A wonderful share at an appropriate time.
When an individual is able to identify his/her capabilities solely by utilizing a self assessment tool, it can turn out to be more accurate than a decision based on an evaluation done by others…
So was the catch line in the Article titled “ Mirror, Mirror on the Wall “ in The Times of India, Mumbai ( Ascent Section) dated 22nd December, 2010, which reiterated the importance of Self Assessment. The byline of the article defines Self Assessment as the “process of gathering information about oneself in order to make an informed career decision and design a road map to achieve long term goals”
The questions that most people would ask are : What kind of Self Assessment should one undertake in order to get a clear road map to achieve ones goals ? How should one assess oneself?
People do set goals, many a time like ice cream, which when exposed to normal room temperature or a little bit of heat, melts into another form of existence- A topic which we can write about and discuss at some other forum.
Let for a moment believe that we are dealing with a firm goal which is carved in rock.
“Set your goals in rock and your strategy in sand.”
The reverse of it would be quite a disaster- A topic of discussion for another forum.
Coming back to what kind of assessment should one use to help oneself to get a clear map to achieve ones goals.
Prima facie one would want to consider an assessment that not only tells a person where he is in terms of his current capabilities and behaviour, but also creates a climate through the evaluation for him to identify his own needs to move to the next level. An instrument that allows the person to introspect and evolve his own development plan based on the knowledge of his innate strengths arising out of his behavioural styles.
Another major consideration for the assessment to be robust is that it should be able to point out to the individual his behavioural dimensions, with an acceptable degree of accuracy, and not box people into generalized compartments. Generalizations, aggregates and approximations do nothing to help the individual as they do not allow the person to consider options that would be best for his behavioural style.
A third element one would want to consider in selecting the right kind of assessment is to check if the assessment provides a window to measure ones emotions and feelings at a point of reference. If a person is currently under some kind of perceived need to adjust his behaviour dramatically to his current environment, the person would be stretching his behavioural “rubber belt” way beyond its normal “flexibility zone” and while this would put stress on the belt. Stress would manifest itself in many ways in his professional and personal spheres of behavioural influence. A good assessment would need to point that out to the person and help him to understand this dimension accurately.
Lastly, which is by no means a finality to the discussion, is the assessment truly a “Mirror, Mirror on MY wall” . Does the assessment tell me what I want to see or does it tell the assessor what he would like to see. Is it based on a set of perceptions or is it based on a set validated premises’ strongly grounded in psychometric theory.
After all when you see the “Mirror, mirror on the wall” you don’t want to see a “Stranger in the mirror”
It is at this time of the year that most people make resolutions and set goals for themselves. It would also be a good idea to equip oneself with a road map that would help to chart a course for the ultimate realization of those goals through systematic and progressive milestones.
Courtesy – Extended Disc India
Regards,
Pratik Deo 