Reflective Essay: My Top Five Strengths

Working with a group can be one of the most beneficial experiences and horrific experiences when trying to complete a project. As a growing student affairs professional I find that how a team is made up and the personalities of the team members plays a crucial role in how the team will succeed. I will discuss how my different strengths and areas of improvement help me in a group setting and where I see myself placed more than often in group roles. To discuss this topic and my position I will use my top five strengths, my areas of strength and weakness in the ACPA Professional Competencies and my Kiersey Temperament results. I will then discuss some general challenge I face when working with a group and the best practices I have seen to help curb these challenges. Throughout the paper I will discuss how my self-awareness influences how I am as both a team member and advisor. Hopefully, with these different self-assessments I will be able to define myself in a team environment and how I am best utilized. My top five strengths with …show more content…
Specifically I need to concentrate on Advocacy and Helping Skills. I find that sometimes when working with groups I forget that everything can be a teaching and learning moment. When I see a team member in a concerning situation I sometimes just take over the task or “fix” the problem. I know that I need to work on my helping skills and try to help guide the team member through the situation, rather than just take control. This also plays closely with the need to improve my advocacy skill. I am often one who tries to fix a problem or be the “expert”, but it is important for me to realize that I do not know everything and some where on campus there is a professional that can do more help than I will ever be able to. I need to keep these resources in mind and advocate for both the team member and the