Solution Manual For
Interpersonal Skills in Organizations 2025 Release Suzanne de Janasz, Karen O. Dowd and Beth
Schneider
Chapters 1-19
Chapter One
Journey into Self-awareness
Chapter Overview
A central thesis of our book is that managers must first understand themselves in order to be effective in
working with others. In this chapter we introduce the concept of self-awareness: what it is, why it's
important, benefits of self-awareness and means to gain self-awareness. We discuss ways to build self-
awareness and strategies for being effective at identifying strengths and overcoming limitations. We also
address how strong self-knowledge can enhance one‘s ability to manage others. The chapter begins with a
case and discussion questions and concludes with a number of exercises that can be used in groups or as
individual assignments.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, the student/reader will be able to:
List strengths and understand how these might enhance their career readiness -- guiding them to
or confirming an academic major, career path or career advancement opportunity.
Identify personal motivators that define personal and professional happiness.
Assess personal limitations and develop a plan for improving in these areas.
Identify preferred work style and how this affects working relationships with others.
Identify personal biases that might hinder understanding and appreciation of diverse others.
Chapter Outline
What is Self-awareness?
The extent to which people are consciously aware of their internal states as well as their interactions or
relationships with others. The capacity for introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself as an
individual separate from the environment and other individuals. Knowing your motivations, preferences
and personality and understanding how these affect judgment, decisions and interactions with others.
Why Self-awareness is important
Understanding yourself in relation to others
Building confidence, esteem, and resilience
Developing and implementing a sound self-improvement program
Setting meaningful life and career goals
Developing relationships with others
, Understanding the value of diversity
Managing others effectively, in-person and remotely
Increasing productivity
Increasing ability to contribute to organization, community and family
Developing a career that is satisfying
Increasing global leadership competencies
Creating trusting and productive work environments
Supporting others in their development
Enhanced emotional intelligence
Increased personal authenticity
Processing challenging life events
Managing change
Lack of Self-awareness
It is also important to assess the negative effects of a lack of, or faulty, self-awareness. These can include:
Making poor decisions
Developing unrealistic notions of your competencies and strengths
Derailing your career
Strategies for gaining Self-awareness
Self-analysis – analyzing and reflecting on behaviors, personality, attitudes and perceptions.
Behavior – the way in which we conduct ourselves or act.
Four components:
Motivation – the drive to pursue one action over another.
Modes of thinking – the way you process inputs and external stimuli.
Modes of acting – the course of action you apply in a given situation.
Modes of interacting – the way in which you communicate and share ideas, opinions
and feelings with others.
Personality – the relatively stable set of characteristics, tendencies and temperaments that have
been inherited or formed by heredity and by social, cultural and environmental factors.
Big Five Model – five broad personality factors that are representative of the
characteristics that can be linked with satisfaction and success.
o Extroversion – the degree to which a person is social or outgoing.
o Agreeableness – the degree to which a person is friendly or reserved,
cooperative or guarded.
o Emotional Stability – the degree of consistency or inconsistency in reacting
to certain events or situations.
o Conscientiousness – the degree to which an individual is dependable,
reliable, or committed.
o Openness to Experience – the degree to which one is interested in broadening
horizons, open to new ideas, people, or situations.
,Self-Monitoring – the ability to regulate your thinking before speaking or acting. The tendency
to adjust behavior relative to the changing demands of social situations, dangerous at either end of
the continuum.
High Self-monitors – sensitive to external cues and constantly adapt or conform to
situations or a set of expectations.
Low Self-monitors – display feelings, attitudes, and behaviors in every situation.
Never adjusting or conforming to situations, not interested in what others think.
Attitudes – are settled ways of thinking about someone or something, reflected in a person‘s
behavior. The emotions we choose to act on determine our attitude.
Perception – the process by which individuals select, evaluate, and organize information to make
sense of it. One‘s perception is not necessarily reality, it is an individual's view of reality.
Factors that affect perception:
Stereotyping – making assumptions about individuals or a group based on
generalized judgments rather than facts.
Selective Perception – interpreting information for meaning and accuracy
and discarding that which is threatening or non-relevant.
Projection – the attributing of one‘s own attitudes, characteristics or
shortcomings to others.
Expectations – forming an opinion about how we would like an event or
situation to develop or a person to act, feel or think.
Interest – basing our activities and inputs on things that are likeable or
appealing to us.
Unconscious Bias – making instant assessments of an individual or group based on things like
ethnicity, race, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, body weight,
cognitive ability, political beliefs, educational level, family background, or economic or class
status, etc.
Attribution Theory – developing perceptions based on whether we believe the perceived causes
which result in specific behavior in others or ourselves are internal or external.
Self-serving Bias – individuals tend to blame external factors for failure and credit
internal factors for success when evaluating themselves.
Fundamental Attribution Error – individuals tend to overestimate the impact of
internal factors and underestimate external factors when evaluating others.
Others’ Perceptions – gaining self-awareness through understanding how others view us and
understanding how we are shaped by other‘s opinions.
Social Mirror – a process of viewing ourselves based on other people‘s views.
Self-Disclosure – gaining awareness through sharing ideas, thoughts and feelings with others
without self-deception or distortion.
Diverse Experiences – increasing self-awareness through acquiring multiple experiences in
diverse situations and with diverse others.
, Teaching Notes
Motivating the discussion:
At the start of the session, ask students, "How many of you could easily describe your best
friend's strengths, weaknesses, style, etc.?" (Probably most could.) Then ask, "How many of you
could do the same for yourselves? How well do you know yourselves? What you like, what you
hate, what you're good at, etc." As a follow-on probe, ask students to consider how others would
view their personal strengths and weaknesses; how would others view them? Our best friend? A
parent? A teacher?
"Why is self-awareness important?" First, in order to be effective interpersonally (with others),
you need to be effective intrapersonally—comfortable with yourself and able to understand
yourself and how you interact with others. How can you interact well with others if you don't
know yourself? You need to know what your work style is and how you relate to others, both
personally and professionally, in order to be able to work with and manage others. You might
think others see you as warm, open and easy to talk to, yet others might have a different
impression of you. You might think coworkers and superiors see you as a competent and capable
manager. Yet promotions seem to go to others.
Second, understanding and monitoring your strengths and skills over time is critical to being
considered a "valuable commodity" in the workplace. As technology and competition evolve, so
too does the need for new and different skills. Self-awareness enables you to stay marketable by
understanding your strengths and keeping your skills current.
Knowing yourself has lifelong consequences as well. Why live sub-optimally? By knowing what
makes you tick, you can work toward and select a career that suits you best, allowing you to
achieve greater satisfaction and happiness in your professional work, and by extension, your
personal life!
The best managers are those who understand their strengths and limitations and know how to
complement these with the skills and qualities of others in the workplace. They undertake a
"continuous improvement" approach to self-development. One suggestion is to take a self-
assessment test or class at least once per year. It's a great way to demonstrate willingness to grow,
learn and change.
Emphasize the importance of self-improvement. Some qualities are innate. But many qualities
can be fostered or enhanced if we are committed to doing so. Change takes time, commitment,
and personal change work on yourself, but it can be done.
Acknowledge that some may be less comfortable with self-awareness than others. Those who are
naturally more reserved will be less inclined at the outset to share about themselves personally.
This is OK; remind them that many CEOs are introverts! But self-awareness is important because
those who are able to relate personally to others and who can appreciate their own and others'
strengths and weaknesses are more effective in business, and in life.
Ideas for presenting material:
Self-awareness is an important tool in students‘ and managers‘ career toolkits. Ask participants how
self-awareness of one‘s strengths and interests can be used to identify career paths and options that
Interpersonal Skills in Organizations 2025 Release Suzanne de Janasz, Karen O. Dowd and Beth
Schneider
Chapters 1-19
Chapter One
Journey into Self-awareness
Chapter Overview
A central thesis of our book is that managers must first understand themselves in order to be effective in
working with others. In this chapter we introduce the concept of self-awareness: what it is, why it's
important, benefits of self-awareness and means to gain self-awareness. We discuss ways to build self-
awareness and strategies for being effective at identifying strengths and overcoming limitations. We also
address how strong self-knowledge can enhance one‘s ability to manage others. The chapter begins with a
case and discussion questions and concludes with a number of exercises that can be used in groups or as
individual assignments.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, the student/reader will be able to:
List strengths and understand how these might enhance their career readiness -- guiding them to
or confirming an academic major, career path or career advancement opportunity.
Identify personal motivators that define personal and professional happiness.
Assess personal limitations and develop a plan for improving in these areas.
Identify preferred work style and how this affects working relationships with others.
Identify personal biases that might hinder understanding and appreciation of diverse others.
Chapter Outline
What is Self-awareness?
The extent to which people are consciously aware of their internal states as well as their interactions or
relationships with others. The capacity for introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself as an
individual separate from the environment and other individuals. Knowing your motivations, preferences
and personality and understanding how these affect judgment, decisions and interactions with others.
Why Self-awareness is important
Understanding yourself in relation to others
Building confidence, esteem, and resilience
Developing and implementing a sound self-improvement program
Setting meaningful life and career goals
Developing relationships with others
, Understanding the value of diversity
Managing others effectively, in-person and remotely
Increasing productivity
Increasing ability to contribute to organization, community and family
Developing a career that is satisfying
Increasing global leadership competencies
Creating trusting and productive work environments
Supporting others in their development
Enhanced emotional intelligence
Increased personal authenticity
Processing challenging life events
Managing change
Lack of Self-awareness
It is also important to assess the negative effects of a lack of, or faulty, self-awareness. These can include:
Making poor decisions
Developing unrealistic notions of your competencies and strengths
Derailing your career
Strategies for gaining Self-awareness
Self-analysis – analyzing and reflecting on behaviors, personality, attitudes and perceptions.
Behavior – the way in which we conduct ourselves or act.
Four components:
Motivation – the drive to pursue one action over another.
Modes of thinking – the way you process inputs and external stimuli.
Modes of acting – the course of action you apply in a given situation.
Modes of interacting – the way in which you communicate and share ideas, opinions
and feelings with others.
Personality – the relatively stable set of characteristics, tendencies and temperaments that have
been inherited or formed by heredity and by social, cultural and environmental factors.
Big Five Model – five broad personality factors that are representative of the
characteristics that can be linked with satisfaction and success.
o Extroversion – the degree to which a person is social or outgoing.
o Agreeableness – the degree to which a person is friendly or reserved,
cooperative or guarded.
o Emotional Stability – the degree of consistency or inconsistency in reacting
to certain events or situations.
o Conscientiousness – the degree to which an individual is dependable,
reliable, or committed.
o Openness to Experience – the degree to which one is interested in broadening
horizons, open to new ideas, people, or situations.
,Self-Monitoring – the ability to regulate your thinking before speaking or acting. The tendency
to adjust behavior relative to the changing demands of social situations, dangerous at either end of
the continuum.
High Self-monitors – sensitive to external cues and constantly adapt or conform to
situations or a set of expectations.
Low Self-monitors – display feelings, attitudes, and behaviors in every situation.
Never adjusting or conforming to situations, not interested in what others think.
Attitudes – are settled ways of thinking about someone or something, reflected in a person‘s
behavior. The emotions we choose to act on determine our attitude.
Perception – the process by which individuals select, evaluate, and organize information to make
sense of it. One‘s perception is not necessarily reality, it is an individual's view of reality.
Factors that affect perception:
Stereotyping – making assumptions about individuals or a group based on
generalized judgments rather than facts.
Selective Perception – interpreting information for meaning and accuracy
and discarding that which is threatening or non-relevant.
Projection – the attributing of one‘s own attitudes, characteristics or
shortcomings to others.
Expectations – forming an opinion about how we would like an event or
situation to develop or a person to act, feel or think.
Interest – basing our activities and inputs on things that are likeable or
appealing to us.
Unconscious Bias – making instant assessments of an individual or group based on things like
ethnicity, race, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, body weight,
cognitive ability, political beliefs, educational level, family background, or economic or class
status, etc.
Attribution Theory – developing perceptions based on whether we believe the perceived causes
which result in specific behavior in others or ourselves are internal or external.
Self-serving Bias – individuals tend to blame external factors for failure and credit
internal factors for success when evaluating themselves.
Fundamental Attribution Error – individuals tend to overestimate the impact of
internal factors and underestimate external factors when evaluating others.
Others’ Perceptions – gaining self-awareness through understanding how others view us and
understanding how we are shaped by other‘s opinions.
Social Mirror – a process of viewing ourselves based on other people‘s views.
Self-Disclosure – gaining awareness through sharing ideas, thoughts and feelings with others
without self-deception or distortion.
Diverse Experiences – increasing self-awareness through acquiring multiple experiences in
diverse situations and with diverse others.
, Teaching Notes
Motivating the discussion:
At the start of the session, ask students, "How many of you could easily describe your best
friend's strengths, weaknesses, style, etc.?" (Probably most could.) Then ask, "How many of you
could do the same for yourselves? How well do you know yourselves? What you like, what you
hate, what you're good at, etc." As a follow-on probe, ask students to consider how others would
view their personal strengths and weaknesses; how would others view them? Our best friend? A
parent? A teacher?
"Why is self-awareness important?" First, in order to be effective interpersonally (with others),
you need to be effective intrapersonally—comfortable with yourself and able to understand
yourself and how you interact with others. How can you interact well with others if you don't
know yourself? You need to know what your work style is and how you relate to others, both
personally and professionally, in order to be able to work with and manage others. You might
think others see you as warm, open and easy to talk to, yet others might have a different
impression of you. You might think coworkers and superiors see you as a competent and capable
manager. Yet promotions seem to go to others.
Second, understanding and monitoring your strengths and skills over time is critical to being
considered a "valuable commodity" in the workplace. As technology and competition evolve, so
too does the need for new and different skills. Self-awareness enables you to stay marketable by
understanding your strengths and keeping your skills current.
Knowing yourself has lifelong consequences as well. Why live sub-optimally? By knowing what
makes you tick, you can work toward and select a career that suits you best, allowing you to
achieve greater satisfaction and happiness in your professional work, and by extension, your
personal life!
The best managers are those who understand their strengths and limitations and know how to
complement these with the skills and qualities of others in the workplace. They undertake a
"continuous improvement" approach to self-development. One suggestion is to take a self-
assessment test or class at least once per year. It's a great way to demonstrate willingness to grow,
learn and change.
Emphasize the importance of self-improvement. Some qualities are innate. But many qualities
can be fostered or enhanced if we are committed to doing so. Change takes time, commitment,
and personal change work on yourself, but it can be done.
Acknowledge that some may be less comfortable with self-awareness than others. Those who are
naturally more reserved will be less inclined at the outset to share about themselves personally.
This is OK; remind them that many CEOs are introverts! But self-awareness is important because
those who are able to relate personally to others and who can appreciate their own and others'
strengths and weaknesses are more effective in business, and in life.
Ideas for presenting material:
Self-awareness is an important tool in students‘ and managers‘ career toolkits. Ask participants how
self-awareness of one‘s strengths and interests can be used to identify career paths and options that
