What is something you have learned to do well (list a skill)?
I have learned how to manage a team, and listen to others' needs. I can find solutions to problems that benefit everyone involved. I can advocate for the team/others extremely well.
What is something you know about (list some knowledge/expertise you have)?
I know how to facilitate hard conversations and actively listen to/understand what someone needs from me. I know how to advocate in a way that finds compromise for everyone involved.
What is something you have a natural ability to do well (list a talent)?
I have a natural skill at communication - both participating in it and facilitating it. I think I also have a pretty innate ability to read others and understand the best ways to communicate with or relate to each individual in my life.
How could you combine these to describe a specific strength?
Interpersonal skills that utilize emotional intelligence and understanding to provide solutions for myself and others.
In your own words, what do these top 4 qualities tell you about yourself?
My results tell me that I am inquisitive both outwardly and inwardly. I like to imagine new ideas and create tangible responses to those ideas. I like to standout and make an impact (likely a result of growing up as a performer - irish dancing, singing, and acting). It also tells me that I like to look for and find situations and experiences that go beyond the here and now. I like to push myself and keep an open mind about what is truly possible in the world.
Do they resonate with you? Why/why not?
Overall the results resonate well with me and are in line with what I know about myself. However, when I dig deeper into each quality/result There are some that I find to be a bit unexpected. For example, my top EQ Competency is that I am a Self-Examiner. This was surprising to me upfront, because I often focus so much of myself and my time outwardly and focus on helping others. However, I definitely do embrace my strength and want to better myself constantly. I suppose a lot of my ability and capacity to support others comes from self-examination and understanding what is most important to me as well as understanding when/if I have the capacity to act on those things that are important to me.
How do they relate to the strength you wrote about in Prompt #1?
My PairIn results fit well with the strength I outlined in Prompt 1. I can utilize my Imaginative-Inspirational thinking style to come up with solutions to problems. I am able to sense the mood/atmosphere/aesthetics of a group or situation and assess what needs to be done to better that situation. I examine inwardly what parts of myself can be applied to any struggle i’m faced with and like to seek new discoveries about myself and others through problem solving. My interpersonal prowess is defined by the way I understand both myself and others, and how I act on it. I am happy to act as an advocate or voice box for others as needed.
What can make it challenging to recognize your strengths? How can you work through those challenges?
I think a lack of relfection on my own work or a lack of self awareness can make it hard to recognize my strengths. Something that will help me work through that is checking in with myself and acknowledging the wins I've had that day or week, or on a specific project. In the same way that I acknowledge I am struggling, I should be able to acknowledge that I am succeeding and getting stronger.
Do you ever see yourself overusing certain strengths? In what circumstances would you want to use them less and amplify other strengths? How could you adjust your approach in those instances?
I spend a lot of time checking in on others to be sure they are comfortable and getting a chance to understand better - letting them lead or get more practice in paired practice during class or assuming someone else will ask the questions I want to ask. I need to advocate for myself more consistently and choose to run the code on my own or lead occassionally. If I am struggling, I need to speak up!
Write 1-2 sentences describing how you like to work (i.e., Do you pre-plan? Do you talk through your ideas first? Do you work better with deadlines? How do you stay organized?)
I am all about pre-planning. I make lots of lists, and function well with deadlines. I try to stay on top of my work by doing at least a little bit at a time. Keeping lists around and updating my planner makes me feel organized and in control of my work. Making sure I've written everything out at least once or twice to be sure I know exactly what still needs to be done and can cross off tasks as I go.
How could you describe these working preferences to your project teammates? Your mentor? Your instructors?
Tell them that for me organization is paramount. I make lists and would be happy to share them to facilitate meetings and work sessions. Having scheduled times to meet, deadlines to finish parts of projects or even set times to stop working are great for me. I would appreciate working through check lists together and being able to gauge our progress that way.
What would you need to be aware of when working with people who have different strengths from you?
Communication is key. We should be finding compromises and working to find the middle ground that will work for both/all of us. Leaning on each other and supporting each other in our repective areas of weakness and strength will create a stronger sense of teamwork, and be extremely helpful for moving through the project. Supporting each other will ensure we all grow from the expeirence.
How could your Pairin results help you better understand your everyday working preferences?
They outline that I am good at bolstering a sense of team work and collaboration. My results showed that I am happy spearheading things - whether that be communication, organizing work time, or checking in with folks. I also think my results point towards me being (overly) willing to sacrifice my own learning to bolster others'. This is something I want to be aware of - while I want to cultivate others' learning expeirences, I need to keep my learning needs up front as well.
Is there any particular strength you’d like to sharpen while you’re at Turing? Any area you consider a weakness that you’d like to strengthen?
100% my technical abilities. Thats a given. Beyond that - I would like to work on my willingness to ask questions in class and clarify things I don't understand. I want to feel more comfortable reaching out when I need help, and shedding my feelings of shame or discomfort with being wrong and/or failing. So far I have learned so much more from my failures (hello unit testing), than my wins, and I want to work on altering my mindset to being more comfortable with the reality that failure is inevitable and in many ways desired.
What are some steps you could take here?
I am working on building early relationships with my instructors, peers, and mentor that I know I can rely on and find help through. So far my cohort has already proved to be very willing to help one another and allow each other space to learn and try things.
How could you be aware of progress you’re making?
I want to practice revisiting learning goals and old lessons. Both for review but also to look back and remember how overwhelmed and unsure I was at the beginning of a week, or inning, or project. I think revisiting these PD journals will also be extremely helpful to measure my growth, and will help me evaluate my current understanding.