PHIL 1016 – Philosophy of Support

FACTORS THAT DRIVE CORE COMPETENCIES ASSIGNMENT

NAME: ________________________________________________

Due Date: ____________________________________________

PART 1 - Under EACH OF THE FOUR categories of Values, Self-Image, Traits and
Motives, list five (5) personal characteristics FOR EACH CATEGORY that can be
described as factors that may drive your core competencies. USE POINT FORM.

FACTORS THAT WILL DRIVE MY CORE

COMPETENCIES

VALUES SELF IMAGE TRAITS MOTIVES

1. Example – 1. Supporter 1. Empathy 1. inspiring
“Giving back to others and
the community” creating a better
future for others

2. Rendering 2. A leader 2. Tolerance 2. to attain

help to others personal
development

3. Sincerity 3. Trouble shooter 3. Kindheartedness 3. making a

difference in the
lives of others
4. Respect for 4. Defender 4. good listening 4. pursuing
diversity and ability ongoing
inclusivity improvement

5. Accountability 5. loves working 5. flexibility 5. aiming for

hard excellence
6. Team 6. coordinated
collaboration 6. go-getter 6. a strong
passion for
learning

PART 2
Using the EACH OF THE FOUR categories of Values, Self-Image, Traits and Motives,
describe how THREE (3) YOUR CHARACTERISTICS could be both a strength for
you when working in the field of disabilities and possibly a hindrance. USE
COMPLETE SENTENCES WHEN DESCRIBING THESE.

Values:

THREE (3) Characteristics described as strengths:

1. Giving Back to the community

Characteristics described as strength:
In my life, I have had many people help me along the way. I would not be where I am
today without this help. Now that I am stable in my life I want to give back to the
community and my work as a direct support professional allows me the opportunity to
do this. I see this characteristic as a strength as it defines the meaning I derive from
my work. It is more than just a pay cheque. Instead, the true reward is to make small
positive changes in the lives of the people I support. This outcome is extremely
motivating for me. I believe this positive approach also rubs off on co-workers and
energizes the team to do the best we can for the people we support. In addition, it
builds positive relationships with the people I support and their families as they can
see I am in this work for the right reasons.

Characteristics described as a hindrance:

There is a drawback in being primarily motivated to give back to the community in my
role as a direct support professional. At times, this can lead to over extension in my
role and burnout. I need to balance self-care with my drive to make a difference by
giving back to the community. I also need to be sensitive to not letting my motivation
to give back to the community blind me in the day-to-day decisions I make and instead
I always should take my lead from the person I support. I should also be considerate of
my co-workers and what they value and attempt to blend our values so our combined
efforts work for everyone

2. Respect for diversity and inclusivity

Characteristic described as strength
I have always been an advocate for respect for diversity and inclusivity in the
community and organizations. Respect for diversity and inclusivity enables me to
build a strong connection to people from different backgrounds to foster as sense of
grounded understanding and inclusion. It brings about an inclusive environment
where others feels valued. This allows me to provide personalized support to
individuals I come across regardless of their background. Also, it makes it easy to
provide support when there is an acknowledgement of peoples’ differences.
Characteristic described as hindrance
There is a hindrance in my trying to amplify the diversity rather than discovering a
commonalities. This can unintentionally lead to the creation of misunderstanding
among members in a team or even clients. At times, I become too involved in the
ideology of inclusivity and overthink the situation which makes it more arduous to
make the best decisions and take the decisive steps. In addition, I tend to struggle
with balancing diverse perspective which may result into conflicts.
3. Accountability
Characteristic described as strength
Taking responsibility for my actions have always been an important part of my life. It
helps me to be reliable, dependable and responsible for decisions taken as well as
committed to the prescribed modus operandi or standards in all aspects. In my job role, it
enhances trust building with my team mates or colleagues and individuals to whom I
provide support
Characteristic described as hindrance
I have realized that holding myself to excessive accountability makes me struggle
with frustration when I do not accomplish my plans or things do not turn out the
way I wanted. This also makes me feel pressured or having to go through
unnecessary stress and inability to delegate tasks appropriately to team members.
Self-Image:
THREE Characteristics described as strength and hindrance:
1. Leader
Characteristic described as strength
From my teenage years, I have always aspire to be a great leader who put others
first. I believe in inspiring and motivating others by creating an inclusive
environment that makes them feel valued. As a transformational leader, this is very
essential to me and I endeavor to take up initiative that enables me to make
informed decisions and enhance effective service delivery. This entails carrying out
research to identify assisting technologies, their usage, partnering with others to
address others needs effectively.
Characteristic described as hindrance
As a leader, I aspire to inspire and motivate others, creating an environment where
individuals feel valued and supported. Leadership allows me to take initiative, make
informed decisions, and ensure quality service delivery. Also, I could become too
dominant in discussions and overlook the perspectives of others which may lead to
hindrance in collaborating and making decisions. For instance, in a recent meeting I
was too excited about sharing my proposed plans and solution and didn’t pay
attention to others insights in the team. I failed to implement a better intervention
which put the situation at risk of being effective.
2. Problem Solver
Characteristic described as strength
I am able to tackle challenges proactively as a problem solver and this help me to
find solutions to improve the quality of solutions provided. For example, sometime
ago, I was faced with a client’s issue in which the person was anxious about a
scheduled outing. I decided to take a collaborative approach by gathering
information about the clients, the family history, potential triggers and coming up
with coping mechanisms. Then there was a visual scheduled outlines, practical
coping strategies that aid the individual to be active in the outing activities.
Characteristic described as hindrance
I may be so consumed with fixing the problems in front of me that I might neglect to
acknowledge the ongoing process or celebrate the small success. This usually make
me unable to acknowledge the small success and positive output, thereby leading to
burnout, low morale and slow progress.
1. Compassionate Person
Characteristic described as strength
I am compassionately driven to connect deeply with those I support helping them to
feel loved, understood and valued. I remembered helping someone through a
moment of grief due to a loved one’s demise. I started by creating a safe space and
provided the needed support to aid the process of letting out the grief. I listened,
offered comforting words and gave all other necessary assistance for ease and
strength-building. The demonstration of empathy provided the needed support to
the individual at a trying time.
Characteristic described as hindrance
It can be difficult to be objective when I over-identify with the struggles of others
which can blur professional boundaries. I believe in providing support to others
through difficult situations, but tends to worry too much about them and check on
them even when I do not need to. This sometimes makes me neglect myself,
compromise on objectivity and unable to properly establish boundaries that would
encourage an individual to easily develop independence.
Traits:
THREE Characteristics described as strength and hindrance:
1. Empathy
Characteristic described as strength
I am able to form a connection with people I support and empathize with them. This
helps me to create a sense of trust and comfort when trying to understand the
emotions of people better. Years ago, I went with a non-verbal individual for a
medical appointment as a support. Through that, I was able to understand better
non-verbal communication style though the body language and the facial cues that
depicts the emotions of the individual. When the individual experienced discomfort,
I was able to interact with the medical personnel to properly address the issues to
improve the person’s experience and reduce fears. This made me able to form a
strong bond with the individual and build lasting trust.
Characteristic described as hindrance
I tend to become quickly emotionally exhausted when I am invested too much in the
challenges of others. It may affect my ability to maintain professional detachment
and wellbeing. This makes me face difficulties such as anxiety, secondary traumatic
stress, fatigue and inability to concentrate when I am deeply affected by an
individual’s plight. Hence, I use self-care approaches, including exercise and
mindfulness activities to address such issues.
2. Flexibility:
Characteristic described as strength
 I can respond effectively to new or unexpected challenges being an adaptable
person. This is what helps what helps me to remain open-minded and
resourceful in my approach to work.
Characteristic described as hindrance
Flexibility may result in the lack of consistency or difficulty in setting boundaries,
making it challenging to maintain a routine structure. When rules are to be enforced
it could be challenging enforcing rules.
3. Good Listening Ability
Characteristic described as strength
One of the key skills I worked on was my listening ability. More often than not, I
have heard the statement, “a good listener makes a better speaker. I have realized
that cultivating the active listening skills makes it easier for me to understand other
people’s needs, concerns and choices. This makes it easier to build trust through
effective communication. It also equip me with the best knowledge on the provision
of appropriate support to others.
Characteristic described as hindrance
I think focusing too much on listening reduces my ability to assert my perspectives
or set boundaries. In addition, I may find it overwhelming obtaining numerous
information which in turn affect my quick or better decision making or sound
judgment.
Motives:
THREE Characteristics described as strength and hindrance:
1. Making a difference in the life of others
Characteristic described as strength
Making a difference in the life of others is a noteworthy motives that drives me
to remain committed, impassioned and dedicated to my role as a leader and
supporter. It helps me to stay motivated and provide the needed support that
positively influence the lives of others.
Characteristic described as hindrance
Sometimes, I get discouraged easily when I do not see an immediate progress or
improvement. This can lead to discouragement and make me feel like I am not
 living up to standard or making the difference I am set out to do. This tends to
sometimes leads to my demotivation and job satisfaction in the long run.
2. Pursuing ongoing improvement
Characteristic described as strength
I am constantly pursuing an ongoing self-improvement that enables me to develop
my skills, enhance my knowledge in different areas of my life. This also add more
credibility and make me effective in my job role of providing support to others.
Being updated is my top priority and I ensure that I inculcate the best practices to
enhance my development professionally.
Characteristic described as hindrance
I must not be too focused on personal development which makes me more critical of
myself and tends towards perfectionism. Hence, I may become frustrated, encounter
burnout and undue pressure.
3. Strong Passion for Learning
Characteristic described as strength
“Learning never end”, it is often said by many and it has always been my watchword
in any job role. I believe that I am first a learner before any job title. I always want to
be informed to not be deformed, adjust easily to new methods, and learn strategies
that deliver effective solutions as well as grow in knowledge in my field.
Additionally, learning increase my knowledge and the ability to provide valuable
insights that contribute meaningfully to my teammates and profession.
Characteristic described as hindrance
Contrary to leaning so much, I must not spend all my time learning and acquiring
too much information that may lead to application struggles. Having so much
knowledge and lacking effective application does not lead to personal growth
and providing support to others. This barrier can lead to overthinking rather
than taking proactive actions on matters arising in my job role.