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The Interviews Ashley L. Moser Arizona State University The Interviews Section 1: SummaryAs part of OGL Pro-Seminar II, we were assigned with completing at least two interviews to reflect on our perceptions regarding our strengths and opportunities for improvement, and to get useful feedback about ourselves from those who know us well and can offer useful insights. Different than previous interviews for other classes, we were in charge of developing the questions, and deciding which two people to interview (one person that knows us professionally, and the other personally). For the purpose of this assignment, I instantly knew the two people I wanted to interview. I wanted to interview my husband Matthew that has known me for nine years and my boss, Chuck, that I have worked with for eight years. From here, I started thinking of questions for my interview guide sheet that would engage good conversation, and give provide me with honest insight. For my husband, we are a busy family, and do not have the opportunity to discuss accomplishments, strengths, and weaknesses. I wanted to take this opportunity to hear what he had to say, his opinion on me, and both my professional and personal growth and success opportunities. For my boss, there were a lot of questions that came to mind. Even though I say he is my “boss,” I actually do not report to him. I report to the second in command, our Chief Operating Officer. Chuck, who I ultimately consider my boss, is the President & CEO of the company. He is whom I work closest with; he assigns me tasks, and is the one that decides my pay increase. He just does not like having people report to him structurally. Because of this, he is not the one that completes my annual review. Because I do not get to hear from him on review type questions, I decided to take this opportunity to hear what he had to say, his raw undocumented (for work purposes) opinion on my strengths, growth opportunities and my place in the company going forward. Conducting the interview with my husband was rewarding and enlightening. I saw his face glow when he talked about my strengths, and the strengths in our marriage. I felt his honesty, and knew he truly meant what he was saying. It was nice to hear the kind things he had to say. From this interview, I learned that my grumpiness in the morning is really not acceptable. I know this is a problem I have, but I need to work harder at remedying it. As a result of this interview, and hearing the importance of remedying this issue, I will work to change my morning routine to include waking up earlier and eating a breakfast prior to my kids waking up. I hope by eating, and giving myself time to wake up before my kids, that I will be in a better mood, and prepared to take on the mornings will full positive energy! I also learned that I value the same things in our marriage that my husband does, our trust, priorities, and values, which is vital in a healthy marriage. From my interview with my husband, I was surprised to hear about his strong desire to move, and even more so, surprised by his perception that I am not receptive to this idea. I have always known this was a desire of his, but I did not know the degree of it until this interview. This question opened up a whole conversation about where/why we would like to live, how logistically it could work, and the pros/cons. We also discussed a time frame, and the impact of potentially moving to our children. This is something we will continue to discuss and analyze, and a goal for future achievement. Conducting the interview with my boss was insightful. I was able to hear his opinions in an honest, open-minded manner. There are a few things I thought he might say, that he did, and a few new things. From this interview, I learned that my values are portrayed well; he, and the rest of management view me as an honest, hard-working, trustworthy person. As a growth opportunity, I learned that my boss thinks I am at times opinion driven, instead of fact driven. This is something I can try to work on, but is very hard! I never knew this about myself, or knew that I was perceived this way. As a female, I think this is harder than as a male, it is hard to put emotions aside and think purely based on facts. However, this is a great growth opportunity, and something for me to work on. Throughout my interview with my boss, there were not too many surprises. The one item that was surprising was hearing his difficulty with generation gaps. I did not know he had problems with this, or that this was an issue at our organization. This is a task I am eager to take on. By definition, I am a millennial, but I would say my views are half in half – partially baby-boomer and partially millennial. When I hear stories about employees that are just a few years younger than me, I am often shocked, and think they are ridiculous. Even though I have baby boomer tendencies, I am excited to explore different ways to address this within our organization. As a result of this assignment and interview with my boss, there are some new tasks I will tackle, and others to reprioritize. I will work to think more fact-minded, instead of emotional and opinion based. It was refreshing and self-assuring to hear the positive things both my boss, and my husband had to say. If developed correctly, I think anyone could benefit from this exercise, if they are willing to hear and truly digest what people have to say, and the assessment and feedback interviewees provide. Section 2: Interview Guide Sheets and ResponsesInterview with my husband, Matthew What do you consider to be my greatest weaknesses or areas for improvement?It is difficult to quantify a “greatest weakness.” In general you are very insightful, and are dedicated to constant improvement, and identification of areas in which you could use work/strengthening. The only thing that really comes to mind is your public speaking skills/self-confidence, but as noted previously, this is an area that you realize you occasionally struggle with, and you have made concerted efforts to improve in. I will support you in continuing to improve this skill the best I am able. What are some qualities you admire about me? The quantities that I admire are nearly too numerous to list, but I will attempt to remain unbiased and objective. You are extremely caring and sympathetic to the needs of others. When it comes to your planning skills, and your creativity/innovation you are nearly without parallel. You have made significant advances in both your leadership skills, and your critical thinking skills. You are extremely dedicated in endeavors that you undertake, and are a person of principle. What do you see as the strengths in our marriage?I admire our trust, our values and priorities are aligned, we disagree objectively (never make issues personal or subjective), we make efforts to balance—to the best of our ability—alone time vs together time (this can be difficult with our differing schedules). I also appreciate our open communication, and the maturity and respect we have for each other. I appreciate the friendship we have developed over the years, and the opportunity to grow our relationship in many ways. What is the one thing you wish I did, that I do not, or vice versa, something that I do, that you wish I did not?I wish that you were nicer in the morning. You are not normally a morning person, and can be a bit grumpy in the mornings. However, we are both aware of this, and work around it to the best of our abilities. I wish there was an easy remedy to this, and something I could do to assist you in this issue. Specific Core Competencies (on a scale of 1 to 10 – 10 being highest):(Include something like this in your interview guide sheet if you like)Decision making / problem-solving skills. Rating: ___7-8__Creativity and innovation. Rating: __9___Sense of humor. Rating: __8___Interpersonal skills and teamwork abilities. Rating: ___8__Positive attitude. Rating: ___9__Intuition. Rating: ___7__Communicate and present ideas (in writing). Rating: ___8__Persuasive skills. Rating: __8___Drive and motivation. Rating: ___8__Flexibility and adaptability. Rating: __8___Planning and organization skills. Rating: ___10__Sense of confidence. Rating: ___7__What do you think my spirit animal is, and why?Your spirit animal would be a giraffe, because they are graceful, but also seemingly goofy/silly at the same time, traits that are normally mutually exclusive. Giraffes also see the world from a different view than other animals, and therefore have different ideas/living situations that other animals. You are the same in this regard, you view the world differently than many other people, in a positive way, and enjoy lie to its fullest. If my name were in national news for doing something amazing, what would it be?It would be for some type of social service/social welfare program to help those in need, or those otherwise economically disadvantaged. You have a passion for this, and when you are able to help others, this is when your traits really shine. You have, and always will, care for those that are less fortunate, and have a strong desire to pass this caring trait on to our children. If you had unlimited resources available, starting a new worldly welfare program would not be far fetched. Ten years from now where do you see us? Where are we living? What jobs do we have? What are our hobbies? Hopefully we have continued on our current career paths, we are successful, fulfilled, and satisfied with our chosen careers. We have raised two happy and well-adjusted children, and we have made the most of our increasing success in our careers. We also have increased our leisure time and time spent solely with each other with the increasing independence of our children. I personally would love to live somewhere else, to have the opportunity to grow and expand, perhaps even internationally, but would also be satisfied if we stayed in our current home/community.Interview with my boss, Chuck What do you consider to be my greatest strengths?Your accuracy – You are consistently accurate, which is a great asset to have in any organization. Your confidentiality – You know what is confidential, and what is not. The items that need to be held confidential you do handle perfectly. Trust – I know I can trust you, I could trust you with my life. This is something I do not take lightly, so it is important. Respect – You respect others, and people respect you. You know how to address people with higher power, and how to show proper respect. What role do you see me playing in the success of this company? An essential one. As the company grows, so does my role – and your role, as an extension of me. You are the gatekeeper of the organization, and people confide in you. You have to continue to grow the relationships with the key stakeholders, so they can be open with you, and you are “in the know.” This will help me know what is going on, knowing what I need to know when, but filtering all of the non-essential noise What do you see as the next steps in my career growth? Whatever you want. I told you this many years ago, and I will tell you the same thing again, you determine your next steps and your growth. I you are content doing what you are doing, I think there are ways you can grow doing that, if you want to transfer to another role, in or outside of the organization, I support you doing that. You need to determine what you want to do, and go for it, and I will support whatever decision you make. If you stay in the organization, I think you should try to get a better understanding of the bank as a whole, and other departments. There are educational opportunities I think you could benefit from, to get a better grasp on the bank as a whole. Is there anything you would like to me to do, that I am currently not? I wish you were stronger, and more persistent with keeping management on task. There is so much on our to-do list, and I wish that you would be more persistent about us tackling those items. I also wish that you would be more in the know with exceptional tasks, when someone does something great, I want you to know, and then I want you to communicate those items to me. A few times a week I would like to reach out to employees with kudos. Develop an action plan for this, and implement it. I also wish that you would help our organization bridge the generational gap. It is hard for me, as a baby boomer, to know how to please millennials, and know what to do. This is something we need to work on as a company. Is there anything I am doing, that you wish I wasn’t? This may not be true, it may be an inaccurate perception, but it seems there are some people that you are very chit-chatty with. One of the first things I told you with this job is that it is hard to have friends. I know it is hard sometimes, but try not to get into the weeds with people – stay high level, gather the information you need to, and then end the conversation. When chitchatting and getting in the details, this is when drama starts, and I do not want you to get wrapped up in drama. If you could suggest two things I could do to improve my professional abilities, what would they be?1. Try not to develop your own opinions before gathering all of the facts. I know this is hard at times, but it is a buzz-kill when someone has an opinion, especially a negative one – before gathering all of the facts. It is important to gather, and analyze the facts before forming an opinion. Additionally, I think you could improve your written communication, being more detailed, and editing your style based on your audience. For example, when sending quarterly updates, making sure to gather all of the data, digesting it, and communicating it at a high level rather than just sending the data given to you. ................
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