Introduction
We live in a world where everyone is worried about what other people think about them. As a result, we create our fantasies of what we wish to be, resulting in self-esteem struggles. However, we always lack the courage to ask others their perceptions of us. We may have our perceptions, but our families and friends hold the key to who we are. They always know what steps we take in the circumstances, whether happy or sad, optimistic or pessimistic, satisfied or uncomfortable. This is what makes them know us more than we expect.
This ensures that we can concentrate on our best authentic selves as our fantasies and self-criticism are temporarily disabled. This can be made possible by using the reflected best self-exercise. The Reflected Best Self Exercise is an exercise that aids an individual in determining and understanding their exceptional strengths and talents. This exercise enables me to gain experience in data collection and analysis. Additionally, this exercise can also be used to apply insights of my best self to my future career and recognize how organizations can utilize it as an HRM tool.
Method
I began the reflected best self-exercise process by purchasing a license and setting up an account at reflectedbestselfexercise.com. I then requested Vivek Gill, Yuhang Zhang, and Riley Schlichting to write two to three stories about me with examples in their perception when they thought me at my best. Vivek Gill and I met in the first year in our school residence, and he is my current college roommate. We became friends since the first year as floormates, and after the first year, we decided to live in a house together. It was only appropriate to ask for his feedback because we see each other every day.
Riley was the first Canadian friend I made after I moved to Canada. We’ve known each other for about six years now. Riley has had a huge impact on me because we used to spend time together every day, and he helped me adapt to the new environment, new communities, and new cultures. Lastly, Yuhang Zhang was my recent internship supervisor when I did my internship at IBM consulting. Since he was in charge of training me and assigning work to me, his feedback is a better indicator for my future career.
I sent Vivek Gill, Yuhang Zhang, and Riley Schlichting a heads-up email and gave them sufficient time of up to two weeks to write the stories. I also wrote two of my own stories describing the roles I took or played, my actions, and the characteristics that I exhibited. I received all the three responses that I had requested. I read every story in my best self-report thoroughly to determine the main perceptions in each, including dominant themes and consistent patterns that help derive attributes. The most dominants theme that I picked was that I am self-motivated, hardworking, and pro-social. The rest of the themes and patterns that I picked were not very dominant, but they are essential for my future career.
Results (Best self-portrait)
From the feedback I received, I identified the strengths of inclusivity, pro-social, open-minded, persevering and industrious, responsible and committed, self-motivated, great leader, down-to-earth, pro-social, funny, and adventurous.
Funny
One of the qualities and strengths that I received from their feedback was that I was funny. This is one of my strengths that I am very proud to have. Being in a dull environment is not part of me. I always feel comfortable when everyone around me is happy and smiling. This makes it easy for me to interact with other people and ensures that I make the environment around me comfortable for every individual when interacting.
Down to earth
I have never been afraid of adapting to every situation I come across, as I take it as an opportunity to learn something new within my environment. This trait was especially emphasized by my friend Vivek Gil, who was very impressed that I was very adaptable and could fit every situation and context despite being relatively new to Canada.
Adventurous
Being adventurous is something that I have continually liked since I was young. I am always ready to visit new places and try new experiences. This is because I am always grateful for the beauty of life. I always want to learn a new thing as my days count away. I like to take every opportunity to explore different areas and have new experiences. Vivek Gil specifically emphasized this by saying that I mostly would go and have new experiences in London, such as cool restaurants.
Pro-social
I have always cherished being in the company of other people and getting to know and interact with new people. Particularly, my friend Riley Schlichting was impressed with how I joined a freestyle rap battle that they were having with his football friends one day. The group was specifically impressed with the courage I showed to unexpectedly join their rap battle that they were engaging in the classroom before the start of the class. This made them admire the fact that I was performing in class in addition to being social.
Great leader
I take pride in providing solutions to problems and being a leader. I like doing this by valuing what others consider to input and participating to ensure that the solutions to the issues at hand are obtained in the soonest time possible. My friend Riley Schlichting confirmed this by providing feedback when he witnessed me sharing ideas with my group members in a way that made it possible for them also to contribute their input.
Self-motivated, responsible, and commitment
I have always been self-motivated instead of relying on others to complete my tasks. I know it is my responsibility to get jobs done and on time. Yuhang Zhang, my internship supervisor, observed this when I was able to complete the interface design work independently for the client’s SAP system that he had assigned. I stayed back until 10 pm after the other interns had left trying to complete the task.
Inclusivity
Inclusivity is another strength that I am proud to have, as it is always good to appreciate other peoples’ input. I have always cherished listening to other individuals as much as they listen to me. This gives me an opportunity to associate with people from other backgrounds and learn different histories. It is always lovely to receive inputs in different views and ideas and make people comfortable sharing with others when their input is acknowledged.
Open-minded
Being open to ideas is one of the strengths that I recognize. I once invested in cryptocurrencies and engaged myself in the blockchain ecosystem. It is always beneficial to be open to ideas and be willing to take risks that may profit you in the future. I love taking advantage of every opportunity and idea presented to me or that I come across without fear of failing as they provide a chance to grow myself.
Perseverance and industrious
Perseverance and industriousness are good traits for any individual to possess. This is because if one wishes to grow and be successful, they will also need to be patient when things fail or when they are not going according to plan. It is also good to be hardworking and dedicated in every situation and task that one would come across.
Application
Application to My Future/Current Work/Career
Reflected Best Self Exercise provides an understanding of my potential in my career and work skills and allows me to master my characteristic strengths at best. As a result, I am able to use my key strengths and work skills at their best version in other individuals’ perceptions to strengthen and improve my performance at work or in my career. Moreover, the tool helps differentiate actual and desired strengths that enhance my skills (Twumasi et al., 2018). Getting the chance to know myself at my best according to other people’s perceptions allows me to develop positive energy and engagement that will drive me towards creativity, sustained well-being, and optimal performance in my career.
This tool also guides my future career path in finance by enabling me to identify when to utilize my key strengths, determine what my strengths are first and allow my self-awareness to drive my career. This is because it is difficult to make the right choices and decisions for my career without self-awareness. My best-self-portrait will enable me to be more enthusiastic and confident in myself hence following a career path in line with my strengths and abilities. Additionally, understanding my strengths and skills will allow me to narrow down specific career areas that I am excellent and proficient in instead of choosing a career based on peer pressure (Twumasi et al., 2018). By focusing on strengths, I’ll be able to focus on opportunities based on the things that I am already good at doing, thereby spending less time and effort in identifying a career path that is most suitable for my skills and experiences. I will also be able to attempt as well as explore new and unrecognized areas that I think will best suit my strengths, thereby polishing my work performance.
The results from my best self indicated that I portray strengths such as inclusivity, pro-social, open-minded, persevering and industrious, responsible and committed, self-motivated, great leader, down-to-earth, pro-social, funny, and adventurous. Among these, inclusivity, pro-social, open-minded, persevering, industrious, responsible, committed, self-motivated, and great leadership is the strengths well suited for my future career, such as being a finance manager. Leadership skill or strength is important because finance managers require collaboration from team members (Twumasi et al., 2018). Finance managers require the ability to promote efficiency and increase productivity as they sustain confidence in their capability to advance the organization and improve its performance. Being able to allocate tasks and guide other people makes one an effective leader. A good leader also ensures inclusivity and diversity in their teams. To be an excellent financial manager, I would need to take control of circumstances and develop effective and efficient solutions to enhance and promote trust in my leadership skills.
Being pro-social is also essential in taking a role as a finance manager. An effective finance manager needs to know how to interact, associate, and create strong work relationships with other employees within an organization. As a result, a manager will need to possess excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively convey instructions to other significant employees (Sylva et al., 2019). This strength will enable me to be a good finance manager as I am expected to work with different departments. Knowing how to effectively communicate and integrate others to ensure that information is conveyed and accessed makes it a necessary strength for one to be a successful and efficient finance manager.
A successful finance manager also needs to be open-minded to continue learning and finding opportunities and ideas to ensure that they always optimize their performance. A successful finance manager will also require the ability to work alone or independently. This is because a manager does not need to be constantly supervised as they understand their roles, what is needed to be done, and the means to accomplish the organization’s goals (Sylva et al., 2019). This is because they are self-motivated and do not require to be pushed to complete their given tasks. By having this strength, I will also be able to motivate myself to prioritize tasks and encourage other employees to accomplish their tasks independently.
Moreover, perseverance, hardworking, responsible, and commitment are essential skills needed to be a successful finance manager. A finance manager will need to be patient and persistent with other departments and employees to ensure that work runs smoothly within the company. Being hardworking is also an added advantage because there are tasks that a finance manager will need to complete alone, and having this strength will help a finance manager deliver even in the absence of other employees (Sylva et al., 2019). Lastly, being responsible and committed also helps finance managers to be successful in their roles as they will understand their responsibilities and commit to accomplishing the tasks given.
Application to HRM
The Best Self Exercise tool can also be used in human resource management (HRM) in recruiting employees and staffing. The tool becomes helpful in this process as the organization can identify the strengths, skills, and abilities of different individuals and recruit them into departments and areas relevant to their dominant skills and abilities (Moore et al., 2021). This enables employees to be recruited to departments where they will be able to work efficiently and comfortably hence maximizing their performance. Many companies take the responsibility of recruiting and maintaining the best talent in their company.
The HRM department is responsible for this, thereby aiding in developing the company’s future by carrying out the hiring and recruitment process. The HRM department identifies an open job position and enquires about the position requirements and necessary candidate qualities and skills. After acquiring all the required information, the HRM then sets up a recruitment approach, including going through resumes and any other application materials of potential applicants. This is where the best–self exercise tool now becomes advantageous as it provides information about the strengths and skills of applicants, thereby recruiting them into the appropriate departments to ensure work efficiency (Woerkom et al., 2020). This also helps the HRM carry out background checks and professional reference checks to validate that applicants are qualified to work for the organization.
The best-self exercise can also be used in onboarding training and development. This is for the purpose of retaining talent and remaining competitive. The HRM also provides training and development initiatives to enable employees to develop and grow in their company goals. The HRM can also prepare employees for their career development within the company (Woerkom et al., 2020). This is where the best-self exercise tool allows the department to discover employee strengths and dominant skills that will help guide them towards the right direction in their career advancement.
Human capital can exhibit various factors such as personality, soft and hard skills, work experience, emotional intelligence, and intelligence. The success or failure of an organization is determined by the individuals who form the organization’s manpower or workforce. To maximize the human capital value, the organization has to provide ongoing coaching that improves workforce education. An organization’s manpower that is highly trained or educated will be proficient at accomplishing more. The organization can also coach its manpower or workforce to determine their key strengths, improve their leadership qualities, and thereby improve their work performance (Moore et al., 2021). The Best Self Exercise becomes helpful in this case as the organization can use it on its employees to identify their key strengths and improve their leadership roles. As a result, the employees will be able to work to their full potential hence optimizing their performance and the overall company performance.
An organization can also increase human capital by dividing its manpower into specialized categories. Employees will be able to focus on their area of strength as they specialize more. This will help employees optimize their capability in a specialized skill rather than learning diverse skills and jobs. The company can use the Best Self Exercise tool to group their employees with respect to their areas of strengths. As a result, the company will have a talented and highly specialized workforce in diverse fields leading to overall performance improvement due to the qualification of its workforce. The company can also utilize the tool to recruit employees with diverse backgrounds (Moore et al., 2021). Having employees with diverse backgrounds is beneficial for an organization because its workforce can provide different points of view and competencies towards increasing human capital, which leads to performance improvement of the company.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Reflected Best Self Exercise is essential as it enables individuals to determine their unique strengths by differentiating desired strengths from actual strengths. This tool is important in guiding individuals’ career paths by ensuring that one uses their key strengths to identify their career path. It enables one to be more confident and enthusiastic, allowing one to follow a career path that is in line with their strengths.
The tool was also helpful in identifying what aspects were well suited for my career path, which included inclusivity, pro-social, open-minded, persevering, industrious, responsible, committed, self-motivated, and great leadership. In addition to being applied to my career path, the Reflected Best Self Exercise can also be applied to HRM in recruiting employees and staffing, as well as onboarding training and development. The tool can also be used to maximize human capital by being used as an approach when providing ongoing coaching, dividing the workforce into specialized categories, and recruiting employees with diverse backgrounds. All these ways help maximize the value of human capital and contribute to the company’s overall performance.
References
Moore, H., Bakker, A., & Mierlo, H. (2021). Using strengths and thriving at work: The role of colleague strengths recognition and organizational context.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 1-13. Web.
Sylva, H., Mol, S., Hartog, D., & Dorenbosch, L. (2019). Person-job fit and proactive career behavior: A dynamic approach.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(5), 631-645. Web.
Twumasi, P., Emeto, T., Lindsay, D., Tsey, K., & Aduli, B. (2018). A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Youths Career Choices—the Role of Culture.Frontiers in Education, 3(58), 1-15. Web.
Woerkom, M., Meyers, M., & Bakker, A. (2020). Considering strengths use in organizations as a multilevel construct.Human Resource Management Review, 1-15. Web.