This week I had the opportunity to learn about Rotter’s
Locus of Control scale test. A follower’s desire for control is a factor in
path-goal theory. The internal and external dimensions are the two divisions of
the desire or locus of control. Northouse (2016) stated that followers who
possess an internal locus of control believe that they are in charge of the
events that happen in their life, where followers with an external locus of
control believe the opposite. These individuals believe that fate and chance
are the major factors determining what happens in their life.
Rotter (1966) found that an event perceived as a
reward to one individual could be seen differently by other people. One factor
of a person’s reaction is the degree to which they think their behavior defined
the reward’s basis compared to the level that it was an outside force or fate
(Rotter, 1966). This thought process led to Rotter developing the Locus of
Control test to determine if a person’s control is internal or external.
I had the opportunity to take the test this week, and
as I was reading the questions, I had an idea where I would rank. After
completing the test, my suspicions were correct as I scored an internal locus
of control. I have always had the mind-frame that I can control most things in
my life. There have been some cases that were just bad luck or fate, but those were
rare occasions. I have never lived by the motto “If it happens, it happens.” If
I want something to happen in my life, I do whatever I can to put myself in the
best position I can to succeed.
In reflecting if this style of control affects my
leadership behavior and my responses to others leadership behavior, I would
have to say it does have an effect. Recently, an individual in another
department caused a report that was due to the state to be late. When I went to
talk to this person, the excuses started to flow. My co-worker said they were
out of the office for a couple of days before the report was due. Then when
they returned there was an emergency that came up. After that, the individual
had computer problems that hindered the report’s completion. On the day the
report was to be e-mailed to the state, I believe there was a sick family
member. My co-worker had an external locus of control and felt that all of
these unfortunate things just happened, which caused the report to be late.
I have written many times about my obsessiveness with
preparation and fear of failure. In this instance, I do not believe it was a
series of unfortunate events that led to the report being e-mailed to the state
a day late. In my opinion, the tardiness was caused by lack of preparation. The
report is due each year around the same time, so the due date was a shock to
nobody involved in the process. Having an internal locus of control, I would
have done my portion of the report before going on vacation, or stayed late one
night after getting back from vacation. Fortunately, the report was accepted a
day late without penalty. I am not the leader or supervisor of this individual,
but I did have a chat with them about why we have to stick to deadlines and prepare
for all events that may affect our work.
After determining that I have an internal locus of
control, I thought about how it affects my responses to others leadership
behaviors. The state of Florida recently changed the process of how they award
funds to the twenty-seven state colleges. The process now involves examining
criteria from previous years, where the college did not perform at a high
level. The new measures caused the college to be awarded less money from the
state. The conversations around the college (mostly from the upper-level
management) revolved around how unfair it was that the state looked at criteria
from past years where our performance was not great.
In my opinion, all the
colleges were judged on the same period, so we should admit that we did not
perform well and vow to correct our performance. I never agreed with the notion
that fate or luck played a role in the college losing funding. We were not
awarded our full amount by the state because we did not do our collective job
as a college. The employees at the school took the unsatisfactory performance
to heart and increased production in the judged areas. This year we moved up in
the rankings and were rewarded more money due to our improved performance.
As long as I can remember, I have always felt that I
had control over most things that happen in my life. After taking the Locus of
Control test, I realize that I have an internal basis of control. Observing how
this control affects my professional and personal behavior moving forward will
be interesting.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership:
Theory and practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Rotter, J. B. (1966) Generalized expectancies for
internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80, 1-28.
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