A person’s level of growth will have a direct impact on how they take responsibility and perform on the job. This is related to the dimensions of life and the maturity of an individual that I discussed in my last article and video.
This approach to understanding human behaviour and performance what is taught by Dr. Michael Durst in his training Programs Management by Responsibility and Personal Responsibility In Developing Excellence Pride.
There are five levels of personal growth As explained by Dr. Durst. The levels are:
- Unconscious
- Self-protective
- Conformist
- Achievement
- Responsible
At the lower levels people have a hard time functioning and responding well to situations and this affects the dimensions of life. For example, if someone is unconscious about their health and and not taking responsibility for themselves, they will have difficulty functioning in all the dimensions and experience a lot of stress and anxiety.
At any time, someone can go from the responsible level to the self-protective level in reaction to a person or situation. This would make sense when we are threatened but these situations are rare. A responsible person may become self-protective when in a conflict with someone but will quickly realize the destructiveness of this to the relationship and will take responsible action to resolve the conflict.
In the same situation someone who functions a lot at the self-protective level will tend to withdraw and blame the other person and feel victimized.
Many people spend a lot of their lives at the conformist level, wanting to fit in, be liked and accepted by others and follow the rules. The problem here is an avoidance of risk and change, tending rather to play safe. The main problem is a lack of initiative and problem solving.
The achievement level person is highly competitive and gets their self-esteem from their accomplishments and what they acquire.
As we grow and learn to take more responsibility for our lives, we can function at higher levels in all the dimensions of life. Therefore, continuous personal development is key to functioning at the highest level one can.
The responsible level has also been called the fully developed human being, the self-actualized and the self-realized person. At this level of development people function extremely well in all the dimensions of life. For an organization to grown and develop it must hire and develop people that assume full responsibility for themselves.
Change in organizations due to external circumstances requires a more agile and flexible workforce who can be empowered to solve problems autonomously and practice continuous improvement. This can only be accomplished by hiring and developing responsible, fully functioning employees.
Here is a good resource for personal development and self-awareness.