The LSI is used as a tool to strengthen the behavioral and thinking styles of the individual so that he/she can come out with their optimum performance and prove more effective. The LSI measures self image of 12 different thinking styles categorized into three dimensions: Constructive styles; passive/ defensive styles and aggressive/ defensive styles. My LSI chart can be interpreted as follows;
“Primary” and “Backup” Thinking Styles
Primary thinking style is the one which drives the basic functioning styles of an individual while the backup thinking style provides valuable support. As per the LSI illustration I am the strongest in the category of passive/ defensive styles, followed by aggressive defensive styles. The traits in the passive/ defensive style are; Avoidance, Dependent, Conventional and Approval. Avoidance and Conventional have been indicated as the highest scores, indicating that I appear to be inclined more towards using the conventional methods in the first attempt and avoid being innovative without exhausting the conventional methods.
The dependent and approval styles closely follow the other scores in this category. ‘Dependent’ scale measures the extent to which an individual feels that he/she has little control over his/her life and seek security and self protection from others around. The relatively higher scores of ‘Dependent’ and ‘Approval’ styles indicate that I feel more comfortable to work with the active support and guidance of my mentors and well-wishers.
Limiting Style
The ‘Avoidance’ style, appears to be a limiting factor which has been prohibiting me from taking initiatives and in turn resulting in making me more conventional in approach. Though, being conventional is not a bad idea, as it effectively means following the existing rules and regulations, but in today’s highly competitive era dictated by globalization such an approach is often termed as, ‘blending in for remaining low profile’. Such an approach often results in reducing creativity and the level of achievement. Therefore it will be my endeavor to improvise on this trait.
Impact on Management Style
Management in general implies managing the show with the help of available resources. The resources include human resources as well as material resources. Management therefore involves a coordinated approach taking care of all the factors affecting the business operations. Companies and organizations are made for people and by the people, and obviously their effectiveness depends on the behavior and performance of the people running these companies. It is therefore quite logical to say that Human Resource Management is a very crucial and an integral part of any organization. Five functions of management as stated in our textbook: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Some of my personal styles which affect my style of management are;
Humanistic encouraging
My percentile score on this count indicate that there are only 44 percent of people who have scored below 29. That is one area which requires to be looked into because, motivating the people around forms a key component for management and to motivate a leader has to encourage the people to innovative and improvise. Such an approach helps in organizing the workforce.
Competitive
This indicates to the extent an individual is able to compete and compare oneself with others. This style is generally accepted as a measure of success, but to be highly competitive can often result in the habit of being ‘preoccupied with winning’ which might result in limiting the levels of productivity or is stated to affect the quality. Therefore, being competitive to some extent is good but it needs to be seen that it doesn’t acquire the form of a rivalry.
Conventional
While adhering to existing rules and guidelines is indeed good for a manager, it is equally true that this doesn’t come in the way of encouraging the innovative approaches, depending upon the circumstances. Unconventional approach often helps in the process of planning and managing the human resources.
Perfectionistic
Being a perfectionist often helps in maintaining the quality standards in the organization. Therefore such an approach helps in the task of ‘controlling’ and pushing others as well for making efforts to this end. My percentile score puts me above the 69 percent people and I need to turn this as my strength.
Genesis of Personal Styles
Conclusion and Reflection
The LSI circumplex indicates the nature of an individual in terms of variety of styles. While I am very much afflitiative in nature i.e. I am more in favor of forming sustaining and satisfying relationships, there’s something which requires adaptation according to the times. The competitive times requires facing the challenges quite boldly and encouraging the team members to come out with their best, which often calls for some innovative unconventional yet legal ways and means to get the task done. Therefore I feel that I need to be more active in my approach instead of being unduly defensive to script a success story.