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Assessments: 5 Habits of Personal Effectiveness

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» 5 Habits of Personal Effectiveness

The Effectiveness Checklist
The effectiveness checklist helps you evaluate your development in light of the five habits of personal effectiveness. These habits were derived from a study of effective leaders. The five habits are:

  • Maintains a life-long learning posture.

  • Commitment to mentoring and being mentored.

  • Dynamic sense of calling.

  • Repeated times of spiritual renewal.

  • Lifetime perspective on work and development

Instructions: As you read each statement check the number on the continuum that most accurately describes you. Check "0" if the statement on the left represents you exactly; check "5" if you feel you are perfectly described by the statement on the right. Numbers "1" through "4" reflect the various positions between the two extremes.

At the end of each section click "Calculate" to score that section. At the bottom of the assessment you will see your complete results.
 
Example:
0.

I am often frustrated by the demands of my profession and my lack of personal growth.

I am able to handle the daily pressures of work and still find times for reflection and growth.

1 2 3 4 5
 
Effectiveness Checklist – Section One
1. I have a desire to do some personal growth projects, but I seldom have the time or discipline necessary to do so. I view my personal development as a lifelong learning process and am regularly involved in study projects.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I hear of various workshops and seminars that others find helpful, but I seldom attend. I regularly attend workshops and seminars that help enhance my personal growth and development as a leader.
1 2 3 4 5
3. I am simply too busy or have little desire for continuing formal education. I enjoy my continuing education classes and am currently enrolled in an education program.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I do some things for myself, but I don't feel fulfilled or that I am growing as a person or leader. I work to develop the "whole" person and set improvement goals for wide areas of personal growth development.
1 2 3 4 5
Section One Total:
 
Effectiveness Checklist – Section Two
1. I feel overwhelmed by the needs of my work and seldom, if ever, spend time developing new leaders. I am always in the process of developing a pool of new leaders to release.
1 2 3 4 5
2. It is often hard for me to imagine that I have something to offer in a mentoring relationship to others. I generally have a good estimation of the strengths and abilities I can offer to other leaders.
1 2 3 4 5
3. I feel "alone" in my work and feel there are few who are helping me grow. I deeply value others and have a regular series of relationships that help me grow and develop.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I don't know what my actual developmental needs are or how a mentor could help. I view my development as a high priority and have obtained mentors to help ensure my ongoing growth.
1 2 3 4 5
Section Two Total:
 
Effectiveness Checklist – Section Three
1. I often feel frustrated, wondering if I am living according to my higher purpose. I feel the things I do every day are meaningful and part of my higher purpose and reason for existence.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I sometimes get glimpses of what I should do with my life, but somehow these visionary moments get lost in busy activity. I have thought deeply about why I exist as a person and have clarified my personal vision and what I am called to accomplish.
1 2 3 4 5
3. I often work based upon the need of the moment as opposed to a clear philosophy of higher purpose. I am able to decide what is important for me to do, basing my decisions upon a clear understanding of my higher purpose.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I am easily frustrated by changes in the direction of my work or in my life situation. I feel like I have a clear direction, but I remain sensitive to learning new things and alter how I should work.
1 2 3 4 5
Section Three Total:
 
Effectiveness Checklist – Section Four
1. I nearly always feel "buried," having more to do than I can handle. Getting away for me seems impossible. I feel the things I do every day are meaningful and part of my higher purpose and reason for existence.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I feel that "personal" time is selfish, especially when I am called to help others and get the job done. I feel an investment in my spiritual growth will cause me to experience deeper intimacy with others and greater effectiveness.
1 2 3 4 5
3. If someone were to ask me how long has it been since I have felt the presence of God, I'd have to respond, "Quite some time." I regularly experience times of renewal and freshness in my spiritual journey.
1 2 3 4 5
4. Although I know spiritual disciplines are important to real growth, I seldom have time to focus on them. My spiritual journey is greatly enhanced through regular usage of a variety of spiritual disciplines.
1 2 3 4 5
Section Four Total:
 
Effectiveness Checklist – Section Five
1. I have trouble rising above the current circumstances to get a big-picture perspective on my life. I earnestly try to understand my current circumstance in light of development over my lifetime.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I realize that God is shaping my life, but I seldom am able to understand how He is at work in my life. I feel that the things that happen to me everyday are part of God's development of my life, and I can recognize patterns of his work.
1 2 3 4 5
3. I have trouble trying to keep track of the many areas of my life: home, offices, etc. I feel a sense of order in my life because I am able to regularly gain perspective on my life.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I hear other leaders talk about their calling and vision, but I rarely feel I have a sense of destiny. When I am still, I continue to sense a unique, personal destiny for my life.
1 2 3 4 5
Section Five Total:
 

The Effectiveness Checklist
The boxes below indicate your results in the Five Habits of Effectiveness.

  • Section 1: Maintains a life-long learning posture.

  • Section 2: Commitment to mentoring and being mentored.

  • Section 3: Dynamic sense of calling.

  • Section 4: Repeated times of spiritual renewal.

  • Section 5: Lifetime perspective on work and development.

Interpreting Your Effectiveness Checklist Results
Your scores profile your relative strengths and weaknesses in each of the habits. You should not base your interpretation on the total number score in each section, but on how the scores compare with each other. The lower scores can help you determine where you could focus your enhancement efforts.

Understanding the Five Habits of Effectiveness
Insights from leaders who have finished well.

  • Life-long learner. Effective leaders continually pursue one or more of these three types of learning: informal training (personal growth, projects, personal research), non-formal training (workshops, seminars, conferences), and formal training (degree programs, continuing education).
  • Mentoring & Coaching. Effective leaders make mentoring and being mentored high priority in their lives. They recognize their responsibility to pass along what they have received and are alert to potential leaders. They also receive mentoring & coaching from others.
  • Dynamic Sense of Calling. Effective leaders continually strive to understand their higher purpose. They recognize that God has uniquely made them and equipped them for a purpose. They desire to fulfill that purpose more than their own ambitions. They begin to see how God uniquely uses them and they increasingly act out of those purposes.
  • Repeated Times of Renewal. Effective leaders make spiritual development a high priority. One essential ingredient of leadership is the powerful presence of God in a leader's life. Thus, effective leaders are never content to rely on yesterday's spiritual experience but continually seek to grow in this supreme relationship, developing inner strength and character.
  • Lifetime Perspective. Effective leaders increasingly see the circumstances of their life from a big-picture perspective. They recognize continual shaping throughout their lives and that good can emerge from tragedy and suffering. Leaders have a growing awareness of their sense of destiny.

Action Steps

  • Based upon the Effectiveness Checklist and other knowledge of your personal growth and development, in which of the five habits do you desire greater growth?
  • What action do you plan to take in the next six months to help increase your effectiveness in this area?
  • In what way can others help provide greater accountability for your growth?

Additional Resources

The Purpose Driven Life
By Rick Warren
This New York Times #1 bestseller works from the premise that God has called each of us to a higher purpose. Through 40 days of focus, Warren addresses many of the challenges of modern Christian living.

The Answer to How is Yes
By Peter Block
Modern culture's worship of "how-to" pragmatism has turned us into instruments of efficiency and commerce—but we're doing more and more about things that matter less and less. We have sacrificed the pursuit of what is in our hearts. Peter Block helps us get to what matters, our calling, our values, our higher purpose. Peter Block is the best selling author of Stewardship and Flawless Consulting.

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