Self-Awareness Improves Everything About Leading Others Profitably

If you're like most people, you probably think of self-awareness as a personality trait that some lucky people are born with, and others never have the chance to develop. But the truth is that self-awareness is a skill that can be learned and honed over time. And as a business leader, it's one of the most important skills you can possess. In fact, it's been shown to be critical in achieving success both professionally and personally. So, what are the habits of self-aware business leaders? And how can you develop them in yourself? Keep reading to find out.

Some of these situations might be familiar: a coworker who shouts at meetings, someone with body odor, the colleague who wears too much fragrance, the person who avoids eye contact during meetings, or the colleague who thinks that taking a ream of paper home from the office is not stealing.

These provocative examples underscore why increasing self-awareness is essential in getting along, leading, and succeeding in modern organizations. Emerging research from consulting firm giant KornFerry indicates that the rate of return to shareholders is greater in companies that employ people with high self-awareness than in organizations that do not.

Self-awareness is a critical and neglected element of leadership and organizational performance.

A self-aware leader has insight into their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and how they affect others. Unfortunately, self-awareness is an overlooked and underdeveloped skill area in leader and manager development. We need to focus more on this topic because increased self-awareness results in positive gains in happiness and provides competitive advantages.

The marketplace for self-aware leaders is increasingly competitive because of their capacity to learn, solve problems, and innovate. The Industrial-Age era combination of experience and skill is no longer sufficient to develop organizations that retain customers or exceed measurable goals. Real growth in self-awareness demands significant amounts of feedback, observation, reflection, and development.

Drawing widely on the psychology of Jung, Maslow, and Kegan, trailblazing Organization Development scholar-practitioner Charlie Seashore articulated a Use of Self approach, which connects the concept of self-awareness with the purposeful choice of development. Others might describe this as the development of consciousness.

Self-aware leaders deploy their talents to their interests and their audiences. They succeed because they are aware of both strengths and limitations. These leaders work towards the full and genuine expression of self. When support or feedback systems are in crisis or diminished, or when we feel threatened, personal and leadership effectiveness suffers. However, self-aware individuals know how to optimize learning; they can influence others and achieve desired organizational results.

Self-awareness promotes choice and flexibility.

Sometimes, leaders lose control in moments of complete frustration, and raw emotion overpowers self-awareness. While single events provide some of the best insight and education into the practice of leadership and management, patterns tell us more about an individual's long-term effectiveness. Self-aware people pay attention to physical responses and reactions that trigger specific responses and behaviors.

There are straightforward and everyday approaches to improving self-awareness.

We will always value those who show a genuine approach to learning and the development of others. Pursuing increased self-awareness might require leaning into discomfort and acknowledging mistakes and missteps limiting effectiveness and influence. Set reminders to develop your skills, enhance inner harmony, and lead effectively.

1. Acknowledge your motivation to improve. Acknowledgment may be the most challenging step in the process of changing, developing, and growing. It is essential to understand your drive or motivation to change. Goals will be as unique as the individual. One might have a goal for career advancement, and another might focus on improving one interpersonal relationship with better insight into how they manage conflict.

Successful personal change and development typically includes the support of others. When you focus on what's important, you're likely to begin interrupting some internal hardwiring. When you dig into your improvement opportunity, do not forget the more significant outcome of becoming and bringing more of your authentic self to your work.

2. Don't underestimate or undermine yourself. As you execute your plan and take advantage of interactions that promote learning, don't underestimate your current abilities or the impact you make on others. As you experiment and have changes take shape, take others along with you. As you succeed and increase your self-awareness, you can choose to be a better colleague and people developer. Be hopeful about the possibilities of growth and change.

3. Inventory what is important. Know and invest in your values. A plan to improve self-awareness begins with stock-taking. Open your inventory to others; as you rediscover what's important to you, consider the voice of others. Be able to distinguish bedrock from the foundation, and equip yourself with a mindset and tools to support your growth and development.

4. Have a vision or plan. Sustained change begins with a goal and a plan. Meaningful development requires the skill to distinguish the essential from the unimportant. Also, it may require effort and progress measured in degrees of magnitude. One person's Titanic-sized goal may be pea-sized to another. A planned approach for development commands your intention and honors your efforts. This vision or plan must clearly state your aim.

5. Get feedback. Feedback informs the choices you make. From less to more formal, there are many approaches for generating feedback. Every interaction provides an opportunity for feedback. Considered in this way, the critical skills to emphasize are listening and asking good questions. You can do this with friends and colleagues at work.

You can also avail yourself of standardized assessments. These might include personality and relationship assessments. Your organization might have self-other feedback programs. You can hire a coach and design feedback systems specific to your needs and interests. Often, self-awareness increases when we pay attention to feedback outside of our scope of awareness. Well-prepared feedback may create awareness for change or may be one of the critical factors towards shaping your development plan.

6. Assess and understand. Moving from a state of less self-awareness to more self-awareness requires the critical ability to evaluate progress. You will need opportunities to assess and test your progress. Many who succeed at increasing self-awareness keep a journal or create times to slow down for reflection. The result of your improvement plan will contribute to your action and presence in the world.

7. Model behaviors. From about age six, we understand that others have feelings and thoughts that may differ from our own and that we are uniquely capable of influencing others. To develop empathy, we encourage three actions: a) develop perspective, b) practice the platinum rule of "treat others the way they want to be treated" and, c) learn from and with others. These same approaches merit the attention of those seeking to lead and manage others and to become increasingly influential in their contribution to fulfilling an organization's purpose.

8. Make time for reflection. Our list ends with the second most difficult item related to increasing self-awareness (the first is acknowledging your motivation). When some think of review, eyes begin to close, ever-attendant to relentlessly improving or adding activity an already too-short day. Some can make time for reflection daily -- using commute time, incorporating calendar time, or finding it during exercise time. Others plan for regular postmortems or other periodic reviews (e.g., the quarterly business review, "lessons learned" sessions). The self-aware make reflection routine and habitual.

Charting Next Steps

Self-awareness expands the ability to engage up, down, and across an organization. Increasing self-awareness related to a company's inspiring leadership principles results in meaningful and measurable outcomes relevant to multiple stakeholders, including C-suite executives, the Board of Directors, customers, and employees. When leaders help others increase self-awareness, leaders increase the capacity to focus on what matters in an organization. We make progress when leaders move from role-based behaviors to directly engaging and helping individuals and groups, accelerating time to value through increased self-awareness.

The self-aware leader can engage in and work with differences in the organization. When we value differences, we increase the confidence and the respect others place in us to lead.