The Self-Awareness Guy, Author at The Self-Awareness Guy

Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness Discourage Team Building

February 2, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / Examples of Self-Awareness, Lacking Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness

A lot of leaders who lack self-awareness say they value team building or pontificate about how important it is for everyone to work together, and then create workplaces where people are discouraged from collaborating or helping one another. It takes self-awareness and commitment to design a workplace where team building is practiced and celebrated. Here are five ways that team building is routinely discouraged in the workplace:

Creating a competitive work environment. People are encouraged to compete on their own behalf instead of as a team. This creates a workplace where people look out for their own interests before thinking about working with others.
Lack of effective communication. People only communicate on a superficial level and only about approved topics. Very little attention is paid to listening to what others say and creating two-way sharing of information.
Missing emotional depth. People aren’t encouraged to understand and welcome emotions in the workplace and how they can bring people together. Displays of emotion are limited to one or two officially sanctioned ones such as fake happiness and anger.
The boss’ ego. The boss can’t let go long enough to let people work collaboratively because it would take away from his (or her) vision of how things should be done. The organization runs according to his personal needs and issues rather than with everyone in mind.
Lack of commitment. Leaders and organizations invest in one team building session per year instead of an ongoing program that teaches people practical skills.

In many organizations that lack self-awareness, team building is an abstract concept that people talk about or pretend is happening. You can move from wishing it would happen to making it a reality by implementing a program that teaches people skills on an ongoing basis. The idea is to create a workplace environment where people are actively being trained in how to work each other and given opportunities to practice the new skills they’re learning.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and promote meaningful team building in your organization?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Realize Team Building Isn’t Just about Them

February 2, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / Examples of Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness, Work Environment and Self-Awareness

Leaders who possess self-awareness realize that team building is about more than them, it’s about making sure every person is equally important and valued in their organization.

As a professional who helps leaders and organizations develop self-awareness, I design and facilitate many team building workshops and it’s fascinating to watch how people relate to each other. I’ll often observe everyone participating actively but deferring to the leader or looking to him (or her) for permission to participate. The other dynamic that frequently occurs is that everyone acts very outwardly happy and bubbly but, when one probes deeper, all kinds of rifts and conflicts are exposed that reflect the kind of workplace leadership has created.

When I see these types of interactions, it tells me a lot about how workplaces are run and what kind of work environments they create. Leaders have a dramatic effect on how team building is practiced in their workplaces, especially if they lack self-awareness. Here are two descriptions of common workplaces, see if you can determine which one is healthier and more productive.

The Autocratic Workplace

Everything goes through the leader and everyone is required or expected to check in with the leader before anything happens. People are tentative and dependent because they’re not encouraged to work on their own or make independent decisions. The leader in these organizations often believes there are functioning teams but, in practice, the teams only operate based on his or her directives and limits. Team building in this type of workplace is usually not very active because people aren’t encouraged to work together and decisions are made through one central person rather than a group. The spotlight is firmly on the leader in this type of organization. This type of workplace is run by a leader who lacks self-awareness.

The Collaborative Workplace

There isn’t one central focus or source of information in this type of workplace because people are given the opportunity to share their wisdom and expertise. Employees are encouraged to work collaboratively and share information with each other and the organization. Leadership is available as a resource if people get stuck or actively participates as an equal partner in teams if invited. Team building in this type of workplace is consistently positive because people are encouraged to work together. The spotlight is on every member of the team because they all are welcome to share their insights and each person is valued as a contributor. This type of workplace is run by a leader who possesses self-awareness.

As a leader, you decide what kind of workplace you create. If you value self-awareness, team building, and helping your employees collaborate, you’ll enjoy the additional brainpower, idea generation, improved interpersonal relationships, and morale that comes from people working together well. If you lack self-awareness and promote an autocratic workplace, you’ll create a different type of environment. Both approaches can create productive, successful organizations, but only one gives employees power and helps them feel like an important and valued member of a team.

What will you do to build self-awareness and use team building to value and help all your employees?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Leads to Deeper Team Building

February 2, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / Examples of Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness

A lot of team building is fun and helps people bond and have a good time together, but it misses what’s below the surface: self-awareness and how people think and behave long-term. When you’re looking to implement deeper team building in your workplace it helps to think about what really brings people together and how you can maintain positive momentum. Here are some practical ideas to help you build a meaningful program.

Look at People’s Thinking

Individuals’ thought processes can significantly affect how successful your team building activities are. Imagine a leader who lacks self-awareness and doesn’t really believe in bringing people together or enjoys power differentials or giving orders. Think about the employee who believes that nobody will ever listen to him or her so why bother trying to collaborate. Consider the staff member who remembers the team building activities in the past that didn’t lead to anything. The key to building team cohesiveness is to introduce a new way of thinking and behaving that supports group interaction and collaboration. Imagine how your workplace would run if people genuinely believed they could work together, create a level playing field, share information freely, communicate well and solve problems.

Focus on Behaviors

The way people behave determines how productive your workplace is and how well people collaborate. Take some time to help people build self-awareness to get rid of behaviors that don’t work (gossip, personal issues, power struggles, competition) and replace them with approaches that do such as: listening, asking open-ended questions or problem-solving.

Shift from Being Reactive to Proactive

The standard way of doing business is to react to what people say or do. These reactions often have nothing to do with work, as when a leader works out some personal issue on his employees. The key to building more successful teams is to implement ongoing training that helps employees deal with any challenge that comes their way and creates a culture where self-awareness and positive interaction are valued. People are much more proactive when they know how to stop reacting to people and events.

Try these ideas and you’ll shift your focus from superficial interactions to more meaningful ones. The key to effective team building is to move away from encouraging superficial relationships to diving into the thoughts and behaviors that are under the surface.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and promote deeper team building in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Support Team Building, and Conflict Resolution

February 1, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / A Self-Awareness, Examples of Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness, Work Environment and Self-Awareness

Leaders who aren’t self-aware often tolerate conflict as a normal part of workplace interactions. This leads to workplaces where everyone is simply trying to survive and there isn’t much team building or cohesion. Many leaders and employees view chronic, habitual conflict as normal. People are allowed to cut each other down, make hurtful comments or threaten each other (overtly or more subtly) while leaders look on and admire their energy and camaraderie.

Traditionally, many of our workplaces have been rough and tumble zones where only the supposedly fittest survive. This dynamic tends to sap productivity and morale over time because only a few people thrive and the remainder get demoralized. Our predecessors might have been unable to envision a workplace that didn’t encourage conflict but we can.

We have the ability to create kinder workplaces where leaders value self-awareness and help colleagues and employees work well together and build positive work environments. We can fight less and face our challenges united. In the past, we let conflict fester and permeate our workplaces but now we have tools to actually fix things.

Some practical elements you can think about when workplace conflict arises include:

What is the problem really about?

Do you know what each employee thinks about the problem?

Have you all worked together to come up with possible solutions?

Is everyone’s voice listened to and given equal weight?

Does everyone know how to listen to other points of view?

Can people deal with conflict without escalating?

Is conflict an opportunity for change in your workplace?

How are your communication skills?

Do you have a consistent system for resolving conflict?

Do you ask for help from neutral, uninvolved third parties?

Team building and conflict resolution in the workplace depend on you as a leader. You decide whether your workplace advances without direction or follows a more productive path. Consider the following ideas for your workplace:

Develop a clear, concise conflict resolution strategy that is taught and followed at all levels.

Build productive, two-way communication skills by teaching your employees how to communicate effectively.

Highlight the importance of listening skills and teach everyone how to listen to each other.

Practice team building by giving everyone the framework and tools to collaborate.

Set a positive example by behaving in ways that support team building, conflict resolution and collaboration.

These concepts help leaders and organizations resolve conflicts more effectively and build happier organizations. The only catch is that they take commitment but, those who take the plunge and build up these core skills, enjoy long-term health and success.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and help your teams reduce conflict?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Learning from Workplace Conflict

February 1, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / A Self-Awareness, Examples of Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness

Many leaders who lack self-awareness spend their workdays putting out fires and reacting to whatever conflict comes their way rather than learning from it and trying to prevent it. They also tend to focus on superficial issues rather than addressing the underlying situation. Think about the last time you had a disagreement with someone at work. What was it about? Did you fix it? Did it go away permanently? Ask yourself the following questions as you develop self-awareness and discover what you can learn from conflict in the workplace:

What is this conflict really about?

What am I feeling inside and where does that come from?

Do I really care about the superficial issue or is it really about something else?

What is it about me that compels me to fight about this?

What do I need to do to fix this situation with the other person?

When you ask yourself questions like these, you begin the process of understanding yourself. It is this self-awareness that helps you figure out who you are at a deeper level and practice positive behaviors that help you and others succeed. The idea is to make sure that your own stuff isn’t creating or adding to the conflict.

We spend so much time fighting about things that are only the tip of the real problem that lies below. Think about it next time you get angry or upset and ask yourself, “Am I really mad about an employee doing something incorrectly or is it really because of something going on inside me?”

Once you figure out what’s really going on you can begin doing the important work to actually improve your workplace interactions and reduce conflict permanently. More importantly, you’ll be practicing how to not become part of the problem.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and learn from workplace conflict?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Being a Good Person

January 31, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / Leadership Self-Awareness

Leaders spend a lot of time trying to be productive or interact effectively with their staff without first building a foundation for success. They read vast quantities of material or try many leadership approaches only to find that nothing works quite well enough. That’s why there are so many leadership books.

Let’s try to simplify this whole leadership thing and figure out what creates amazing leaders. I’m going to let you in on this coveted secret, it’s…

Build up Your Self-Awareness So You Can Be a Good Person

Pretty simple isn’t it, but think of all the chaos that is created in countless workplaces because leaders try to ignore this vital idea. The reason leaders get tied up in knots and lose their way is because they forget to be good people. I’ll leave it to you to decide how you define good person but it includes some of the following behaviors:

Give without expecting anything in return.
Treat others kindly.
Set an example you and others genuinely admire.
Don’t do stuff that hurts others.
Be proud of your behavior, don’t behave out of pride.
Listen to the voice inside you that tells you you’re off course.
Don’t compromise your ethics or justify negative behavior.
Heal yourself and be happy.
Behave with humility.
Practice empathy.

Leaders who do these things will struggle far less with having to twist logic and reality to get results. When you’re a good person you do things that are observable by everyone around you. When people ask your employees they confirm you’re a great person.

You don’t have to be perfect and you’ll notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that you have to be obnoxious or preachy about doing these things. Just be someone who leads from a place of self-awareness, kindness, humility and balance. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and be a good person?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Benefits of Being Wrong as a Leader

January 31, 2023 / The Self-Awareness Guy / Self-Awareness in Leadership / A Self-Awareness, Leadership Self-Awareness

Leaders who possess self-awareness understand that it’s okay to be wrong and that it is a positive way to learn new things, grow, and move in more beneficial directions.

Yet a lot of leaders seem to live in a world where they cannot be wrong. No matter how dire the situation or how obvious their mistake is, they obstinately stick to their position and insist they are right.

Many people are taught at a young age that it’s not OK to be wrong, that somehow there is something wrong with them if they say or do something incorrectly. This point of view has a limiting effect on them that ranges from not taking risks because they’re afraid to fail, to not communicating their needs because they’re fearful of the repercussions.

Being wrong is not as horrible as it is portrayed in our workplaces so go ahead and relax as you increase your self-awareness and think of the following benefits next time you miss the mark on something:

Being Wrong is a Learning Experience

People forget that human beings can learn valuable lessons from being wrong. We find out what we can and can’t do and what we will avoid in the future. If we look at being wrong as an opportunity for building self-awareness and growing, it loses its stigma.

You Get to Let Go

If you don’t worry about being wrong you can let go of all that fear and trepidation. You don’t need to be concerned about making a mistake and you can try new things and relax a little more. You also get to enjoy being more self-aware and not making your life a living hell by hating yourself when something doesn’t go exactly to plan.

You’re Like Everyone Else

The best kept secret is that everybody is wrong all the time. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t make mistakes. So relax a little, you’re perfectly normal. It’s human to not be right all the time and we have the capacity to learn from these situations.

Being wrong is just a sign that you’re trying to learn new things and experience the world. Try thinking of it as a way the universe has put together of teaching you valuable life lessons. If you think about it, there is no mistake that we can’t learn from. It’s up to us whether we make it into a tragedy or an opportunity.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve your leadership by admitting when you’re wrong?

Cheers,

Guy