The four components
Competence
Competence refers to a person’s ability to accomplish his/her goals with outstanding determination and motivation. Based on my personal assessment of my own aptitude, I am questioning my competence owing to the persistent lack of morale. Liaw (2008) observes that students struggle to maintain focus and motivation when pursuing their academic endeavors. My interview with a classmate revealed that I exhibit diminished morale apparently due to the high level of commitment required to excel in the course and the hard tasks involved. The results of the current self-assessment are congruent with those of the self-assessment carried out in Module 1 since in both reviews; I scored lowly in the competence test.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability of a person to understand his/her feelings coupled with the capability to recognize the feelings of others (Kunnanatt, 2008). My self-assessment indicates that I possess a high level of emotional intelligence, and thus, I score well in this aspect. However, although I believe that I possess a high level of emotional intelligence, my interviewee believes that I am highly focused on how others are feeling and that sometimes I am wrong in deducing others’ feelings. The results correspond to the ones obtained in the self-assessment in Module 1. Therefore, it may be concluded that the results were accurate.
Ethics
Ethics refers to the ability of an individual to make moral choices when faced with challenging situations (Farmer & Chapman, 2016). I am always guided by the principle of utilitarianism, and I often choose the decision that maximizes the gains for the biggest audience. My partner reiterates that I possess strong moral values and that I am ethically upright. The current results confirm the findings from the self-assessment carried out in module 1, which indicated a strong sense of moral behavior in me. From the described results, it may be concluded that I am highly ethical and moral.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to the ability of a person to pay attention to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment as opposed to the consideration of past encounters (Eandura, Langer, & Chanowitz, 2013). My self-assessment reveals poor performance on this tenet since I feel that my present reactions are highly subject to past encounters. When faced with a challenge, I tend to consider similar issues that have occurred in the past to solve the present. My interviewee confirms the observations; hence the results are accurate. My self-assessment in module 1 is also congruent with the current findings, as I scored poorly in this aspect.
The effects of these tenets of interpersonal communication
Personally
I tend to have the poor motivation, which affects my competence adversely. Even though I am not a lazy person, I strongly feel that poor morale affects my personal life negatively, and I need to improve on this aspect. The poor score in terms of Emotional Intelligence is also worrying since it may affect my relationships with others. However, my strong moral and ethical values continue to shape my personal life through being a morally upright and just individual.
Academically
The poor competence that I exhibit may affect my academic performance negatively owing to the reduced morale. The course requires high commitment and handwork to excel; hence a lack of motivation may be harmful. The emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and strong ethical values that I possess shape my relations with peers and instructors. Good relationships with the mentioned groups may be helpful for my academic excellence.
Professionally
The skills obtained in this course shall help in shaping my competence levels, and I believe that I will handle my professional tasks with ease. The emotional intelligence coupled with the mindfulness traits shall shape my relationships with the peers, thus, facilitating teamwork and organizational learning (Bumann & Younkin, 2012). Finally, ethics are at the heart of every profession; hence my strong ethical values shall be helpful in my profession.
Summary of two key insights from this assignment
One of the things that I have learned from this assessment is that my emotional intelligence should be improved. Initially, I thought that I was perfect regarding the emotional intelligence aspect, but my interviewee proved this perception wrong. As stated above, my partner observed that I had a problem with interpreting other people’s feelings. The other insight is that I need to improve my competence to achieve academic triumph. Although I am somewhat competent, I struggle with effectiveness, which affects my overall performance. Even though I am good at initiating a project or work, I lack the motivation to make constant appraisals to ensure timely completion. Therefore, I need to improve on the two aspects to excel personally, academically, and professionally.
New behaviors
My personal goals may be classified into two major purviews, namely the short-term and the long-term goals. The primary short-term goals that I have set for myself include maintaining good grades throughout the course and qualifying for the award of the degree at the end of the program. On the other hand, the long-term goals include serving the community competently and achieving constant promotions in my future career. To achieve the stated goals, a change in behavior is inevitable both in the short-term and in the long-term. The specific behaviors that I intend to change fall in the purview of competence and mindfulness. I will need to create a good relationship with my peers and the instructor to acquire the necessary support to achieve my dreams and to fight the incompetent feelings that prevail at times (Johnson & Johnson, 2009).
References
Bumann, M., & Younkin, S. (2012). Applying self-efficacy theory to increase interpersonal effectiveness in teamwork. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 18(3), 11-70.
Eandura, M., Langer, J., & Chanowitz, B. (2013). Interpersonal effectiveness from a mindlessness/mindfulness perspective. In P. Trower (Ed.), Radical Approaches to Social Skills Training (Psychology Revivals) (pp. 182-204). New York, NY: Routledge.
Farmer, R., & Chapman, L. (2016). Behavioral interventions in cognitive behavior therapy: Practical guidance for putting theory into action. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.
Johnson, W., & Johnson, R. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational Researcher, 38(5), 365-379.
Kunnanatt, T. (2008). Emotional intelligence: theory and description: A competency model for interpersonal effectiveness. Career Development International, 13(7), 614-629.
Liaw, S. (2008). Investigating students’ perceived satisfaction, behavioral intention, and effectiveness of e-learning: A case study of the Blackboard system. Computers & Education, 51(2), 864-873.