Self-Awareness in Leadership

Self-Aware Leaders Have Great Listening Skills - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Self-Aware Leaders Have Great Listening Skills

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One of the most valuable skills self-aware leaders use to encourage effective communication is listening. Many leaders say they’re good listeners but most aren’t. It’s not because they don’t want to listen but rather because our workplaces and leadership styles aren’t designed to promote listening.

Here are some things you can do to be a leader who possess self-awareness and listens well:

1. Don’t talk.

2. Nod and prompt the other person to say more.

3. Ask open-ended questions that don’t have yes or no answers.

4. Lean forward and look interested.

5. Don’t think of the next thing you’re going to say.

6. Don’t think of how you’re going to rebut or contradict a point.

7. Don’t talk.

How many of these behaviors do you practice in the course of your workplace communication? Really listening means listening attentively for meaning. We all understand words but do we really understand what the other person is feeling? Pay attention to what the other person looks like when he or she talks, their demeanor or body language. Do they look upset, do they look confused? Ask open-ended questions that help the other person talk more rather than offering advice or opinions.

If you try some of these ideas you can learn a lot about your employees, co-workers and clients. I also encourage leaders to practice having conversations where they don’t talk at all and just nod. It’s remarkable what you can learn when you don’t talk.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be a good listener?

Cheers,

Guy

10 Tips to Lead with Increased Self-Awareness - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

10 Tips to Lead with Increased Self-Awareness

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I consult for a wide range of leaders and organizations and I’m often surprised by the number of individuals who lack self-awareness and lead as if they’ve never considered someone else’s point of view. Some even get into the same types of arguments and interactions that they experienced in their families growing up, which doesn’t tend to lead to amazing results.

Have you ever worked with someone who tried to resolve every problem the same way and ended up fixing nothing and making everyone unhappy? It happens all the time and we call that type of leader a bad boss. Here are some practical things you can do to increase self-awareness and make your leadership skills even stronger:

  1. Figure out and define what you do well and do those things in the workplace.
  2. Identify areas where you could use some help and find people to help you.
  3. Ask your employees where you need some help and listen to their advice.
  4. Be willing to ask for help rather than pretend you know everything.
  5. Be open to information, ideas and perspectives other than your own.
  6. Be willing to change your behavior patterns to improve your workplace.
  7. Admit mistakes rather than covering stuff up to avoid losing face.
  8. Accept change and use it as a catalyst to do new and exciting things.
  9. Delegate and give people the opportunity to grow.
  10. Practice kind behaviors toward everyone at work.

If you practice all ten of these things you already understand what kind of workplace it creates: An environment where employees actually like you and are willing to do more and better work because they’re not miserable. Behaving positively in the workplace leads to better results for you and everyone else.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Leadership Examples - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness Leadership Examples

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People frequently ask me to give them examples of self-aware leadership. A good way to demonstrate the difference between leaders who possess self-awareness and those who don’t is to describe how they behave during a training session. Imagine someone who behaves this way:

  • Doesn’t listen.
  • Interrupts.
  • Gets angry.
  • Confrontational.
  • Talks too long.
  • Tells others what to do.
  • Has an opinion on everything.
  • Seeks attention.
  • Uncooperative.

When someone practices these behaviors in a training setting you can pretty much guarantee what they’re like in the workplace. They likely are people who don’t listen, interrupt others, get angry, confront people, talk too long, tell others what to do etc. Very often these individuals don’t realize how they’re behaving because they’re so used to doing things a certain way.

This is why I emphasize self-awareness in my training programs. It’s the ability to take a look at your own behaviors so that you can keep what works well and modify what doesn’t. It’s the capacity to examine who you are and behave in different ways. It means that you understand how your behaviors affect both you and other people. The goal of self-awareness is to become a more effective person and leader. Effective leaders practice the following behaviors the majority of the time:

  • Listen.
  • Don’t Interrupt.
  • Moderate emotions.
  • Communicate instead of confront.
  • Listen more than they talk.
  • Encourage people to work independently.
  • Value other people’s opinions.
  • Give people attention.
  • Cooperate and collaborate with others.

Leadership is often about consciously setting an example of positive behaviors in the workplace. A leader who behaves based on the first list will get predictable results in the form of a dysfunctional workplace while one who practices the behaviors on the second list will move in a more productive direction. There’s no mystery to this process, positive behaviors lead to positive results. What do your behaviors say about you?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Welcome Uncertainty and Doubt - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Self-Aware Leaders Welcome Uncertainty and Doubt

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Many leaders who lack self-awareness run around like the sky is falling instead of realizing that uncertainty and doubt can be excellent opportunities to reevaluate and make positive changes. It seems like many workplaces function on doubt, doom and gloom. The ironic thing is that uncertainty and doubt can actually be catalysts for building self-awareness and creating great workplaces. Here’s what some smart people say about the subject:

Alfred Korzybski:

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.

Andre Gide:

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.

Erich Fromm:

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

Frank Crane:

You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

As a leader, you have the ability to focus in any way you see fit. You can pretend to know everything and make decisions based on ego or you can be open to new information and change.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and welcome uncertainty and doubt?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Praise Others - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Self-Aware People Praise Others

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Self-aware people praise others because they’re comfortable with who they are and are able to spread happiness in the world rather than competing against everyone, feeling insecure, or working out their unfinished business on other people.

Praise can be hard to come by in our personal and professional lives. It’s as if there is some rule that praise is superfluous or unnecessary. Our inability to praise comes from being conditioned to correct and punish (some call it teaching) rather than celebrate and lift up. Perhaps you’ve had someone praise you and add some sort of negating or qualifying statement that minimizes its significance, as in:

  • You did a great job but make sure you do this next time.
  • You did so well on that project, much better than last time.
  • I’m so impressed with your work, too bad we can’t use it right now.
  • I like your idea but here’s how we’re going to do it.
  • You’re so smart, sometimes a little too much for your own good.

Individuals and leaders who lack self-awareness often see praise as an opportunity to make some kind of comment, correction or criticism rather than simply acknowledging that someone did something well. It’s not that they’re evil, they’re just used to praising people with caveats.

A major part of self-awareness is understanding that your actions not only affect you but also the people around you. People like to be praised. It builds them up. Think back in your own history and you’ll likely remember the times when someone genuinely praised you. Thankfully, you can praise people as often as you want, without the qualifiers.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and praise people more often?

Cheers,

Guy

Soft-Skills Training Doesn't Work for Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Soft-Skills Training Doesn’t Work for Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness

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As part of my self-awareness consulting services, I design soft-skills training programs that help leaders create happier workplaces and I’ve noticed a recurring pattern over the years: Many people think that you can change behaviors overnight. They talk earnestly with me about team building or effective communication and expect that a one-day training will resolve everything. I’ve even had leaders and HR managers who lack self-awareness ask me to change how their employees communicate in one hour.

People mean well but the reality is that it takes considerable time and effort for training to take root in an organization. Otherwise it has little chance of having any impact. Here are ten practical ideas to improve your chances of success:

  1. Commit to training on an ongoing basis. It helps to have a set time and place for the training that people can rely on.
  2. Support employees so they can keep practicing the new skills they acquire.
  3. Involve leadership from the very beginning and have them be present and participating actively in the training.
  4. Don’t try to do it on the cheap. Your investment up-front often determines your long-term training success.
  5. Focus on improving behaviors.
  6. Conduct repeated training people can count on.
  7. Attendance isn’t optional.
  8. Set goals so you can measure success.
  9. Train trainers so they can keep the process going.
  10. Make the training part of your company culture.

Leaders who don’t do these things are the ones who lack self-awareness and lament that soft-skills training doesn’t work. Those who decide to focus on these areas find that the training they provide has a much better chance at succeeding. It almost always depends on how committed leadership is to making it work and whether they’re in it for the long-term.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and make sure your training works?

Cheers,

Guy

Building a Culture of Workplace Self-Awareness and Team Building - Unlock Your True Potential: Empowering Tips for Building Self-Awareness

Building a Culture of Workplace Self-Awareness and Team Building

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Genuine team building goes beyond the occasional bonding activity or retreat to establishing a culture that encourages self-awareness, rewards collaboration, and teaches everyone in your workplace how to build and participate in cohesive teams. Here are five ideas to keep in mind as you begin creating a culture of self-awareness and team building in your organization:

  1. Team building flows from the top. Leaders who practice self-awareness set a positive example of how to behave in the workplace. They show employees the organization is genuinely interested in building healthy teams by actively setting up and participating in an ongoing program.
  1. Team building is a company value. You get to choose what your organization values and what it doesn’t and whether people in the organization work against each other or collaborate. You decide what behaviors are acceptable and encouraged in your workplace.
  1. Train the trainer. Set aside the time and resources to train people at all levels of the organizations who then train their particular departments until all employees have the knowledge to practice effective team building.
  1. Schedule regular time for team building activities. You show your employees that team building is a priority by establishing a weekly stand-alone activity that doesn’t have to share space with other meetings and is attended by people at all levels.
  1. Team building is about celebrating your employees. Design team building activities where leaders and employees can connect on a deeper level, build meaningful relationships and praise each other in public.

As a leader, you decide what kind of work environment you create and whether you commit long-term to making it easier for your employees to come together and work collaboratively. What will you do to support a culture of self-awareness and team building in your organization?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy