No. 1 Skill for Leaders: Self Awareness
‘Follow those who seek the truth, run from those who claim they’ve found it.’ -- Voltaire
Your influence as a leader will be directly limited by your own level of self-awareness. It’s not about letting others’ perceptions affect who you are and how you act, but acknowledging the issues that may keep others from hearing your message, making a buying decision or following your leadership in an organization or team.
Tips to growing your own self-awareness
- Journal your experiences
- Grow your Emotional Intelligence
- Pay Attention to External Triggers
- Elicit Feedback from TRUSTED sources
- Record EVERYTHING
- Identify Your Core Values and Align Them with Your Behaviours
- Practice Mindfullness
It’s not a magic bullet (because there isn’t one) but it is a roadmap for anyone to find more self-awareness and therefore improve their leadership potential and impact on others.
Resource Links:
The Five Minute Journal - https://www.intelligentchange.com
Emotional Intelligence Tests -
- Greater Good Science Center, University of California-Berkeley: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/ei_quiz/take_quiz
- Global Leadership Foundation: http://globalleadershipfoundation.com/geit/eitest.html
- Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/emotional-intelligence-test
Korn Ferry, the global organizational consulting firm study -
https://www.kornferry.com/insights/briefings-magazine/issue-17/better-return-self-awareness
Hay Group on Women’s Self-Awareness advantage - https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120327005180/en
Tasha Eurich - Increase Your Self Awareness with One Simple Fix https://youtu.be/tGdsOXZpyWE
Johari Window - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window?wprov=sfti1
