Narcissism- 14/60

Machiavellianism- 24/50

Emotional Intelligence-  76/100

Self-Monitoring- 50/65

When I thought about each assessment, my scores were about what I expected them to be. The problem is, until I took these tests, evaluating myself on these traits was seldom a part of my thought process. Of course, I do not expect myself to be perfect or equal in these categories. Having strengths and faults is a healthy and normal part of life. However, not consciously thinking about these traits and how they affect your work can be detrimental to team building, my ability to perform on projects, and, most importantly, personal growth. The key to sustainable personal growth is intentionality, something I have been lacking in my current approach to my own development.

Despite this, my leadership and people skills have improved since high school. To some degree, I’ve taken on some roles and activities hoping that I would generally improve on the areas I wanted to because of them. Reflecting on it now, I can say that I’ve improved in these areas. The point is, without active and purposeful reflection, it is difficult to tell whether or not I was successful in improving myself through my activities and actions.

This exercise was definitely revealing. While the scores themselves did not surprise me, it exposed me to the passive approach I have taken to achieving personal growth. My new goal for this semester is less about the general improvement of my “soft skills”, but about setting specific goals for personal growth, intentionally working to achieve them, and following up on the effectiveness of my approach.

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