Self-Awareness is the key that opens the door to effective leadership
Joanne Hobbins discusses the importance of building self-awareness to improve your working life.
When was the last time you reflected on what went well in a day, what you could have learnt? Did people respond to you as you anticipated? If things didn’t go well, what could you have done differently?
Truth is, we don’t really give ourselves time to do this important self-reflection. The more you do it however, the more you are learning about yourself. From that knowledge, you can adapt your choices and behaviour to be more effective.
If we don’t do it, we are in the dark as to how we come across, how our decisions are being made, and what influences us. How can we really influence others, if we are not aware of what influences us?
Self-awareness is ancient wisdom,
“Knowing others is Intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power” Lao Tzu
But perhaps showing our own vulnerabilities is new to some of us. Stopping to consider our strengths and areas for development, and genuinely being open to what they might be, might not be so comfortable.
Whilst it might be uncomfortable, knowing yourself will improve your working life, for example:
What conditions do you work better under?
What stops you from saying “No” or taking ownership of certain tasks?
What causes you to procrastinate when on a deadline?
What work do you really enjoy and excel at?
Which personality types do you complement when working together?
Which situations make you feel inadequate?
What impacts your emotions and how do you effectively regulate yourself?
If you know some of these things, then you can optimise or mitigate, and thus perform at your best. People will know how to work with you better, and you will be able to make more informed decisions. Imagine the impact that will have on your self-confidence.
There are many factors that you can consider when it comes to self-awareness, and some serve us well, and some derail us. One thing for sure, we are all so different: no-one better and no-one worse, just different. What may be helpful for some, may be unhelpful for another. These differences make the world a more interesting and varied place, and contribute to the success of an organisation. We need to embrace and leverage those differences. It takes a self-aware leader to embrace, and navigate, such variety successfully. Such leaders can make organisations stand out, and forge forward, as they capitalise on their most important assets, their people.
How can you obtain this awareness? You reflect, you listen, you ask for feedback – what went well, what didn’t go well, what worked for you, or didn’t and what worked for others, or didn’t. Tune in to your own inner narrative, and work out what is helpful or not helpful for you. Are you being open or closed to other points of view. Look out for your blind spots, and then address them in your decision making.
If you get this, then you are on your way to being more effective and confident. You will also be more content, as your decisions and actions become more in tune with what makes you happy.
If you would like to build your own self-awareness, we can support you. I’m running a FREE taster session on 22nd May, and if would like to find out more, click here to book your place:
