way I
do as an INTJ. I believe that as part of INTJ's characteristics of being logical, rational,
ambitious, goal-oriented, deliberate and long-range thinker can help make proper decisions in
solving issues. As I have mentioned earlier, I am a team player and I like to take initiative and
leadership for delegating a project and have an open door discussion among team members
brainstorming ideas and coming to a best solution for a problem at hand. Although the INTJ test
has identified me as 22% being introvert, I am an extrovert with ideas in a team or group setting.
Knowing that I have a "judging" personality, this test will help me pay more attention to other's
opinion on any given situation and will help me explain my ideas more clearly and not be
thinking that someone does not understand the solution I am offering or "what my point is".