Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012) defined self-concept as “the totality of complex, organized, and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that each person holds to be true about his/her personal existence” & the self-concept we hold to be true helps us form a “perception of who we are based on expectations from, and responses to, our social environment; stimulated by internal and external factors that can create intense emotional responses, impacting on our willingness to learn and our choice of action - guiding our behaviors” (p. 127).
In the case (WA, 2018) Jack is a 36-year-old leader within a major hospital who prides himself as a professional. In his work, he supports and helps each of his team members. In his personal life, he used to focus on eating healthy and exercising regularly. In the past year, his focus on healthy living declined because of professional responsibilities. As a consequence, his state of health deteriorated to a point that his condition was one of a chronic nature and was told by his primary care doctor that he will likely require lifelong treatment to control his cholesterol and lipids. Jack sat quietly in disbelief hearing his doctor, then was convinced that this was a joke, and later tore the prescriptions in pieces. Jack believed that his lack of focus on his health along with his family history attributed to the problem and promised to himself to exercise more and eat a better diet, but also wondered how he can do this without neglecting his team.
Self-concept is a general understanding of one’s self that is learned, organized, and dynamic (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012, p. 127). The actions Jack took suggesting his self-esteem to be negatively impacted by his diagnosis can be analyzed within this framework. First, Jack’s self-concept is learned. When he was presented with an experience different from the self-concept, he saw the experience as a threat. It was hard for him to believe in the test
results. Convincing him-self what he heard was a joke; he tried to justify the experience so as to reduce the emotional disorder. Second, Jack’s self-concept is organized; what he was told had no place in his mind. Jack was never bothered to ask for details; he discarded the experience that presented dissimilar belief because it cannot be placed in a categorical way. By tearing the prescriptions & throwing it in the trash, his self-concept tried to resist the change that disrupted the stability of his personality. Third, Jack’s self-concept is dynamic; his self-concept guided his behaviors toward his beliefs. Because what he believed was in conflict with what he was told, he twisted the outcome to fit his self-concept. By promising himself to exercise more and eat a better diet, he tried to justify for his beliefs even when the facts were the opposite. Cognitive dissonance was the potential cause in Jack’s disturbance of self-concept. According to Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012) cognitive dissonance is a state of discomfort that humans experience when one of their beliefs, ideas, or attitudes is contradicted by evidence or when two of their beliefs, ideas, or their attitudes come into conflict with each other; it makes people feel uncomfortable and is most painful when an important element of their self-concept is threatened - typically when they do something that is inconsistent with their view of themselves” (p. 133). Jack’s belief about his health status was contradicted by evidence and two of his beliefs - maintaining a healthy life and supporting his team - came into conflict with each other.
The positive experiences Jack had become barriers to his self-efficacy. Now, he must address the dissonance to help him with the acceptance of his diagnosis. To help initiate the change to his behaviors, he can ask 3 questions: What is changing and why is it important that I make this change? What will actually be different because of the change? What am I to lose? Answering these questions will help to revise his self-concept and guide the new journey. Because change and transitions are emotionally and psychologically taxing, making a connection
between the behavior change and the outcomes can help to ease the transition (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012, p. 138). The critical incident technique can also be used as one strategy. These days’ critical incidents can be harvested to provide a rich, personal perspective of life that facilitates understanding of the issues and obstacles people face every now and then and illuminates avenues for improvement (Serrat, 2010). Jack can use rewards and reinforcers to increase his behavioral response; even adding a compliment can work. Jack must control his emotions. Then, he must develop his self-efficacy by learning to be mindful and having the courage to change. At this point, Jack must tell his team about the situation. Will and determination are contagious and Jack can use them to motivate his team to get involved in the process. Disclosing or sharing to some degree his personal information with others is beneficial because they will lower their expectations from him and also can remind him when he returns to old behaviors. By properly managing his time, he can do all the things that are necessary: take his medicine, continue with his exercise, help his team, eat healthy, and set aside some time to building of relationships. If his culture toward time is different than that of his team, he must try to adopt. “Managers need to reset their mental clocks when doing business across cultures (Krietner & Kinicki, 2012, p. 95)”. In communication, maintaining good relationship with his doctor is beneficial. He was silent, now, he needs to be inquisitive. By asking more, he will learn to accept the new experience. As a leader, Jack needs to adapt and modify his behaviors to engage his team in this new healthy lifestyle while respecting his privacy.
In conclusion, knowing one’s self is good. However, self-concept does not necessarily mean that you have the knowledge and skills to be where you need to be; by learning something new, you change your perspectives of your world, the way you interact with others and your behaviors (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012, p. 136 & 138).
References
Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012). Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0. Retrieved September 06, 2018, from: https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/cultural-intelligence-for-leaders.pdf
Krietner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2012). The World of Organizational Behaviour. New York: McGraw HIll. Chapter 4 – International Organization Behaviour: Managing Across Cultures. Retrieved October 4, 2018, from: https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325648/mod_book/chapter/166086/Unit%205%20-%20Kreitner%20and%20Kinicki.pdfober
Serrat. O. (2010). The critical incident technique. Washington, DC: Asian Development Bank. Retrieved October 4, 2018, from: https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325648/mod_book/chapter/166086/Unit 5 - Serriat.pdf
WA (October, 2018). Week 6 Written Assignment, Self-Concept Case Study, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from: https://my.uopeople.edu/mod/workshop/view.php?id=155891
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