Are you a self-aware leader?

Answering yes means that you recognize what you’re good at and what you’re not. It means that you understand what you know and what you don’t. Most of all, it means that you’ve learned what you can do yourself and what you should give away to others.

Self-awareness multiplies your capacity to lead and makes you a more effective manager, relator and communicator. The personal and professional implications are staggering:

• You understand the truth about yourself. You see your own strengths and weaknesses and confidently hire team members who compensate. You readily acknowledge the strength of the team over and above your own agenda.
• You recognize how other people perceive you. You moderate your behavior with keen situational awareness. You are sensitive to team culture, work relationships and collaborative opportunities.
• You see reality for what it is. There’s a ready willingness to explore, listen, measure and investigate. You listen to the truth and accept constructive criticism leading to better outcomes and greater effectiveness.
• You have clarity about your environment. Where others see confusion and get lost in the whirlwind of day-to-day busyness, you have clarity about where you are and where you’re going.

What can you do to improve your self-awareness quotient? A few ideas include:

• Assess yourself. Plato said it well, “know thyself.” Commit to learn more about your personality—your character, feelings, motives, habits and skills. Learn more about yourself with personal assessments such as DiSC, Myers-Briggs and StrengthsFinder 2.0.
• Engage a coach. There’s a reason that high capacity leaders and self-aware people have personal and professional life coaches. It works. Engaging a coach to ask probing questions from a neutral point of view leads to increased clarity and awareness.
• Ask a co-worker. A sure sign of leadership maturity is a willingness to engage your supervisor in frank discussions about strengths, weaknesses, blind spots and workplace perceptions. If you have a good relationship with a supervisor, direct report or co-worker, then make yourself vulnerable enough to start an introspective conversation.
• Talk to a friend. People who know you best are uniquely qualified to provide honest feedback on your self-awareness IQ.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Awareness about yourself and how you’re perceived by others is important. Self-awareness multiplies your capacity to lead and makes you a more effective manager, relator and communicator.

Resources

• “7 Signs You’re Not as Self-Aware as You Think” by Steve Tobak
• “All Successful Leaders Need This Quality: Self-Awareness” by Victor Lipman
• “Confidence, Uncertainty and Spiritual Leadership” on Big Ideas Blog
• “From Self-Reliance to God-Reliance” on Big Ideas Blog
• StrengthsFinder
• DiSC Reports
• PLACE Ministries