How Can Self-Awareness Enhance Your Leadership and Personal Life?
In hindsight, have you ever been confused by your actions or decisions in certain situations? Most of us can remember feeling ashamed at our behavior, and when pressed by those around us to explain our reasoning, our tongue-tied silence says it all. We don’t know the answer or how to prevent a repeat in the future.
There are valuable opportunities for personal growth when we delve deep and attempt to understand what motivates our behavior and reactions during certain circumstances. And that leads us to today’s topic; self-awareness.
The Value of Self-Awareness
By objectively reflecting on how we present ourselves in interactions with others and how we show up and present ourselves in the world, we can gain tremendous insight into what triggers and motivates us as individuals.
For instance:
- Why do you behave in a certain way when you are under pressure or running a little late?
- Are you always aware of your grumpiness in the morning before your first cup of coffee?
- What makes you defensive is someone calls you on a particular behavior of yours?
When you observe the inner workings of your behavior, you only open the door to richer life experiences, but we also give the world a better experience of ourselves.
Grounded leaders possess a strong understanding of why you sometimes react a certain way during particular situations and perhaps precisely the opposite under different circumstances.
What exactly is self-awareness?
Being self-aware is a critical component of your emotional intelligence.
Defined in a broad sense, self-awareness is a conscious recognition of our own personality and individuality.
Another way to explain it is to possess of sense of being “in tune” with yourself and your emotions. Self-awareness is the foundation of how we view ourselves.
You can think of yourself as a smart, hard-working individual who is friendly and fair. Being self-aware is your ability to see yourself as that person and being guided by that knowledge in your daily interactions with others and yourself.
It also serves to remind you during those moments when you are not behaving as your true self.
How do you develop self-awareness?
Start by a conscious decision to take the time to observe everything you do with an objective lens. Be inquisitive with yourself and sometimes even demanding.
- Why did you react negatively to a colleague’s suggestion?
- Were you fair or defensive?
Do not be overly critical, but do try to understand why.
I am not suggesting that you psychoanalyze yourself, but rather, assess whether there might be a better way for you to have managed things. If so, then make an effort to handle it that way in the future.
The key here is to pinpoint specific thinking patterns and hopefully determine why you are inclined to think or react in particular ways.
What would have been a better approach? Is there room for improvement? Chances are, yes, there is room for improvement. Perhaps some of your traditional methods of managing situations are not working in your best interests any longer.
Use Self-Inquiry as a Tool
We all know that not a single one of us has all the answers. Nobody is perfect, and we are always learning to be better and more decent people (and yes, I am an eternal optimist)!
Self-inquiry will help keep you honest and more authentic to your values.
Over time you will also recognize the thinking patterns that are more aligned with how you want to act. That’s a good thing. You can learn to choose those thoughts. Gradually you will become more accepting of yourself and be less inclined to make overly judgmental assessments of your behavior. You know why you did it, and you know how to change it. It’s a step by step, day by day process (journey).
Self-awareness will make you a more mindful person with a robust amount of emotional intelligence.
Reap the Benefits
Life becomes more abundant when you know ourselves as we are, even to see ourselves as others close to us see and understand us.
- Inevitably, you will also become more empathetic to the needs and feelings of others. By now, you know that in my book, that is a strong characteristic of any leader!
- The more you practice self-awareness, the stronger and more resolute you will become in our daily actions.
- People will trust you more. They will see a relatively predictable and decent human being who is very much aware of how their actions impact others.
And, of course, how they will impact yourself.
