Journal Entry #1

When I took the Leadership Potential assessment, I scored a 40. This honestly surprised me because I did not expect to score that high. When I took the Managerial Leadership Skills assessment I scored the lowest on the interpersonal skills and I scored the highest on both the technical and decision making skills with the same scores of 18. These scores did not surprise
me as much. I generally do enjoy making decisions and I especially like the technical aspect of things when working on projects. While these assessments are interesting and can be introspective, I also think these assessments can change for an individual at any given time. For example, I answered these assessments with the topic of social work in mind, however if I had taken this assessment while thinking about my leadership in a math class, I can guarantee that my scores would be entirely different. I think assessments such as these could be helpful as a social worker because they can show me what I could improve on. For example, I definitely think as a social worker who wants to work on a micro scale, I need to improve on my interpersonal skills. These assessments also can make me more aware in the future of how I can better assist in a situation because I clearly know my strengths. I am curious to see how these skills may change over time, especially as I gain more experience within the social work field. I also look forward to using these skills in real life scenarios and when assisting clients and managing conflicts with coworkers.

Journal Entry #2

When I took the Big Five personality test I scored the highest in “adjustments,” “conscientiousness,” and “openness to experiences” all with a rounded score of 25. My lowest score for this personality test was a 15 in the “surgency” sections. The second assessment which correlated to the Big Five assessment showed me that my highest need is in affiliation while my
lowest need is in power. I believe this makes the most sense because as someone who wants to work on a micro scale, it is more important to me to be agreeable and to become close with clients than it is for me to gain more power and climb a corporate ladder. I tried my best to be completely honest in answering the last assessment. On the ethical assessment I scored a total of 35, which, in my opinion, is a pretty decent score. However, to be completely candid, my scores for the college section were a lot higher than they were for the workplace section. I believe this is because college is about me personally and I feel okay doing “unethical” things when they do not harm others whereas in a workplace my actions can have serious consequences for others so that is why I am more ethical in that setting. Furthermore, while some actions are deemed “unethical” such as cheating on a homework assignment, they are so common that I think it makes people feel less guilty about it.
In my future social work career I truly hope to grow even more agreeable in order to help those I work with. I also will continue to work on my ethics and I also hope to always do the right thing not only for clients, but for myself. I genuinely enjoyed these assessments and I feel that I learned a lot about myself by taking them. My only hope is to use this new knowledge about myself for good purposes and to not let my faults scare me away from continually improving.

Journal Entry #3

When I took the personal values self-assessment I scored the highest in “Financial” and “Family” values, both with a score of 180. My lowest scores were in the “Spiritual” and “Community” sections, both with a score of 30. Honestly, neither of these scores surprised me because I think I am very self aware of my values and what is important to me. I do, however,
wish to grow more spiritual, but not necessarily in a religious way. To me, community is not as important because I consider my community to be my close friends and family as opposed to the surrounding area I live in or the organizations I am involved in. In the field of social work, I definitely think I need to grow my community values. A lot of social work practices such as advocacy, resources, etc, heavily rely on the surrounding community. Moreover, growing closer to a community outside of my personal life would help me grow more of an understanding of the values and needs of those I am helping. In regards to my biases, I definitely need to improve upon my spirituality values. For example, I admittedly hold biases towards those who are incredibly religious. However, I understand that I am more than likely to encounter clients who greatly value their religion and or spirituality. I think my personal values greatly impact leadership and potential. I think one’s values directly correlate to what they are most passionate about, and thus can help determine what areas they are most likely to have the most potential and leadership. For example, I think because I place a high value on finances, I am more likely to look for high paying jobs and I am more likely to give more effort to a job that pays well. Moreover, because I am passionate about family, I really want to work with families in the future. On the other hand, because I am not as passionate about communities I do not really want to do macro social work. I think values can really help drive a person in a leadership setting. I also believe that people should continuously expand their values. Lastly, social workers are likely to come into contact with a variety of different clients all with special demographics and different needs. A social worker should expand their values so that they are able to be more inclusive to multiple populations. This can come from cultural competence and the continuation of learning about others’ ethnicity, religions, etc. In my case, I
should definitely work on expanding my spirituality value not only for my own personal gain, but so that I may also become more inclusive.

Journal Entry #4

When I took the first assessment, I scored an eight on the task leadership style and a five on the people leadership style. This did not surprise me that much because I am a very task oriented person and while I do enjoy working with people, I am not very confrontational. When I took the maintenance and motivation assessment I scored pretty evenly on both sections with a score of 24 for maintenance and a score of 26 for motivation. Honestly, it surprised me that both scores were so high. It is really interesting to see what is important to me in a place of work. After taking these assessments, it has made me realize my strengths and weaknesses. I really want to start working on my people skills and being able to form relationships inside and
outside of the workplace. However one strength I have is how diligent I am with tasks. I believe the field of social work offers many opportunities to expand people skills, and I just hope that I am given these opportunities so that I may expand and grow. One role I could see myself in based on these assessments is that I would be really good at writing reports and notes in a timely and efficient manner.

Journal Entry #5

In my opinion, the most important thing that the NASW does is that it advocates for social workers everywhere. Social worker’s are constantly and persistently advocating for clients and populations as a whole, so I think it is amazing that we as social workers have an association to “have our backs.” For example, I found it really interesting that they fought for the title of “social worker” to be used only by people who have graduated with a degree in social work. I believe that oftentimes the profession is not taken seriously, so to have this put in place provides the career with much more credibility.
The NASW site has been extremely helpful for me in my time at school. I almost always use the site for references and for more information for assignments and in guiding me through my classes. In my short time left at school, I will continue to use the site to expand my knowledge. In my future career as a social worker, I believe that the site can also be extremely
helpful. For example, I will be able to make sure I am making ethical decisions because there are multiple pages outlining ethical “dos and don’ts.” I will also be able to readily have the social work values at my disposal when it comes time for advocacy.

Journal Entry #6

Piedmont Senior Resources (PSR) is a nonprofit agency that assists people over the age of 60. This agency works in seven counties and provides resources such as transportation to
doctor’s appointments or the grocery store, counseling services, and other in-home services. Justine Young is the current executive Director for PSR. Before her work with this agency, she worked in the military, obtained a business degree, and became a nurse. Ms. Young has served in many leadership positions such as a community health coordinator, the director of nursing at a hospital, and her current position of executive director at PSR. I believe that Ms. Young is a strong leader who is able to do what is needed not only for her clients, but also for her place of work. I found it very interesting how much Ms. Young was able to accomplish it. I am often worried that I will not be satisfied with my future career and or job, but her presentation showed me that it is never too late to change your path and find something new that you’re passionate about. I also found it very interesting how she values ethics. She was
not afraid to challenge her workplace when she knew they were committing fraud and she was able to effectively call out the board members for not being reelected. I believe that Ms. Young
effectively demonstrates the leadership style of transformative leadership. She really sees the potential in her staff and in her agency and is constantly pushing for it to grow and for it to serve more.