Locus of Control
Apparently, I have an External Locus of Control according to
Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale Test. That is, if I scored it correctly. I gave
myself one point for each number it said too and I received a score of 15;
which, out of the 23 questions it asked you to score, is on the high side. I
answered the questions honestly, but realized that I was contradicting myself
with some of the answers. Nevertheless, the score left me with an external Locus
of Control.
This really surprised me. I thought for sure there would be
no question that I had an internal Locus of Control since my internal dialogue
in my head and external dialogue with those I talk too is focused on one simple
truth that I live by: The only thing you have control over is yourself.
To me, this statement meant that since I was the one in
control of me and I know I work as hard as I possibly can to make things
happen, it is ultimately my fault if things work out or not. Since I am in
control of me and things didn’t work the way I wanted them to, then it means
that I didn’t do something right. However, after typing it out right now and
seeing those words in front of me, I realize that statement, “The only thing
you have control over is yourself”, is actually a double ententre.
To say that I only control me is acknowledging that there
are other outside forces at play. I’m controlling me and doing everything I
can, but I am not the only factor in the equation – which is external locus of
control. After looking at things from this perspective, going over my answers
to the questions, and really looking at the mean of both internal and external
locus of control, I would have to say that I am not defined by one. I simply
have locus of control. I have both internal and external control working and
depending on the situation will depend on which type of control I have for that
moment.
This is something that I have actually been actively working
on in the past few years. The reason being, is because I absolutely used to be
a person who would beat myself up if something didn’t go the way I was trying
to control it to (internal locus of control). For example, I applied for a job
where I met all the minimum and preferred qualifications. I had two interviews
that I walked out of feeling like I did everything in my power to make it a
good one. I felt like I had it in the bag so-to-speak. By all accounts, I did
everything possible within my control to get this job – but I didn’t get it.
The old me would have beaten myself up knowing that I must have messed up
somewhere along the line and I just needed to figure out what I did wrong;
however, the new, more introspective me knew in my gut that I did everything I possibly
could and if they didn’t hire me it was because of something else. Something
that was not within my control (external locus of control).
I believe that it takes a little bit of both. To balance
both internal and external locus of control equally. I recently had an
interview that I went into feeling pretty confident. I answered the questions
to the best of my ability and felt pretty confident about the answers I had
given. Then, they asked me to take a test. This wasn’t something I could
control. There was no way to know they were going to ask me to do this, so the
only thing I could do was the best that I could. I had to walk out of there
knowing that I did everything in my power, but also acknowledging that there
were things that were not in my control that will have a determining factor on
this interview. That is both internal and external locus of control.
As a leader, I think it’s important to have both. To do what
is within their power to help their team, but acknowledge that there are variables
that will contribute to the overall goal that are not within their control…because
that’s what it means to be part of a team.
No comments:
Post a Comment