Work Environment and Self-Awareness

How Self-Aware Leaders Deal with Problems at Work - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

How Self-Aware Leaders Deal with Problems at Work

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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 - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

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

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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 - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Leadership, Self-Awareness, and Your Beliefs

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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 and Building a Healthy Organization - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Building a Healthy Organization

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Although profits are vitally important to the success of any business, there are other factors that, when added to the quest for money, contribute to a company’s overall well-being. These are the less visible elements that influence how successful an organization is, like self-awareness, leadership, vision, morale and motivation. When you pay attention to these areas you build a healthy foundation that makes your organization stronger. Let’s look at some practical questions you can ask yourself to develop self-awareness and evaluate the health of your organization.

  • What do your employees really think about your leadership?
  • What are the areas your organization is never able to fix?
  • If you asked other organizations what you could improve, what might they say?
  • What would an outside person say is the general health of your organization?
  • What’s your turnover like and how do you retain talent?
  • What opportunities to grow do you offer your employees?
  • How fulfilled do your employees feel in their jobs?
  • How are decisions made in your organization? For example: Top down, bottom up or horizontally. What could be modified to function even more effectively?
  • How much autonomy do your employees have to make decisions?
  • What is the morale and motivation in your organization like at every level?
  • In what ways and how often do you talk openly with all your employees?
  • How easy is it to disrupt the veneer of civility between people in your organization?
  • What would an outside observer say about how your employees are treated?
  • How does your organization encourage creativity?
  • What do your clients say about your organization?
  • What do you need in terms of people and resources to address these issues?

Leaders have a choice whether they build a profitable company where people are miserable or where they’re happy. Ask yourself questions like the ones we’ve looked at here and you’ll be on your way to building an organization that not only makes money, but does so in a healthy and balanced way.

What will you do to increase self-awareness and build a healthy organization?

Cheers,

Guy

Employees Hate Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Employees Hate Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness

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I’ve worked with a lot of different leaders as a consultant and I’ve noticed that the ones who lack self-awareness consistently do things to make their employees unhappy. None of these people are uncaring, unprofessional or evil in any way, they just don’t know what else to do. It’s as if they let things get out of hand one little step at a time until, one day, the car is driving off the cliff.

Very few leaders go to work with the intention of damaging their employees but there are an alarming number of workplaces where, if you asked employees, the boss would be less popular than a toothache. Here are ten things I’ve noticed leaders who lack self-awareness do that increase the chances their employees will hate them.

1.  Never ask for feedback.
2.  Never listen, just talk at people.
3.  Tell people you’re treating them poorly for their own good.
4.  Don’t allow people to complain or dissent in any way.
5.  Make the workplace hyper-competitive instead of collaborative.
6.  Hang out with pet employees and show favoritism.
7.  Don’t be consistent in your decision making.
8.  Run around like everything is an emergency.
9.  Micromanage a lot and give a lot of unsolicited advice.
10.  Treat people like they don’t know anything and you don’t trust them.

Have you ever worked with someone like this? Think of what kind of workplace it created. A large percentage of workplaces actually run like this even if they have a veneer of civility. This is usually because we’ve let our organizations run out of control one small step at a time by forgetting that employees are really valuable and important. Try doing the opposite of these things and you’ll find your employees will like you a lot more. You don’t have to be perfect, just start changing the direction of your leadership one small step at time.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be a leader that is liked?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Realize Team Building Isn't Just about Them - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

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

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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-Aware Leaders Support Team Building, and Conflict Resolution - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware Leaders Support Team Building, and Conflict Resolution

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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

The Self-Awareness Guy