Examples of Self-Awareness Archives – Page 9 of 45

People Who Lack Self-Awareness Crave Power and Control

December 17, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

There is an emptiness to power and control that many people in positions of affluence and influence experience when they increase their self-awareness and realize it doesn’t matter how much they dominate others when they themselves don’t feel balanced and happy inside.

A lot of people seek power and control even though it doesn’t provide them with deep, abiding fulfillment. Sure, it can produce temporary, superficial gratification, but that doesn’t feed the need for meaning. The only way to be truly happy in life is to have inner power and control by healing one’s hurts and being as healthy as possible toward oneself and others.

A lot of people think having power and control means subjugating or dominating others; qualities that are dramatically different from inner peace and balance. The key to living a genuinely happy life is to be so self-aware that it radiates outward and helps others grow and succeed. What will you do improve your self-awareness instead of craving power and control?

Cheers,

Guy

Leadership, Lack of Self-Awareness, and Workplace Communication

December 12, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Most leaders will tell you that communication is vital to a well-functioning workplace. Then they demonstrate their lack of self-awareness by screaming, ignoring, dominating, misunderstanding or annoying their employees. There is a huge gap between what leaders say they know about effective communication and what they actually practice. Here are five of the biggest workplace communication mistakes.

1. Not listening. How can you gather the information you need or figure out what is going on in your workplace if you don’t listen? You can’t. Listening is the most vital skill to acquire information, promote collaboration and build trust in the workplace.

2. Assuming you know what the other person is going to say. Cutting people off because you’ve “heard it all before” or you’re irritated is a great way to tell your employees they don’t matter. Try listening to your employees without interrupting before you decide you know what they’re talking about.

3. Thinking of the next thing you want to say instead of what the other person is saying. Many leaders are obsessed with the next wonderful thing they’re going to say. Fight this urge by clearing your mind before and while you’re listening to your employees and focusing on understanding what they’re saying.

4. Getting angry or upset and reacting negatively to what you’re hearing. Your employees will be much less likely to share information or ideas with you if you always fly off the handle. Communication doesn’t have to be a constant struggle. Work on controlling your own emotions so you can communicate on a deeper level with your employees.

5. Not setting aside time to talk. Hurried conversations often end up in misunderstandings because the participants haven’t devoted the time necessary to get on the same page. Make sure your important conversations are carried out with plenty of time for each participant to understand what’s being said.

Do you recognize yourself in any of these five concepts? If so, no worries, simply make small adjustments to develop your self-awareness and move toward a more balanced communication style that will get you better results. Effective communication is about practicing positive behaviors every day, not just saying you do. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and practice effective communication?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Choose Courage over Fear

December 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness helps you choose courage over fear because life has a way of creating challenging situations whether you want them or not. When these difficult circumstances present themselves you have a choice as to whether you think and behave based on fear or courage. Each approach leads you in a different direction and only one helps you live a more balanced, happy life. Lets look at a few examples of the difference between the two:

Fear: I’ve always done it this way.
Courage: I can try something new.

Fear: I hate change.
Courage: I see change as an opportunity.

Fear: That issue is too daunting and complex.
Courage: I can resolve the issue little by little.

Fear: I need to control everything and everyone around me.
Courage: I’m fine with letting go of control.

Fear: That’s unfamiliar and strange.
Courage: I can learn something from it.

Fear: Self-awareness is for people who eat granola.
Courage: I’m willing to learn about myself and others.

Living in fear limits your opportunities while thinking and acting with courage helps you deal with any situation that comes your way. The idea in life is to think and behave in ways that help you be more flexible and resilient, not less. What will you do to develop self-awareness so you can choose courage over fear?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Can Help You Practice Effective Team Building

December 2, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A lot of leaders and organizations want to practice effective team building but don’t have the self-awareness to actually do it. I often hear people in workplaces saying things out loud that illustrate why they aren’t building teams, but they’re not aware they’re doing it. People have beliefs hardwired inside them that they don’t even realize get in the way of bringing employees together and encouraging them to collaborate. Here are ten of the most prevalent beliefs that show a lack of self-awareness and that block team building.

They’ll never get along. If you believe people won’t get along they’ll prove you right almost every time.
We’re rugged individualists. Individuals functioning in this way aren’t as adept at working in teams as people who believe in collaboration.
If you want it done right do it yourself. If you’re doing everything it leaves your team stranded and feeling like they can’t do anything right.
Teams must have a strong leader. It’s often the strong leader that gets in the way of everyone having a voice and participating actively.
Collaboration was fine in kindergarten but this is the real world. If you believe this then I know how you practice team building.
Everybody has a specific job. This keeps people firmly in their boxes and discourages creativity.
Team building is secondary to productivity. Many leaders overlook the idea that if you build a strong foundation of high-functioning teams you become more productive.
Team building is too touchy-feely. Leaders who believe this create workplaces that only allow three feelings: forced happiness, fear and anger.
I don’t have to participate. Nothing says you lack commitment to team building than not participating in it with your employees.
I don’t have time for team building. This is like saying you don’t have time to build a roof over your building because you’ve got to get to work and then it rains and soaks everything.

Self-aware leaders understand that team building is a vital building block to create workplaces where people interact positively and help each other get things done. The way you actually build teams is to have the self-awareness to objectively review and understand the team building strengths and areas for improvement in your workplace and take action in small increments over time. You might offer ongoing team building training or provide opportunities for people to work together to solve problems. Some organizations form brainstorming groups that tackle thorny issues. The idea is to gradually build a workplace where working collaboratively is encouraged. What will you do to create a culture of self-awareness and team building in your organization?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Can Help You Talk about Difficult Topics

November 27, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you talk about difficult topics with others because, the more you know yourself, the better able you are to have complex conversations with others.

There’s a frequently recited adage that you shouldn’t talk about religion and politics in polite company, advice created by people who don’t know how to talk about charged topics without getting angry or hurt. The key to effective communication is for the participants to have the self-awareness to realize that other people’s ideas, beliefs, values and opinions aren’t necessarily an attack on their own, just another perspective. Here are some ideas that will help you talk about difficult issues in your personal or professional life:

Go in with good intentions. Keep an open mind and engage in the conversation with the idea that you’re going to learn something and that you’ll do everything you can to make sure things go well.

Assume the other person isn’t trying to hurt you. Interact based on the premise that you’re having a positive two-way conversation, not that you’re walking into a life-threatening ambush.

Listen to the other person. Don’t talk, interrupt or give your opinion, just listen actively and learn about the other person’s point of view whether you agree with it or not.

Practice self-awareness. Be aware of your own thoughts, feelings and actions and manage them so you don’t get angry or defensive.

Stay calm. Communication doesn’t have to be a contact sport, it can be calm and pleasant.

Resist the urge to fight back. Increase your chances of interacting positively by keeping yourself under control.

Avoid participating in an argument. Look at the conversation as an opportunity to learn about another perspective instead of creating conflict.

Realize the other person’s point of view is just a point of view. No matter what someone says, it doesn’t mean that you have to change your values or beliefs.

Know when to back off. Sometimes people aren’t ready or able to talk about a certain topic. Let them know you’re available to talk when they’re ready.

Individuals who understand and master these skills are able to talk about any issue because their communication style shifts from confrontational to actively listening to what other people are saying. Virtually nothing someone else says merits an explosive reaction unless you decide it does. The key to effective communication is to move from reacting viscerally to consciously working on listening, learning and getting along with the other person. What will you do to increase your self-awareness so you’re able to talk about difficult topics?

Cheers,

Guy

How to Achieve Goals and Increase Self-Awareness

November 17, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Here are some practical tips to achieve goals and increase self-awareness:

Pick one issue you want to work on. Define it as specifically and narrowly as possible.
Keep your goal manageable. For example: “I will write one chapter of my book,” “I’m going to work on 50 books.” This sets you up for success instead of feeling disappointed because you took on too much at once.
Monitor your progress and celebrate as you go along. When you accomplish one task, congratulate yourself and reflect on the great work you did.
Keep taking small steps even when you don’t feel like it. You will feel at times that nothing positive is happening. Keep pushing through those thoughts by continuing to take action.

An important part of self-awareness is to keep things manageable and work little by little. It’s the small steps that eventually lead to big results.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Team Building, and Workplace Relationships

November 12, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

If you’re a leader who possesses self-awareness, then you know how important team building and promoting positive workplace relationships are to creating a healthy, high-functioning organization.

The leaders and employees I consult with frequently talk to me about not feeling like they connect with certain people in the workplace. It’s almost as if they lack self-awareness and expect the other person to behave a certain way or read their mind. This is a very common experience in workplace relationships: One person expects a certain kind of interaction while the other seems oblivious. This dynamic leads to a lot of frustrated people and poorly functioning teams.

The difficulty arises when people hold on to their expectations even when they see repeated evidence that they will never get what they want. They hang on to their hopes for a long time waiting for something to magically change. Their expectations can easily become an obstacle to building positive workplace relationships because they expect things to go a certain way rather than working on improving their own self-awareness and dealing with what’s actually happening.

No amount of hope can change the course of your work relationships and you can’t wish your way out of a negative situation. The only way you can introduce positive energy into your relationships is by having the self-awareness to do things that change the patterns you’ve established.

Changing the way you do things is the only way to affect your situation. No amount of hope or expectations can take the place of being self-aware and applying effective behaviors such as excellent communication, team building or problem solving skills. The great news is that you can do things to change the course of your work relationships, it just requires some courage and taking action to move in a different direction.

What will you do to use self-awareness to promote team building and positive workplace relationships?

Cheers,

Guy