Ethics Self-Assessment
The results of my self-assessment for the listening skills profile are as follows:
People-Oriented Listener
Action-Oriented Listener
Content-Oriented Listener
Time-Oriented Listener
Total
These results show a clear orientation to people-oriented listening on my part. I scored well on content-oriented listening as well, but am weaker on action-oriented listening and time-oriented listening. People-oriented listening places emphasis on maintaining relationships, and content-oriented listening is about understanding messages, so these are my strong suits. I would certainly have anticipated the people-oriented listening prior to the self-assessment. I have a high degree of empathy, and genuinely care about other people when I am listening to them. This serves me well in a number of communication contexts.
The textbook highlights that different listening styles are useful in different contexts, so these results also suggest that my weaknesses as a listener might need some work.. The scores for action-orientation and time-orientation are quite low, and these can be things that I might wish to work on. In particular, when I am listening with empathy and for messages, I am not always translating how those ideas will turn into action. I appreciate that I do not interrupt the way that people with those listening styles do, but I definitely would like to be a little bit more...
I will be equipped to understand their concerns, and to meet those concerns because of that understanding. There are, of course, going to be issues in terms of action orientation, and being efficient, but the ethical dimension of change relates primarily to minimizing negative outcomes to people, and that is where my strength as a change agent will lie. Thus, I project as a highly-ethical change agent, more than if I had a different listening style.
I do feel that there is room for growth on content listening, and on action orientation. A change agent has to be able to articulate a vision for change, as a pathway for getting there. An action orientation is required to be successful as a change agent. There are costs associated with change processes that are never really completed, or that get bogged down. Minimizing those costs is an important part of the change process. So for me to optimize my performance as a change agent will probably involve increasing the degree to which I am action-oriented and focused on time, while maintaining a high level of people-orientation to be able to minimize negative impacts on the people in the organization.
Changing listening styles is actually quite challenging. But when one is aware of gaps, or areas that need improving, that is the first step on the pathway to improvement. I…
