Self-Awareness in Leadership Archives – Page 15 of 20

How Self-Aware Leaders Deal with Problems at Work

February 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-aware leaders are able to deal with problems at work because they understand their and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which helps them build highly functional workplaces.

We all know people who keep going when things get tough at work but it’s another story to do it ourselves if it happens to us. It’s so much easier to tell someone else how to keep going but not quite as simple when you have to do it yourself. Here are some tips on what you can do to use self-awareness when challenges arise in your work life.

This Too Shall Pass
Even the most difficult situations eventually go away and transform into something else. Change is constantly happening at work and and even terrible times eventually end.

What Can I Learn?
Everything that happens to you is a chance to learn. Think about what you would and how you might prepare differently in the future.

New Opportunities
Any challenge that comes your way is an opportunity to think in new ways and discover alternate approaches.

You Can Handle It and You Don’t Have to Control It
There really isn’t anything you can’t handle unless you convince yourself that you can’t. Remember that there are things that you simply can’t control.

Your Mental Attitude
You don’t have to forget that things are difficult but you can focus your thoughts on what you can do about the situation rather than what you can’t change.

Take Care of Yourself
Do things to comfort yourself, that bring you joy and don’t cost money. Take a walk, hug your significant other, exercise or do any other activity that helps you feel better.

Try these ideas the next time you feel that work is too much. With some practice, you’ll find that you can handle anything that comes your way in your career and workplace. What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal effectively with the problems that come your way?

Cheers,

Guy

Team Building, Self-Awareness, and Healing the Past to Move Forward

February 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

When people in a workplace, starting with leadership, possess self-awareness, they are able to practice effective team building and heal negative situations, memories, and other remnants from the past in order to move forward together successfully.

Many teams hang on to hurts from the past that get in the way of practicing effective team building. Although it’s highly beneficial to heal past hurts, it’s common for leaders and teams that lack self-awareness to pretend that they don’t exist and avoid dealing with them. When you heal the past you get rid of the junk that clogs up your workplace interactions. You get a chance to hit the reset button and move in whatever direction you want with your team.

I am not recommending that your group wallows in agony and despair. Your goal is to develop self-awareness, benefit from acknowledging the past, and then move forward. If you have some issue that affects your team’s functioning today why not do something to move past it? Once you resolve it you’ll be ready to grow without having that issue holding you back in any way. Here’s how you can get started working together on putting the past behind you.

1. Think of something that happened to the team that still affects everyone to this day.

2. Acknowledge that it exists.

3. Write down how it affects each person currently.

4. How would the group be different if this issue were not in the picture?

5. What is each member of the team willing to do to move beyond the issue?

Your answers to these ideas will help you start a dialogue and create a starting point so that you can move forward without the the past weighing you down. You’ll also all work together more happily without the stuff that was holding you back.

What will you do to increase self-awareness in your workplace and build strong teams that heal the past?

Cheers,

Guy

Leadership, Self-Awareness, and Your Beliefs

February 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

The more self-awareness you possess, the more positively you view your environment because you’re able to deal effectively with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which leads to beneficial beliefs.

Your leadership style reflects what you believe about the world: If you think change is undesirable, your workplace will reflect that perspective; if you believe that trying new things is advantageous, your workplace will move in that direction. Your level of self-awareness and the resulting beliefs impact how your organization functions and sends your employees distinct messages about their roles and importance. Let’s look at two leadership belief systems and the underlying messages they broadcast:

We’ve Always Done It this Way

Don’t rock the boat.
Do as you’re told.
Change is scary.
Keep things as they’ve always been.
Flexibility is weakness.
Don’t question.
Follow the rules.
Know your place.
Keep your ideas to yourself.
There’s only one way to solve a problem, my way.
Self-awareness is discouraged.

Something New, Better or Different Is Possible

Shake things up.
Do things based on your own judgement.
Welcome change.
Be open to trying new things.
Flexibility is agility.
Question things.
There are no rules.
Design your own role.
Share your ideas freely.
There are many ways to solve a problem.
Self-awareness is valued.

When I describe these two leadership approaches when I consult with organizations, someone who lacks self-awareness will inevitably say something like, “There has to be order and someone has to be in charge, you can’t just let everyone do what they want,” to which I answer, “Why not?”

Leaders can design any type of workplace they want. They can give their employees power by allowing them to think and act independently, develop new ideas and question current practices or they can keep making people toe the line and do what’s always been done. The only obstacle is what they believe is possible.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and use your beliefs to build a healthy workplace for everyone?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Dealing with Difficult Situations at Work

February 6, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Leaders who possess self-awareness are adept at dealing with difficult situations at work because they are able to deal with their own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, as well as thinking about how others perceive what’s going on.

I often get questions from leaders who are diligently trying to figure out what to do in a difficult situation at work but can’t quite find an answer. Most leaders and managers care for the well-being of their employees but may not have access to resources to resolve challenges. There’s nothing terrible about this kind of situation, all you need to do is add another tool to help you deal with the matter at hand.

I encourage people to think in terms of increasing self-awareness and finding their own solutions to tough issues in the workplace. For example, spend some time thinking and doing the following:

1. What would I name this issue?

2. What are some possible solutions for the issue?

3. Which solution makes the most sense to me?

4. What do I need to do to start working on the solution?

As you answer these questions (in order) you will begin to improve your self-awareness and formulate a strategy to deal with whatever situation comes your way. If you think about it, this four-question process simply defines what you’re dealing with and narrows down your options so that you can focus on a solution.

Try using these four steps and arrive at your own carefully thought-out decisions. Dealing with tough issues doesn’t have to be complicated. Break the situation into manageable pieces and you’ll be able to work on it more effectively. What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal effectively with difficult situations at work?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Becoming a Better Leader

February 6, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you become a better leader because, when you understand and are able to consciously manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you are in the position to interact much more positively with others and get more done with less effort.

When I work with leaders we frequently talk about the concept of leading more by doing less. It’s a different way of thinking about leadership because it asks us to have the self-awareness to give more power to our employees so that we will eventually lead well. Here are four ideas to help you start moving toward inspiring your staff.

Let Go of Power and Control

The idea that we have to be on top of people or dominate them in some way pervades our leadership practices. I’ve found that self-aware leaders let go of the need to be the “expert” or “top dog” and move toward a model that gives more power and control to their staff. The whole point of doing this is to give your people the ability to function well on their own. This will make you look great in the end even if it feels counter-intuitive at first.

Be a Resource Instead of a Supervisor

Instead of micromanaging or riding your employees set yourself up as a resource. This allows you to breathe and be there for your employees when they need it. Make yourself available for any questions or feedback but please refrain from giving advice at every possible moment. People will ask you for help when they believe that you’re there to help them rather than judge or correct them.

Encourage People to be Independent and Grow

One of the best ways to retain employees is to get out of the way and let them shine. This means that we have the self-awareness to learn to identify our employees’ talents and abilities and then let them use them in the workplace. This helps people feel invested and valued in the organization. Employees are far more likely to want to excel and do more if we allow them to use their interests.

Leadership Is Up To You

Leaders frequently ask me, “But how do we do this stuff in a work environment that doesn’t support it?” The answer is that you get to lead in any way you choose, even within the parameters of a given situation. In other words, you choose whether you take action to inspire your employees.

Try these ideas as you move toward being a leader who truly inspires his or her employees. What will you do to develop self-awareness and become a better leader?

Cheers,

Guy

How Self-Aware Leaders Communicate Effectively

February 5, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Leaders who lack self-awareness often think that effective communication is about showing how powerful or in control they are and talking on top of their employees or clients. This approach overlooks the reality that there is more than one person involved in a conversation. Self-aware leaders realize that communicating effectively is about making sure everyone feels important and valued. Here are some practical tips to help you practice effective communication in your workplace.

Talk Much Less

It’s much easier to understand what other people are saying when you’re not talking, thinking of the next thing you’re going to say or how you’re going to defend yourself. It’s very difficult to accurately grasp what other people are saying if you’re talking at the same time they are.

Listen Much More

A frequently overlooked skill, active listening helps you get more information from the other person so you can then make better decisions. Listening actively means that you are intensely focused on understanding what the other person is saying and you’re there with them the whole time they’re talking.

Keep an Open Mind

Effective communication isn’t just about forcing one point of view on others, it’s about understanding that other people have ideas that may be greatly beneficial to the organization. Try not to go into conversations with an agenda or strategy for victory. Be willing to consider ideas that don’t agree with yours.

Value the Input of Your Employees

Show your employees that you value what they have to say by letting them say it. Give your employees the opportunity to share their ideas and perspectives. Create a workplace where people are free to use their knowledge to make their jobs more satisfying and improve how the company functions.

Lose the Ego

Conversations aren’t exclusively about you. Let go of the need to control communication and you will have more opportunities to learn about your employees and what’s actually going on in your workplace. Let go of having to defend or rebut and you will have smoother, more easy-going interactions and get more done.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and communicate effectively?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Avoid Being the Office Jerk

February 5, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you avoid being the office jerk because, when you understand why you feel, think, and behave the way you do, you’re better able to move in a positive direction. Here’s how to tell if you’re a jerk in the office:

People tell you you’re being or acting like a jerk.
You get in a lot of conflicts.
People don’t seem to genuinely like you.
You don’t get a lot of feedback from people because they’ve given up on you.
You don’t let other people talk.
You don’t listen.
You impose your views on everyone.
You’ve made people cry or get angry during your interactions with them.
People’s expressions aren’t ones of happiness when they’re talking with you.
People avoid you.
If you’re in a leadership position, your employees have poor morale.
You create discomfort and sometimes even chaos with the things you say.
You hang out with other jerks.
People don’t let you in on what’s going on in their departments unless you pry it out of them.
You do things by force instead of by collaboration.
You lead with fear.
You have no self-awareness about how your behaviors affect others.

The thing about being a jerk in the office is that it’s reversible if you take some time to be self-aware and deal with what’s causing your behavior. Here are five steps you can take to start moving on from being a jerk:

Identify one thing you think you might be doing that is jerky, even if you’re not entirely convinced that it is jerky.
Ask yourself what you might be able to do differently that would lead in a positive direction.
Practice that alternative behavior over and over until you get good at it.
Make adjustments if you need to or see that it’s not working.
Repeat the process.

Most jerks, deep down inside, are not happy with their behavior, but they don’t know what to do about it. Use the five steps I’ve mentioned here and you’ll be on your way to building some self-awareness about what you’re doing and impacting your workplace positively.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and avoid being the office jerk?

Cheers,

Guy