Which is your locus of control?

Is your locus of control internal or external? If the answer is internal, then it means you have the most valuable leadership skill. Anyhow, what it actually means?

Let’s try to explain it with an example. Imagine you have newly started project in your IT department. You build a team for the development and assign one employee as a team leader. You give her six months and some budget. After six months, the development barely started and not even close to finish line. Then, you ask the leader: ‘Why are we at this situation?’ If the leader says something like: “The team’s motivation is low”, “The budget is not enough” and “I don’t think given time is enough”. Unfortunately, her locus of control is external. These excuses might be true but everything she says at the outside of herself. And it doesn’t matter these excuses true or false.

If the leader’s focus of control was internal then she would say: “I don’t think I manage the time very well”, “Time to time the motivation of the team was low but I couldn’t manage to motivate them”. Even though every word she says has a negative side, this person’s locus of control is internal. She holds responsible herself with negative situation she faces. She does not victimize herself.

External locus of control only considers concrete situation. People who has external locus of control tend to see failure factors as constant facts. Besides, internal focus of control praise the action. She knows that everything, includes her actions as well, can be in a different way.