Label this section of your blog: GRAD 702 – Reflections on Module 3 Concepts

With all of the exposure and study in Grad 702 in regards to the four lens perspective, the most comfortable by far is the Collaborative lens. I look at organizations as more than just numbers, and try to relate a personal outlook to my goals and objectives each and every day. The cornerstone of any organization is the people within that organization, and the cornerstone of my present and future work ethic will center around this point. The area where I need to improve on is the system lens. A combination of the technological aspect and analyzing vast amounts of data to come to a solution or answer has always been a weakness at all levels in my professional career, and additional training and exposure will be necessary in order for me to keep up with the ever-changing global markets.
My personal competency sorts appears to relate very closely to my strengths and weaknesses in the four lens model. I have found that the conceptuals are the same, but the actual tasks that need improvement are displayed in the card sorts. Simply put, this exercise drew a specific picture on what I need to improve on versus the 4 lens model that gives me a broad realization of what I need to improve on.
One firm example of when I used Emotional Intellegence was during a short speech I gave to all of the loan officers in the Ohio Market for Chase. Out of 300 people, there was a combination of loan officers, management, and key decision makers for the company. The topic was "incentive plan changes" and the majority of the crowd was discontent with the decisions the company made, but I still had to use Emotional Intellegence to relate to the entire crowd. I had to speak in such a way to make it appear I was not giving the "Corporate Answer" and take managements side, but yet not speak too negatively to relate to some of the crowd and offend others. After given feedback after the speech, I was told I remained very "politically correct" and was able to relate to everyone in the crowd in regards to the recent company changes. This speech was a good use of Emotional Intellegence, and is how I attempt to relate to others in many aspects of life.
I really enjoyed the readings this week, and took a lot of information out of the text that relates to me at many levels. In the office and at home, I attempt to always think outside of the box, and my actions reflect this. I always attempt to put an interesting twist on daily or major tasks, and the readings described my line of thinking perfectly and gave me a better understanding about myself than I had before. Also, the readings was more specific on the creativity aspect of a persons personality, and I took a lot from the authors reflective thought as well.
The concept of the third Alternative is a theory that many people should practice more so than they do. So many tasks or projects have been halted or eliminated in my professional career just because nobody could look outside of their opinion or solution to find a mutual, if not better solution. One situation in particular that stands out was about 3 years ago between a client and a mutual business partner of mine. Simply put, we lost the client because we could not agree on a solution to his financial strain. The client just lost his job 3 years before he was set for retirement, and his current portfolio needed to be adjusted to compensate for his job loss. This client used to be one of my most prestigious clients, but because he could see the internal struggles that I was having with the other gentleman that was managing his portfolio, he pulled his business and went to a competitor firm. The lesson learned here was a painful one, and it taught me that my way is not always the best or only way.