Self-Knowledge Archives – Page 19 of 39

Self-Aware Leaders Are Visionary

May 17, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-aware leaders are visionary because they have worked through the issues that get in the way of creativity and are able to see the big picture and look ahead instead of being stuck always doing the same unproductive things.

If you want to be a profoundly average leader who lacks self-awareness, unvisionary leadership allows you to create a mediocre workplace where people are unhappy, undervalued and underutilized so that someone can make a buck. A large percentage of our workplaces follow this approach when they could just as easily design a profitable organization that treats it’s people well and functions nimbly and creatively. Here are some examples of the contrast between unvisionary and visionary leadership:

Unvisionary: Focus on making money regardless of how you treat employees.
Visionary: Make money while treating your employees kindly and compassionately.

Unvisionary: Find ways to cut pay, perks and benefits.
Visionary: Identify ways to increase pay, perks and benefits.

Unvisionary: Use punishment to try to manage behavior.
Visionary: Use positive reinforcement to encourage positive behavior.

Unvisionary: Spend each day scrambling from one emergency to the next.
Visionary: Plan calmly in advance and include your employees in the process.

Unvisionary: Limit employees’ input and keep them in a box.
Visionary: Encourage creative thinking and listen to people’s ideas.

Unvisionary: Resist change.
Visionary: Welcome change.

Unvisionary: Run your organization from the top down.
Visionary: Give people at all levels power, automy and decision-making ability.

Unvisionary: Provided limited training and expect people to perform perfectly.
Visionary: Provide ongoing training and educational opportunities.

Unvisionary: Make sure people in leadership positions have no self-awareness.
Visionary: Hire or train emotionally intelligent, compassionate leaders.

Your workplace reflects your underlying leadership values and beliefs. Any shift in how your organization functions begins with you imagining that things can be different. You can choose to design a workplace that makes a profit while honoring employees, but it can’t happen unless you believe it’s possible and are willing to take action to make it a reality.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice visionary leadership?

Cheers,

Guy

Your Self-Awareness Journey

May 17, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Your self-awareness journey is particular to you. It will go in any direction that you commit to going. That means that you get to choose what you do and how you move forward. Don’t worry about what others say, it’s up to you which path you take. The key is to make decisions based on your authentic self and enjoy the trip. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Be open to new ideas and approaches.
Commit to getting to know yourself at a deep level.
Work on healing your inner hurts.
Create an inventory of the things you do well and the areas you want to improve.
Talk to some professionals about building self-awareness.
Resolve to live your life based on who you really are deep inside.
Understand how your emotions, thoughts, and actions affect your life.
Decide to live consciously.

Cheers,

Guy

Increasing Self-Awareness Helps You Build Positive Relationships

May 16, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Increasing self-awareness helps you build positive relationships with others and make decisions that help you treat yourself well and move your life in a beneficial direction. Try asking yourself some questions to decide what kind of relationships you want in your life, such as:

What kind of person do I want to be with?
How do I want them to treat me?
What kind of relationship do I want?
What am I doing to have a great relationship with myself without a significant other in the picture?
What can I do to make sure I take care of myself and move in a positive direction?
How do I define love or friendship?
What things am I doing to build up my self-awareness so I am able to invite positive people into my life?

Take some time to think about questions like these. After a while you’ll have a clearer idea of what kind of relationships are best for you. They key is to know yourself and be healthy enough to attract positive people into your life. It all starts with you.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and build positive relationships?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Building Confidence

May 15, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

People who lack self-awareness often ask me how to increase their confidence. It’s been my experience that people build their confidence by doing things they enjoy and experiencing both success and failure. The common denominator is that confident people tend to be those who confront the challenges in their lives and learn from the outcomes.

Eleanor Roosevelt said:

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

Taking deliberate and conscious action to increase self-awareness and doing things purposefully to work toward some goal will help you become a confident person. We all have an incredible ability to take on any challenge in our lives, we just have to be willing to actually do something to make things happen.

Try taking on a challenge today and keep doing it until you are an expert. Put one foot in front of the other and keep walking. Then take on another challenge and keep going. In time you’ll wonder why you ever lacked confidence at all.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and build up your confidence?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Have Great Listening Skills

May 14, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

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

Signs of Self-Awareness

May 13, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

I’m often asked whether one can tell when someone has self-awareness. When you’re working on understanding yourself well you might be doing some of the following things:

Becoming the most effective you possible.
Functioning well in life.
Achieving what you want.
Finding happiness and balance.
Letting go of negative behaviors.
Being comfortable with who you are.
Resolving personal issues.
Enjoying your career.
Loving yourself and others.
Living consciously.
Being proactive rather than reactive.

Many people let life happen to them because they feel they can’t change or develop in any way. The good news is that anyone can move in any direction as long as he or she is willing to put in the effort to make things happen. You decide what happens in your life and whether you believe in using self-awareness as a tool to help you grow and succeed.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Communication in Your Family

May 11, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can improve communication in your family because, when people understand their own and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, they are able to interact positively.

Families are interesting entities in that they can be a source both of great strength but also amazing frustration. The people I’ve worked with have taught me many things about families and I’d like to share a few so that you may find self-awareness, happiness, and balance in your family:

1. It’s OK to ask for what you need from your family.
2. It’s OK to speak up in your family.
3. It’s OK to challenge things you don’t agree with in your family.
4. It’s advisable to talk with family members with the same care and respect you would show to anyone else.
5. We should talk about our family’s challenges and do away with secrets.
6. It’s OK for families to talk about difficult things and try to find ways to function more effectively.
7. Families can change any time they want.
8. Families often benefit from having an uninvolved, outside person give them a fresh perspective on what’s going on and how to fix it.
9. We owe it to ourselves and our families to be as healthy as possible.
10. Why live in misery when we can work toward joy and balance?

Families often get stuck doing things a certain way because they don’t know about any other way to do things. It’s been my experience that there is always hope for happiness and reconciliation. All it takes is some courage and some work.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve the communication in your family?

Cheers,

Guy