I found this week's assignment a lot of fun and very interesting. The two people that I picked to evaluate my communication styles were my husband and a co-worker. It was very interesting to see how differently my husband evaluated me as compared to my co-worker. It was also really unsettling to see that on some things they both evaluated me the same way but I had a completely different perspective.
One of the most perplexing conclusions from this exercise is that I rated myself as "moderate" on the verbal aggressiveness scale, my husband rated me as "significant", and my co-worker rated me as "low". I am sure that I am much more verbal at home with my husband and our relationship is such that we don't hold back, but tell it like it is, even if it's hard to hear. I am also sure that at work I try MUCH harder to hold back my thoughts and be more tactful and professional. I am glad that my co-worker views me as not very verbally aggressive and I believe that this perception helps me to be a leader and motivator with my staff. I think it also enables me to better communicate with the parents and with other early childhood professionals.
I am sad, however, that my husband views me as significantly verbally aggressive. I think I have some work to do on the home front.....
With regards to the communication anxiety inventory, the overall score for me was in the same range on my evaluation and those of my husband and co-worker. I rated myself as 39, my husband rated me at 40, and my co-worker rated me at 35. All of these fell in the "mild" range and I agree that I feel confident about communicating with others most of the time. I believe that one of the reasons I have been so successful in my personal and professional life is because I enjoy communicating with others.
The listening styles profile score was intriguing to me. I rated myself as people-oriented, as did my husband, but my co-worker rated me as action-oriented. I wonder if the fact that I am the "boss", thus always delegating, deciding, and decoding, plays a large part in my co-worker's perception of me. I admit that I at work I do sometimes get caught up in the "red-tape" of it all and lose site of the "people" side of my job. I think that is the price I sometimes pay to keep the doors to my center open.
Ultimately, I have learned that I adapt my communication based on who I am around. It is easy to understand that the way that my husband and co-worker views me is going to be different because I play very different roles in their lives. All in all, this was a very insightful and enjoyable assignment.
Thanks for reading!
I found this to be a very insightful assignment as well. My listening style was scored as people oriented by all three, I thought this was because I worked in a classroom with the co-worker for years before I became the director. Maybe if I had chosen a newer co-worker, they would have scored me differently. I think it's funny that your husband scored you as verbally aggressive! My son did the same! To that just proves men always need told what to do! LOL!
ReplyDeleteHi Monette. I believe your scores are well-deserved when families and friends know you as a person inside and outside. You also noted how you enjoy communicating with others and that’s great to know you are motivated and willing to be a positive role-model to many… Jay
ReplyDeleteAs hard as that must be to hear, I find it humbling that you commented that you have some work to do when to verbal aggression with your husband. And that is so interesting that your listening skills vary depending on the context of if you are at work versus home. I agree with your statement that sometimes it's the price you pay to keep your center open. My principal is very action oriented, but I feel that is what makes her so good at her job. I'm sure that at home, she is more people-oriented with her family. Great post!
ReplyDeleteJessica