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Problem Solving:	Strong
Taking Initiative:	Weak
Interpersonal Effectiveness:	Strong

The SWS pattern indicates that you have assessed yourself to be in the high ability range (in comparison to your other abilities and to your peer group) in the Problem Solving and Interpersonal Effectiveness business ability groups but in the low range in Taking Initiative: you have strong analytical and general problem solving skills and are effective interpersonally, but you do not have a strong tendency toward and skill at "taking charge." The Taking Initiative group contains items that represent abilities in forcefulness, action-orientation, juggling responsibilities, and leveraging your time.

In analyzing your scores in the Taking Initiative area you should ask yourself a basic question: "Are these lower range scores because you don't really want a management role, or are they because you truly aspire to a management career but recognize a notable skill deficit in this area?" Individual contributors such as engineers, accountants, stock brokers, financial analysts, lawyers or teachers may see their major enthusiasm and contribution as being in their area of expertise rather than in directing the activities of others or assuming responsibility for projects involving the work of others. Do you see your career developing as an individual contributor/expert? If so, moderate range scores in this area may be a desirable developmental goal (after all, even individual contributors at times need to be forceful and assertive, be decisive, and juggle many tasks), but low range ratings may not present an immediate threat to career advancement. If, however, you have your eyes set on management roles, a low score in this area need to be addressed. Managers are paid to set priorities, act decisively to attain them and be generally comfortable exercising power and authority. Their job, in essence, is to make things happen by leading and directing others.

If you want to increase your effectiveness in the Taking Initiative area, you have to consider each item in this group individually. Remember, each Business ability group represents only a rough classification of ability areas; each item itself represents a discrete ability area to be considered in and of itself. Are your lowest ratings in areas covering being decisive and action-oriented? If so, you need to look a little deeper and think about why this is the case. Are you generally concerned about "making the wrong call," and so avoid making tough decisions? Or are you saying that you have trouble making sure the decisions are implemented? Is this a characteristic you see in yourself over time and across settings, or is it just now? Perhaps you have not had significant management experience and are reacting with low self-ratings due to uncertainty. If so, you may find that experience brings with it confidence and that by actually taking on responsibility, making decisions involving risk, and directing others you find that your enthusiasm for and comfort with these activities grows, rather than diminishes, with time. Sometimes coaching from a manager or mentor can help people get over their concern about making mistakes. But if this is an extremely low set of scores, and if your best efforts in this area have not yielded good results, this may be an indication that a management career is not as good a fit for you as an individual contributor career would be.

If you assessed your skills as being low in the area of power-orientation (being forceful, using power, asserting yourself) you have several options. Some people equate the use of power with the abuse of power, and so are naturally uncomfortable with the whole idea. De-coupling these two concepts in your own mind is clearly a good idea. Other people see ambition and competition from the point of view of taking away from other people (which, if the situation is truly "zero sum" it is; but many situations allow for more than one winner). If this is true for you, splitting the two (your gain and others' loss) is important. Another possibility is to look for "assertiveness training" to learn techniques and tactics to make this easier -- or to try other means of increasing your comfort and confidence (again, practice usually results in greater skill and comfort). Still another is to put industry and organizational culture at the top of your list when looking at careers and positions, and select an industry, an organization within the industry, and a role within the organization that is more team-oriented and less aggressive and competitive. But if you want a career in management you need to have at least some minimal level of skill and comfort in self-assertion/power-orientation.

If your ratings are low in the "multi-tasking" area (juggling ideas, responsibilities and projects) you again need to dig in a little deeper and wonder why this is the case, then act accordingly. If you lack organizational skills simply because they don't come naturally and you have never had training in this area, there are excellent training courses available in time management and building skills in organization available. If the issue is one of anxiety that you're going to let something fall between the cracks, "helpers" such as calendars, electronic organizers, software programs that keep track of projects and of contacts you make with people, etc. may be useful. Being more systematic in your work affairs may help you rest easy (or easy enough, at least) handling a relatively chaotic environment. On the other hand, your skill in this arena may be a function of your not wanting to constantly be juggling a lot of different balls. Some people prefer a work style in which they can delve into issues in some depth, without frequent interruptions. If this sounds like you, your weakness in this skill area should direct you toward careers and work environments that allow for this kind of slower pace and greater depth.

The last element of Taking Initiative has to do with leveraging your time and expertise by keeping focused and by delegating. If you are a student, are in the early stage of your career, or working as an individual contributor, delegating work may be something you have not even had the opportunity to do in a formal way, but you may have a sense that this will be difficult for you -- if you tend to be perfectionistic, for example. Two elements of "taking charge," though, are staying focused (in organizational terms, keeping to your "core business") and leveraging yourself by delegating projects. Many new managers fail because they fail to do one or the other of these. Keeping focused is like having the cutting edge of an ax sharpened: it leverages the force of the swing simply by confining it to a very narrow area of the wood. Delegating is like having a team of people with axes, all cutting, leveraging your time by allowing you to go out and find buyers and negotiate with sellers. If you prefer to maintain 100% control over the work, and do everything, management is not for you. But it takes time and experience to learn to disregard the non-essential (stay focused) and to learn to trust other people (delegate). If this is a weak area for you right now, you need to decide whether you want to try to strengthen it. And if you do, go ahead with your career plans actively working on this ability deficit.

If you have had management experience and are still ranking yourself in the low range in these areas, you need to try to be even more specific in your analysis. Are your lower scores in the Taking Initiative area a consequence of having recently attained to a higher level of management responsibility or professional accomplishment (such as admission to an MBA program). If this is the case, your lower rating may be due to this recent and abrupt raising of your skill standards. Or have you simply sought out organizations and specific management roles that called for less taking of initiative than most others, and so have not developed your abilities in this area?

The SWS profile may be found among individual contributors who work well in teams, are effective in communicating their ideas and influencing others, are good teachers or who are in transition to management or project management roles. The profile may also be found among managers who have recently moved to a new level of management responsibility and are now assessing their level of ability in the context of a more developed peer group. In either case, the developmental issue is learning to be more proactive, goal-oriented and comfortable with assuming authority and making things happen.

A word of caution should be added in regard to the SWS profile. Even though you have indicated that your overall level of ability in the Interpersonal Effectiveness and Problem Solving business ability groups is strong, it is possible that you have some weaknesses, analyzable at the individual item level, in these areas. You should review your responses to each item in these areas and consider whether a developmental plan for any indicated weaknesses is appropriate. The most important issue in evaluating all ability levels lies in the match between your ability profile and the type of abilities that are essential for success in the career path that you have chosen. The CareerLeader™ Profiles discuss skills that are most salient for a wide range of business career paths.