Many executives think that self-awareness is either irrelevant to leadership success. Yet, self-awareness is probably the most important aspect of your makeup as a leader.
Only by knowing yourself can you have the potential to understand other's better, thus being able to relate more effectively. Self-knowledge requires time for reflection and the ability to be self-aware.
Self-awareness builds clarity about objectives, fine-tunes your understanding of yourself as well as your ability to understand the perspectives, values, aims, and personality traits of others.
Why is self-awareness difficult for leaders?
For many leaders, self-awareness is difficult because they don't know how to assess the knowledge of themselves. Others think once they have power, they don't need that awareness. Others avoid self-study because they are afraid of what they might find. And others don't know what or how to change to be more effective. Discord and conflict among senior management teams is often the result, due to a lack of understanding of self and others.How to build self-awareness
To be more aware of yourself, you need to be willing to honestly appraise your:
- emotional strengths
- vulnerabilities
- values
- attitudes
- personality traits
- unresolved conflicts from your past
- lessons learned from past success and failures
Research confirms that self examination is critical for leaders’ development and growth. Time taken for self-analysis is time well spent.
Leadership Development Coaching is one of the best ways to enhance self-awareness and personal growth. It can expand your capacity to know what to go after and what not to pursue based on a deeper knowledge of yourself. It can also expand your skills for relating to and motivating others.
Remember. . .
Leaders who possess greater self-insight lead with more confidence and effectiveness. Even seasoned business leaders have rarely developed the full set of capabilities they need to manage the constantly changing challenges of leadership.
Many executives at all levels find interpersonal effectiveness, emotional intelligence, and other leadership skills to be an ongoing challenge. Executive coaching can help you develop more self-awareness and enhance your personal development. Acquiring the knowledge of why and how you think as you interact with others will pay big dividends for you.
Do you take time for self-reflection? Have you developed your self-awareness? Leadership self-awareness is one of my most enjoyable offerings. Helping leaders know themselves better is a gratifying experience. Get in touch with me today and we can discuss how I can help you become more self-aware.
Photo by Dr. Ada, taken by the Rhine river at Biebrich, Germany