M-B-T-(me)

Sorta clever title there eh?

I felt the urge to really dive into my MBTI assessment earlier last week and I was reminded about many things.  The more I read into it the more closely I think it described me.  Not like a horoscope, where they use huge generalities to appeal to anyone who reads it.  What was really interesting is how much more detail this one goes. If you’ve never heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory I recommended you read up on it here. 

One thing the popped in my head the other day and rocked my world for a moment was one of the uses of this information.  The next time somebody asks me to describe myself or to list characteristics; I will be recalling information directly off of my MBTI. For example; my response can be: I am initiating, expressive, gregarious, active, and enthusiastic; and out of those I am most initiating and active.  Check out all those awesome descriptive positives words, and that’s only from Extraversion!

I can go on and pick out my favorites and expand on them.  Then things get real crazy when I get to the information part of the inventory. Overall I am slight intuition but you wouldn’t believe it by looking the report.  My strongest two are abstract and realistic, explain that madness.  A closer look shows that being realistic is the only out-of-preference for me. Out-of-preference meaning it does not match my overall preference.

Things are real tricky on decisions where I only have one characteristic that is IN-preference, and the rest are mid-zone.  This is okay, because it goes into more detail about my styles. Questioning-Accommodating actually ties in directly with the lesson last week.  It lists points like “Ask questions only as needed. Question and disagree in a style that is neither confrontational nor conciliatory (appeasing).” I thought these points were spot on, especially after discussion in class on Wednesday.

I am most definitely excited about how I can identify with a lot of the information provided in this report.  More importantly it is not something I am going to stash away in a folder and never look at again.  Just like my top 5 strengths this is something that should be reflected upon every once and awhile.

~Easten

Interpersonal Communication... say what?

Interpersonal; (adjective) - of or relating to relationships or communication between people: you will need good interpersonal skills.

Did you catch it? It’s like the example sentence was directed to us! (Weird^2)

            

(yeah yeah…. I know it looks long but I just couldn’t stop myself J)

A huge shout out to Lauren and Dylan on a job well done, I very much enjoyed your learning session was well put together and the execution was superb.  It also got me thinking about another class I am in right now, and if you’ve taken a presentation class you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. 

In this course the professor drills into our heads the difference between a lecture/speech and a presentation.  A presentation is different because it requires audience involvement.  This just happens to be oh so very important, especially for us as peer mentors.  Getting people involved during a presentation can have a tremendous impact on the desired outcome. 

Dylan, Lauren, and Amy all did an excellent job of encouraging discussion with our neighbor and then facilitating discussion as a group.  Talking with your partner first can help build confidence and takes away the stress of maybe saying the wrong thing as a group.  Discussing gets us to regurgitate the information and this forces us to think about the topic and eventually process the information.

Processing is by far one of my favorite parts of an activity, it might be the engineer coming out in me but we can all appreciate its value.  It’s the point in a presentation where you can challenge the audience and really drive in the message. I know we have all had those “huh… that makes a lot of sense” moments, I think I do every other day in EM 274.  It’s the point where we take all the knowledge, material, terms, ideas and “process” it into what matters and why we should care.  Real powerful stuff -> use with caution ;).

Since they did such a great job of putting this elements together I know I was able to walk away with a greater understand of interpersonal communication and its importance.  The “Tips for Sending Messages” on pg. 118 of our text really stuck out to me as some things to always keep in mind. Things like taking personal ownership by using “I” and “my” shows that they really are your thoughts, ideas, and feelings and our peers can have no doubts that we do in fact feel that way.  We can always look for feedback to be sure our messages are being received in the way we intended.  The one in particular that I am personally going to work on is to describe behaviors without evaluating or interpreting.  Instead of identifying how somebodies actions may seem or makes me feel, I would be wise to identify their action and let them know how it is affecting others or myself.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am looking forward to some awesome lessons from the rest of our group. See you Wednesday!

~Easten

The Right Mindset

           Our mindsets can have a tremendous impact on how successful we will be in all areas of our lives. On the other hand, it also has the potential to be detrimental to our learning and personal growth. In the workshop “Growth Mindset is Key”, we identified the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and the impact of having a growth mindset.

            Based on the work of Carol Dweck we identified the mindset extremes of the two different mindset types. The first was how you view challenges. If you have a fixed mindset you would prefer to avoid challenges, while growth mindset persons will embrace a challenge.  This means you can take on challenges and look at them as an opportunity to grow.

            The second was obstacles and can be closely related to challenges. With obstacles you can either give up, or embrace them.  Again this is the difference in seeing this as an opportunity to grow or to simply give up.  I shared my experience with my soccer team in high school.  I had spent 3 years on the bench as the third string goalie only to meet my senior year being at the top to be crushed by a foreign exchange student taking it away from me. I spent extras hours before and after practice to improve and was finally the starting keeper. After I missed one game my coach let me know I wasn’t to going to be in the game by taking me off the roster without any warning. Looking back I shouldn’t have given up on the obstacle, but I did.  I argued with my coach and ended up quitting the team - I still beat myself up for it.

            The next three were effort, criticism, and success of others.  Effort can be defined in many ways, but it is an action more than anything.  A growth mindset will see effort as crucial instead of useless. Criticism is learned from instead of ignored and can contribute to their success. We discussed how criticism is often misunderstood or presented in the wrong way.  The success of others will either inspire or threaten; a person with a growth mindset will be inspired.

            We explored areas and situations where we saw ourselves with either a fixed or growth mindset.  It was clear the difference it would make to have a growth mindset and how limiting it can be to be fixed.  This is going to be most useful with our students next semester in helping them with their personal growth.  Encouraging them to have a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset.  If we can set an example of embracing challenges, being persistent through obstacles, seeing effort as crucial, learn from criticism, and be inspired by others success, we will be more likely to make a difference. 

~Easten