1. Communication:

 

            As the world and especially the business world becomes increasingly globalized and diverse, one of the greatest challenges for managers, and indeed society as a whole, is the ability to communicate effectively and clearly.  Nonetheless, communication is still embodied in two basic forms; oral, whether in speeches, phone calls, or presentations, and written in letters, emails, and other nonverbal mediums. With the importance of this vital skill in mind I have found myself through introspection and self-assessment to be a relatively strong communicator, but I still have much to improve.

            My greatest strengths in communication are written communication, giving feedback, and oral presentation. As a third year history major I am well versed in writing extensive analytical essays which tie together disparate events, ideas, and points of view. Having developed my writing skills early on in Advanced Placement English in High School and continuing to upper division history classes, where I consistently received high grades, I am comfortable communicating through writing. As finals in most upper division history classes involved timed essays based on readings done through the course of an entire quarter, I have also developed skills in writing well under timed pressure. For instance, in writing for my Persian History class I had to finish three extensive essays on three diverse topics covering a wide span of history in the span of one hour and twenty minutes I was able to analyze, connect, and clearly communicate information in a coherent manner. Working with the Humanities Internship Program and the UCI Career Office, I have also learned to write business emails and letters to employers in applying for internships. I have begun to learn the differences between the often more flowing and elegant styles of writing I am used to in my history paper, to writing in a more concise and accessible manner more suited to the business environment. A second strength I posses in the area of communication is my ability to give feedback. Having had many courses in history and political science, as well as LSAT preparation courses, I have had much practice in analyzing the writing and arguments of other people and finding their relative strengths and flaws. I have always had a natural tendency to evaluate the works of others and finding areas which could be strengthened and improved. I have often had to proof read the writing of my peers and practice interviews and presentations of others. I have learned to find key areas for which others can improve, but have also learned to offer constructive criticism rather than simple rebuttals. The techniques of analyzing arguments, discovering flaws, and fixing false assumptions I learned in my preparation classes for the analytical section of the LSATs have also greatly improved my skills in giving more constructive feedback. As I found out through the Diversity Awareness module challenged me to think about the way in which I interacted and viewed others with respect to race, gender, and also how others around me view the subject. I found that I would make active efforts to treat everyone around me whether they are men or women the same way, especially in the way I criticized and evaluated their work. I made conscious efforts to remain as neutral as possible and not injecting any prejudices into my decisions. The pointed questions about my experiences with certain biases and prejudices in everyday life helped me to see that I resented such prejudices whether toward me or others allowing me to understand and work to evaluate and give feedback based only on the work itself. The module also helped me to think about my background and experiences and how they have helped me to be more accepting of diversity and the values and assumptions of other cultures. Having been born in China and going to schools such as UCI, where diversity is commonplace has helped me to better communicate with people of diverse background and views. In addition, having studied abroad in France has helped me to understand more of the world and learned to appreciate the culture of other countries. Another major strength in my communication skills is my ability oral communication skills. Though, I have a natural disposition toward shyness in the past two years I have learned to be able to communicate better with people with whom I don’t know, as well as be able to speak to large groups of people. The experience I gained working in the retail industry as an employee at JC Penny and American Eagle Outfitters has helped me learn to be more comfortable and better able to connect and communicate with people. The one on one customer service required in the interviewing process alone at these two jobs alone helped me to move out of my natural tendencies and to communicate more openly with people. The one on one customer service, from working the cash register to making suggestions, helped me to be more comfortable speaking to complete strangers and responding to their needs and desires. My experience studying abroad in Bordeaux also helped me to communicate people not only in a foreign environment, but also in a foreign language. Spending six months in Bordeaux, France helped me to build my confidence not only in speaking French but also speaking French in large class room situations, which in turn translated into me being able to better able to speak publicly in English.

            Though I feel I have become much stronger in my communications skills in recent years there are still two major weaknesses I need to address. My first major weakness and one which could prove increasingly problematic is my limited ability and knowledge of and use of appropriate communication technology. Having always been more comfortable with putting pen to paper and at best typing on word processing I have never been very comfortable working with power point, outlook, and other programs. Although I have some proficiency in most Microsoft Office programs and other basic computer and online tools, I have never enjoyed nor been very efficient at using them. During high school and even at UCI the greatest challenge of most presentations was not content or delivery, but instead having to go through, what I perceived, as the tedious task of having to create power points, but not only that, make them interesting and attention grabbing. For the most part when I am working with programs such as an Excel or even Microsoft Office I find the most simplistic rather than finding more efficient methods. Find instance, up until twelfth grade I had always done my double spacing on essays by clicking enter twice rather than format it correctly. Even in doing this project I find that writing my self-analysis and being introspective is far more enjoyable than having to set up my website, which I have continually put off, but, of course, I will finished with the utmost diligence. My aversion to using technology effectively in large part stems from a certain stubbornness and preference to doing things my own way, even if it is much less efficient. As I found out in the Intuitive Ability test, I prefer to be left free to work on my own without instruction from other people. In addition, I tend to not work well with highly organized and structured people who clash with my more overly imaginative approach. This tendency to shun following careful instruction, whether it is at work or assembling a table, is in part the reason behind my second weakness, the ability to successfully take and utilize feedback. Though, I am often critical and like to help others reevaluate their work, I myself do not take criticism and even constructive feedback well. Even as a child I had always ignored or challenged criticism whether from my parents, from my friends, or at school. I often find that though I love to read positive critiques, I only glance over constructive and useful criticisms in my classes. Even at work at American Eagle, I would often pretend that I am listening to feedback on my performance by my managers and rarely listen or internalize often helpful criticism. As the Diversity Awareness test showed me I did not resent criticism based on race or gender, nor was it the ability or personality of the critic, but instead it’s my personal tendency to take criticism negatively. Even when feedback is constructive and helpful, I often feel that they are criticizing me rather than my work, which remains one of my major weaknesses.

2. Teamwork

            Whether at work, school, or simply on a daily basis we must all not only interact and communicate with other people, but also with together within a society, organization, or class to accomplish tasks and achieve common goals. Having worked, learned, and interacted in many groups and organizations I have come to have a relatively clear understanding of my strengths and weaknesses in this area. Though I have learned to work well in a group environment I still have major problems in working with others in the most effective manner possible.

            Being more at ease in the introspection and individual effort involved with writing and even preferring individual sports such as tennis, fencing, and martial arts, I have a relatively individualistic disposition. However, having worked in the retail industry and participated in many small group discussions in history, I have increasingly developed strengths in contributing to groups effectively and conflict management.  My greatest strength in the area of team work would have to be contributing to groups in an effective manner. I have learned to not only pull my own weight in a group in contributing the tasks which I must successfully complete to ensure the success of the group, but also to understand what my part is and what I can contribute. I not only try to understand the aims and goals of the group, but also learn to understand and trust my teammates to do their job. The Group Effectiveness analysis, which I applied to my work group at American Eagle Outfitters, made realize why I not only enjoyed working there, but why the store was one of the most effective in Southern California. Working at the store I interacted and socialized with my teammates and learned to trust them to handle their parts, but also to coordinate with me to help customers, set up merchandise, and answer phones especially during the holiday season. The Group Effectiveness module helped me to analyze and identify the constructive conformity, supportive managers, and devotion to the work which many of them enjoyed, which helped the group to be successful. With this environment I learned how to identify my part in the group and how to work in the most intelligent manner to contribute to a group, especially one which I enjoyed working with. Another strength I have developed in working in a team environment is conflict management. Having taken political science and history classes on divisive subjects such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and the Sino-Japanese war, in which small class discussions can often become heated as me and others hold strong opinions on such subjects. As such I have learned overtime to try to be respectful of the opinions of others while at the same time expressing my views without attacking the other person either personally or in an aggravating manner.  My experience studying abroad in France and at Cambridge University in the UK has taught me to see the perspective of other people and to see both sides of a controversy through the values and assumptions of the other people and their culture, whether it’d be political or cultural in order to better ameliorate and solve conflict.

            Though my experiences have taught me much about team work and how effective teams operate I still have major weaknesses in my attitude toward team work in general and certain aspects of my ability to work with others. Though working at American Eagle and JC Penny has helped me to understand how teamwork can be effective in the work environment, I still have misgivings about team work and it’s flaws. As I saw in the Are you a team player ? test, that though I, for the most part, always do my fair share of work, I feel that others do sometimes do not pull their own weight in contributing to the team. Such was the case in many of my lower division history classes where people working in groups were lethargic and rarely said or contributed anything to discussion groups and group projects. These experiences aggravated my natural tendency to want to work alone and depend on myself, thus leading me to often not value team work very highly. The problem of often not being able to trust others to do their part and being discouraged by a lack of participation by other has also led me to sometimes not be able to work with others effectively. I found that I have a tendency not to speak up and voice my opinions on how things should be done when there is no one else willing to give constructive suggestions. Rather than attempting to motivate or help them constructively, I often either stop contributing to the group (which was the case at JC Penny) or I gave harsh and unconstructive criticism to people who often simply didn’t know what to do. In the, Are you a team player ? test, I found that I often dislikes or even ignore constructive criticism when I see that there are other people who are not doing their part.

3. Self-Management

            One of the most fundamental aspects of management whether in organizations or in society in general is the ability to manage yourself and your life. Whether it’d be deciding upon personal values, adhering to good work ethics, and even fostering good ethical values, management of one’s personal and professional life is the foundation of management of all other organizations in one’s life. Though I hold significant strengths in dealing with ambiguity and responsibility toward commitments, I find that this area to be one of my weakest based on my shot comings in the areas of work ethic and understanding of ethical issues.

            My greatest strength in the area of self-management would certainly have to be in dealing with ambiguity, especially in the context of global readiness. Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by all things foreign, exotic, and different. The more unusual or ambiguous, a culture, place, or situation the more excited and motivated to learn I was. As I found in my Global Readiness index, I have a very global mindset and a good amount of global knowledge. I saw that I rarely held prejudices or were dismayed by differences in culture and that I was fascinated by all cultures and places. My experience as a first generation immigrant from China and a frequent traveler to my native country where much of my extended family still lives, I have first hand knowledge of the differences in the culture of the United States and China, both of which I consider my own culture. Hence, when I studied in France and the United Kingdom I did not feel overwhelmed by the initial culture shock and was able to deal with differences in norms, questions about U.S. foreign policy, and the fascination on the part of the French with the fact that I could both Chinese and American.  Traveling during my time studying abroad in France I traveled widely from Portugal to Turkey and Morocco, where I experienced cultures and practices very different from my own, yet I could very quickly adapt and appreciate these difference without, for the most part, prejudices. Hence, in going to new schools, working in new environments I do not feel intimidated with the ambiguity of the situation and are able to work and adapt on my own. I am also strong in the area of responsibility toward commitments. Though, as I will explain soon, I do not have very strong work ethics, when I make a commitment to do something, especially a commitment to anther individual I feel very much obliged to see it through. I found in the course of doing the Work Ethic self-assessment that though I would often procrastinate and put off work for classes or tasks that I had to do for myself, when other people were depending on me or I had promised that I would finish a certain task I would always do my best to follow through.  For instance, in my history classes I would often put off doing essays and projects assigned only to me, but when I am working in a group project for that class, such as one I am currently working on, where I had promised to finish my part of the presentation before everyone else I put that task on the top of my list despite it being work relatively little grade wise.

            My major weaknesses in the area of self-management are on an ethical level, whether they are work ethic or ethics in general. The Work Ethic analysis was very helpful in making me understand the nature of my problems with work ethic. Though I, like many college and high school students, am a first rate procrastinator, leaving work to the last minute (but of course not for my CAP project), sometimes as late as the morning before. I always thought that it was because I had always thought of time as a pool and that I simply did not believe in hard, fast, timely work. However, in the doing the Work Ethic analysis I began to see that I did indeed value hard work in other people and I believed that time was of the essence and was to be used efficiently. Thus my problem was not whether I valued hard work, but rather motivation to follow it through. After high school, though I have been relatively active both socially and educationally, I have not had a packed daily schedule, thus I felt that I could always put things off. My other major weakness is, to put it plainly, lack a clear understanding of ethical issues. As I found in my Personal Values analysis financial, professional, and intellectual concerns were disproportionately high compared to how low I valued spirituality and community. Though I certainly do not think I lack any sense of moral right, but being from a very unreligious family which had a much Utilitarian outlook on ethical decision making and business bred in me a certain amount of survival of fittest mentality in me when thinking about ethical dilemmas. I find that I have very little compassion for the homeless or poor, because I believe that in a country so full of opportunity in the United State poverty is largely the result of laziness or simple lack of ability and that I personally should be no be penalized for others short comings. Such a mindset of course is neither acceptable nor proper in today’s socially conscious business environment and thus I must work to develop a better sense of ethical awareness.  

4. Leadership

            One of the keys of being not only a successful manager, but a successful person in the business world, is the ability to leader ( as well as follow). At the end of the day what distinguishes a manager from an employee are leadership skills. Though I have certain strengths in this area I feel that I still have many things to improve in becoming a successful leader. My strengths in leadership are in diversity awareness, and global issue awareness, as well as strategic thinking skills. My weaknesses are largely in project management and using leverage.

            My first strength is in the area of being aware of diversity awareness. Having grown up in multi-ethnic areas and attending High School and University at very ethnically diverse environments, I am well aware of the, of ten subtle differences, in culture which could affect both the school and the work environment. Having had roommates who have had backgrounds in 5 different continents and having had visited 4 of those continents, I have had experience with dealing with conflicts in the way I behave and the way in which others of different backgrounds do. As I found out in my Leadership Style analysis, I very much want to try to work with people and assign them different tasks based on their personality and diverse backgrounds, but also at the same time keep them focused on the group’s task. I also found that I like to foster a group mentality, but at the same time also liked to make sure there is a diverse range of views being heard. I was willing to make changes and adjustments to fit the crucial individual needs of specific employees. This method I learned from my manager at American Eagle Outfitters, who was very much attuned to working with people of all races, socio-economic, and educational levels and matching them with the proper tasks while at the same time making everyone feel as if they were a part of a family. I am also strong in fitting the group or organization into the larger global perspective. Having always been interested in trade, treaties, and wars in my history classes, I am fascinated by ways in which local events cause changes in the wider world. Even working as a retail employee I always kept in mind how it fit into the regional branches, the national level, and the international economy ( especially since 90 % of the clothes came from 3^rd world countries). I also find that strategic thinking is one of my main strengths. In the Leadership Style analysis I found that I was far more concerned with competing with other groups, make sure that the larger picture is kept in mind, and that the long run mattered to me more than the short. The core competency, or focus on interrelated sets of activities are important to me in decision making. Having been a long term planner rather than a present details person all my life, I like to make plans on an annual rather than a daily level. I always like to know how one action will eventually lead me later on, not so much as to prevent uncertainty, but to better plan out my current actions. Thus in a work and school leadership setting I like to think plans through and it’s possible consequences, rather than diving headlong into a problem.

            My biggest weakness is on the level of project management or micromanagement. Never having been a details person I do not like to mull over tedious facts and procedures. This I also found in my Personal Power Profile where technical power was where I had the least interest and value. Another problem I discovered in doing this analysis is that I was not well versed in finding ways of encouraging people to act and follow directions. I felt myself very weak in the area of being able to make people feel important and to encourage them to do better. Instead coercion and unconstructive criticism were more my style of personal power. However, this time of negative reinforcement on my part is often unbalanced by the positive and is more destructive than constructive in the group setting.

5.      Conceptual Skills

One of the most important skills as one moves from lower to upper management are conceptual skills. The ability to make decisions based on careful analysis of the situation, and determining the best and most efficient way of solving a problem are crucial to a manager in charge of a large and complex organization.  I consider this area of to both where some of my greatest strengths lay, but also one of my biggest weaknesses. Though I am well versed in both problem solving and analytical thinking, as well as decision making, creativity is an area where I still have to improve.

My strengths in analytical thinking and problem solving are not so much natural to me, but instead have slowly developed in my educational experiences. As a history major and an aspiring lawyer I am at home analyzing everything from evolving historical phenomenon to analyzing arguments to find their false assumptions in LSAT practice tests. Through taking over a dozen highly analytical upper division history classes, formal logic courses, and over 6 months LSAT prep courses, I have steadily become well versed in thinking about each new problem in a systematic and analytical manner. The Emotional Intelligence Assessment surprised me in that it truly led me to think about how I handle challenges, whether at work, at school, or in social situations. In preparing for the LSAT examinations and law school in general, I have in the past 2 years begun to actively seek out opportunity to analyze and solve problems such as doing complicated puzzles and games. I found that practice in analyzing problems in essays and in problem sets has extended to my everyday life. Though I use to often blow up and become irrational when I felt angry or frustrated, especially during high school, I now analyze most situation objectively, even in dealing with my own emotions, searching (though not always finding) for the best solution possible without having emotions and biases play a large part. The strengths I developed in problem solving and analytical thinking is closely connected with my strength in decision making. Along with my analytical problem solving skills becoming my systematic, my decision making skills have also become more rational. In finishing my Emotional Intelligence Assessment self-assessment that I saw that I have learned to be much more structured approach to making decisions, a  style very similar to the rational or classical model of decision making. Though I am slower now in making decisions and taking advantage of opportunities, I am also much more careful in analyzing the situation, weighing alternatives, and finally selecting a proper solution.

Despite my overall strength in the area of conceptual skills, I am relatively weak in the area of creativity. Being a horrible artist and mediocre musician (piano and saxophone), my lack of artistic creativity reflects my lack of creative thinking in solving problems. However, in scoring the bottom quartile of the INNOVATIVE ATTITUDE SCALE, I was surprised by just how much I needed to improve in this area. I found that though I am successful in making decisions in a systematic, analytical, and decisive manner, I often don’t attempt to find innovative solutions which could be more suited to the problem or taking advantage of an opportunity. In solving most problems, perhaps being influenced by my interest in history, I looked to how other people or I have done things in the past and use those measures as guidelines and often settling for them rather than searching for more novel methods.

6. Professionalism

            Professionalism is one of the most important aspects of being a manager, who are after all professionals. From appearance, to mannerism, to attitude, professionalism is embodied in every part of a successful manager. In this area I find that I am strongest in the area of professional presence, career self-management, and professional attitude. However, I am very weak in the area of initiative.

            One of my strongest areas is professional presence. Whether I am working in a highly formal environment, such as in my interviews for summer internships, or in more relaxed working environments, such as in the retail industry, I believe in professional appearance and behavior. In any interview that I do whether it is for college admission, internships, or jobs I believe in arriving at least a half hour early. I always believe in keeping a prim and business like appearance from appropriate attire to a neat appearance. Though in my daily life I am relatively relaxed and like any good California kid use my share of slang, however, in all professional settings I always make sure that I am speaking and acting professionally and show that I realize that it is a place of business. In completing the My Productivity Motivators test, I answered the questions very quickly and fluidly. This was not due to a lack of thought, but instead I felt that I was very clear in what I wanted from my career and I was motivated by physical rewards. Having my goals in career building very clear, I am able to work systematically in my career self-management in working toward my goal of working as an attorney. Going along with my professional presence is my strength in having a professional attitude. Timeliness and professional appearance are all part of my attitude toward work and the need for a focused mind set every time I set foot in a professional environment.

            My biggest problem despite my generally good professional outlook and attitude is initiative. As I found in the My Productivity Motivators test, I have very much motivated almost solely by physical improvements, in particular monetary gain, and these posses a problem in maintaining my motivation and initiative. Because should the physical improvements of a particular job, such as JC Penny, was not very good I often find my professionalism suffer as a result. The fact that my psychological motivators such as working in a meaningful and rewarding environment are simply not very important to me as motivators, I find that I often do the bare minimal to achieve my desired rewards. In the Managerial Assumptions assessment I found that I believe that people are generally under motivated and lazy, thus they must either be goaded by financial reward or made afraid of potential punishment. However, thinking on the results of the assessment further, I found this very much reflected my own mind set, at times, toward work and what motivated, or did not motivate me, in my jobs.

Conclusion

            This project has truly challenged me to think every aspect of myself and what improvements I still needed to make in the various facets of being a successful manager. The self-assessment tests clarified many things I only vaguely understood about myself and also revealed certain things I didn’t know at all.  Certainly I know now that I have many issues to address before I can truly become a proficient and successful manager. In the area of communications, I need to overcome my aversion to using new technology and practice my skills in using programs such as Excel and Outlooks as well as other important programs like Photoshop. I also need to learn to see criticism as a great way of improving myself and not simply react and become defensive. I also need to learn to be a better team player. My attitude toward team work has been hurt by past experiences, however, it remains one of the most crucial skills of any manger, hence I have to strive to learn not only to be more positive about team work, but also to more actively become a leader in teams. In the area of ethics and recognizing ethical issues, I need much improvement. In an environment where corporate ethics are becoming increasingly important, I need to put into consideration more equity and justice. In the area of leadership I need to better pay attention to the details of every project in which I am in a leadership position and be better able to micromanage. Having a strategic view point is excellent but I still need to learn to pay attention to the details in order to achieve larger strategic goals. I also need to try to think outside of the box in developing my conceptual skills further. Innovation is crucial to today’s fast changing environment and using outdated methods for their expediency is simply not acceptable anymore. Finally, in the area of professionalism I need to learn to motivate myself through means beyond just physical reward. I believe with more work experience I will come to value other aspects of work beyond simply financial benefits. This project has truly helped me to better define where I need to go and improve in order to be successful in every aspect of my life.