MGT 5045 – Organizational Behavior Alexis Lake | Best Self Assessment September 26, 2017 An Open Letter to Myself, My Best Self Do you remember me? Do you remember that confident, passionate, and bubbly young woman you once were? Well, guess what. It took the better part of year, but it looks like you’re coming back to your old self. Your best self. And even better, the people around you, the people you care the most about, like your husband, your brother, and your parents, see that best self, too. Even the experts, friends, classmates and former colleagues, who may have seen you at your worst, still find time to appreciate and reflect on what makes you your best self. But where did you go? It wasn’t all that long ago that you had the world at your feet. A young woman, fresh out the best communications school (at least in your humble opinion), set to take on the corporate world. You lived close by your family, reconnected with people from your past, cultivated new friendships, and even found time to stumble upon your soul mate at a Toastmasters meeting. Things were trending up, up, and up. But then the stress of your parents moving away, joining a new family, moving in with your fiancé (now husband), while taking on a new, very challenging role at work started to turn you into the worst version of yourself. You were traveling all the time, stressed, and never present in the moment. The people and things you loved fell not only to the wayside, but also all the way to the floor. And so did your confidence. Constant heat from the top, peppered with tight deadlines, as well as more than a few tablespoons of sexism and ageism, made you an exploding pressure pot.
Well, you didn’t actually explode. You fell asleep. You fell asleep at the wheel of your car and the wheel of your life. Your family, friends, home, and hobbies that made you whole, were speeding signs screaming you at to slow down, but you just ignored them. But guess what, you woke up. You found a course toward Elmira College, as well as an opportunity to write this totally cathartic, yet amazing letter to rediscover yourself. Your best self. Across the people you reached out to, many used words like confident, professional, energetic, bubbly, and enthusiastic. In her interview, mom (aka Colleen Pokorny) referenced a time when you organized a jewelry party. At the party, 30 percent of the sales went to a scholarship fund in memory of your late brother-in-law, Derek Lake. Anyway, she said that no one asked you do that, but you got the idea and just did it. This behavior directly corresponds to the first line in your StandOut Assessment, “you are a catalyst for positive, well-organized change,” (StandOut Assessment Results, 2017, p. 2). Wait. Do you hear this? Positive change. This describes your number one strength from StandOut, which is Creator. According to StandOut, a Creator “makes sense of the world, pulling it apart, seeing a better configuration, and creating it,” (StandOut Assessment Results, 2017, p. 3). Why do you have this need, this desire to pull things apart? This is why. You are a Creator. That’s even why you just asked why. Being a Creator means you always analyze things and ask questions. This is true with what your friend, Victorian Strobel, shared. You spoke to her a few weeks ago over the phone about a new career opportunity she was considering. You asked her a great deal of questions, pulled apart all the options, and then offered her some advice. This speaks to your inner Creator, which is very
pensive and thoughtful. This same behavior lends itself to a video project completed with Kathleen Young. She described how you tried to better understand the product and had so many questions before even starting any actual video development. As she said, you started on the ground level. Which leads to being grounded in reality. This is your second StandOut strength, Equalizer. You are, as the assessment states, “acutely aware of whom is responsible for what, and you are quick to take action if someone doesn’t live up to” (StandOut Assessment Results, 2017, p. 6), their responsibilities. This must be why many people, from your husband to your friends to your supervisor, describe you as driven, motivated, and confident. This is demonstrated in examples given by your supervisor and your colleague. Another member of the team, Kiersten, was out on maternity leave. You jumped in to fill in for Kiersten and did the very best you could to solve problems and get the work done. It was a little stressful at the time, but as they mentioned, everything went smoothly and you handled it with grace and professionalism. While this is all well and good, remember to take a back seat sometimes. You don’t always have to take the wheel. Some of the best, and also the worst, advice you ever received was that you easily intimidate people. Let’s just take this to mean that while you are a powerhouse, you don’t have to be the only one powering the house. Don’t always be the first to volunteer, the first to answer, or the first to do everything. Utilize that Equalizer strength to find the interconnectedness in a group. Cultivate the strengths of others and act as that Equalizer thread that connects everyone, but still gets things done. Plus, being the only one doing all the work is exhausting. And you love your rest. Even the experts agree.
The StandOut Assessment mentions that as a Creator you need downtime and time for yourself. This is so true. You’re always thinking through things during your morning or evening runs. That’s when you get some of your best ideas. Starting today, make it a priority to strengthen this quality more through ensuring you have that downtime, that alone time. Which as an extrovert is sort of hard to believe. You need time away from people? Yes. When you completed the Meyers-Briggs assessment, your assumptions were true. Hello, your name is Alexis and you are an extrovert. You’re also sensing, intuitive, and judging, or an ESTJ. This ties in very closely with your quality as a Creator. You can be found “taking pride in bringing people together, [because] ESTJs often take on roles as community organizers, working hard to bring everyone together in celebration of cherished local events, or in defense of the traditional values that hold families and communities together,” (16 Personalities, 2017). Identifying this personality type, you need to exploit this passion for bringing people together, along with your qualities as an organizer to plan more events, like the jewelry party mentioned earlier. Maybe even shift your current role from communications and marketing into creating those events, those touch points that make you whole. Make that another one of your goals for best utilizing your strengths. Or your best self. A reoccurring theme in your life, and really how you started this letter, is your positive energy, enthusiasm, and general bubbliness. It is a focus of your life. You love being happy. Being happy is like breathing to you. Which may be why it was so hard to breath before you grabbed the wheel and changed course to Elmira College. Since then, it is coming back. Many of your friends, family, and loved ones identified this strength as a
general cheerleader spirit (which is funny because you actually were a cheerleader in high school). But you have also been described as personable, supportive, and even spicy (thanks to your brother, David). Harvest this energy into building up those around you. Volunteer, but maybe not all the time. Create positive events and gatherings. Then rest. Don’t lose sight of the energy, spirit and drive that defines you. This is you. Your best you. Work on those goals. Improve those strengths. That’s how you will never lose sight of you, your best you, again. Now, grab the wheel, start the engine, and motor on through. I don’t think you will fall asleep at the wheel this time.
Sincerely, Your Best Self
References: 16 Personalities. (2017). ESTJ Personality ("The Executive"). Retrieved September 26, 2017, from https://www.16personalities.com/estj-personality Jung Typology Test™. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2017, from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp Standout Assessment Your Results. (2017). Retrieved September 11, 2017, from https://standout.tmbc.com/assessment/assessmentconsole/showResultsHero Appendix: Best-Self Assessment Questionnaires and Transcripts: Note: These are mostly pulled from email or conversations. Amanda Markessinis, friend, colleague, and classmate at Elmira College: Personable, Dedicated, Resilient You were taking over for Kiersten on maternity leave. From what I saw it gave you more self-confidence in your design skills. It also was a time that I saw you learn what you handle, and when to ask for help. It was your best self because as a friend, classmate, and colleague I saw when you we're challenged by work load, deadlines, and creativity. Throughout all of it you found ways to build confidence, and preserver. You we're very graceful about everything, asking for help, accepting help, and feedback. I'll add Professional, (there might be a better word for it) you stuck up for yourself, and weren't afraid to stay why you did something the way you did it. Respectful, you also took the time to help others when you could. Victorian Strobel, friend, colleague, and classmate at Elmira College: Bubbly, Strategic, and Charismatic You let me call you and talk to you about potential options for jobs (moving to the business office). The result was that I felt like I had some really good insight from a successful friend and I was able to weigh my options a lot better. I think this is your best self because it showed your confidence, but also a very caring side of you. It showed your experience, but also showed your ability to prioritize happiness with success. I believe your social skills allowed you to perform well because you have an ability to talk to anyone.
Gabrielle Bailey, friend and former colleague at Corning Incorporated: Polished, Professional, Confident You did a phenomenal job presenting a plan for a project and received strong support You were calm, confident, seemed content and happy, and had a “spark� to you. Kathleen Young, friend and former colleague at Corning Incorporated: Intelligent, enthusiastic, driven Organizing a video shoot from beginning to end and then appearing in the video along with myself, three subject matter experts, and the video crew. It was a complex project and showed your organization, intelligence when developing the script to the questions that were asked, your drive to stick to a timeline and your desire to produce a high-level video. It showed your openness and enthusiastic approach to projects. Jennifer Swain, current supervisor at Elmira College: Energetic, confident, professional When Kiersten was out on maternity leave, you stepped up to the plate to take on projects that weren't yours, you were challenged with some things but figured it out, and you added your own spin where appropriate. You were confident, not afraid of a challenge. Ryan Lake my husband and best friend: Loving, Compassionate, Loyal, Dependable, Focused, Motivated, Supportive, Strongwilled, Confident, Organized, Knowledgeable, Hard-working, Patient, Team player, Humorous, Goal-oriented You were training for and then competing in the 2014 Wineglass Half Marathon with Amanda Chafee. The result was you both finished your first half marathon. The completion of the race isn't the only reason this an example of you being your best. It is everything that went into you successfully reaching your goal. The time and energy spent during months of training. Hitting the road at 5 a.m., waking up for your long runs at 6:30 a.m. every Saturday, and dealing with the heat and humidity of summer in Upstate New York. Being the source of encouragement for Amanda on the days she just didn't want to run and "sucking it up" to be with your running buddy on the days you weren't feeling it. Not to mention the fact that you ran the last several miles with a very painful injury. You brought all of your strengths to bare in order to accomplish you goal. The focused, dedicated, and hard working approach to your training. Your loyalty and commitment to
training with and encouraging Amanda. Tapping into your incredible motivation and determination in order to fight through your injury and cross the finish line. David Pokorny, my brother Intelligent, Determined, Spicy Alexis was the communications lead and public spokesperson for an international marketing campaign for a major corporation. Timelines were extremely tight and the work environment was more demanding than anything I have ever seen and I am a medical student. Alexis was at her best self because she was able to perform exceptionally under extremely adverse conditions. When the demands of work were ratcheted higher she did what she could to meet all obligations while setting expectations appropriately. When demands become unreasonable Alexis found viable solutions. Alexis's intelligence, exceptional professional communication, and perseverance carried her through this experience. Colleen and George Pokorny, my parents Creative, Organized, Smart, Beautiful, Thoughtful, Caring You’re at your best self whenever you are helping people. You organized a jewelry party that was a fundraiser for the Derek Lake Memorial Scholarship. It was something you love and a cause you deeply believe in. No one asked you to do that. You just got the idea and organized it from start to finish. And it helps the Lake family and students at Horseheads High School. – Mom Also, your best self is a chef or cook. I think that is your creative side. That’s really you. Being creative. Ever since you were little. Coloring, painting, dancing – you were always doing something. – Dad Remember when you were in college and called to ask for more clothes for us to bring during Parents’ Weekend. You emailed a list with the style, brand, color, everything mapped out. You just knew those things. You’ve always been organized. – Dad And a clotheshorse. – Mom