MSLD 511 Module 4 - Locus of Control

After completing Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale test, I realize that I land somewhere in the middle between an external and internal locus of control. I cannot say that this is a surprise I have always perceived myself as being somewhere in the middle of the road on a lot of things and this was no exception. While taking Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale test there were only a handful of answers that I a completely agreed with, the majority of the answers I had to select with the backing that the other option was far too extreme. One of the answers that I could fully support was “there’s not much use in trying to hard to please people if they like you they like you”, this response was meant to indicate that you have an external locus of control.  This is conflicting for me because I selected this response because I believe that we should be true to ourselves and our identity and I think it’s important to treat others well but that does not justify changing yourself to appease others, I feel like that take that behavior can take you on an unsatisfying journey.

 I must admit that I am one to say (and rather often) that everything happens for reason, there are times that we are in the right place right time, and there are times that we have some really unfortunate things happen to us, but these are all occurrences. I think that for the majority of the time we are in control of our destiny. I have always strived to be intentional in everything I do, whether it be in making big life decisions, like moving and career choice, or whether it be the smaller every day decisions that some people may not even recognize as decisions, like our habits and the little ways that we do things that when added up really makes an impact on our lives. To push myself to select one end of the spectrum, external or internal locus of control, I think I would have to identify with an internal locus of control. Yes, there will be things that happen in life that you really don’t have control over, but how you react to those occurrences is completely in your control.

 As a leader I would replicate this mindset, yes there are external factors to every situation but we can navigate more effectively knowing that we have an impact on the outcome.  I think it would be really challenging to have an external locus of control and lead a team, I would be extremely interested to learn how other leaders do so. Having an internal locus of control means that I’m able to genuinely inspire others to strive for their best because whatever effort they put in is what they will get out of it.