How Self-Aware Are You? (No, Really...)

Organizations benefit more from leaders who take responsibility for what they don’t know, than from leaders who pretend to know it all.

Although it is probably one of the least discussed leadership competencies, self-awareness is possibly one of the most valuable. Self-awareness is being conscious of what you're good at while acknowledging what you still have yet to learn.

In our highly competitive culture, admitting when you don't have the answer and owning up to mistakes can seem counterintuitive. In fact, many of us operate on the belief that we must appear as though we know everything all the time or else people will question our abilities, diminishing our effectiveness as leaders.

In reality, whether you acknowledge your weaknesses or not, everyone still sees them. So rather than conceal them, the person who tries to hide weaknesses actually highlights them, creating the perception of a lack of integrity and self-awareness.

On an interpersonal level, self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses can net you the trust of others and increase your credibility - both of which will increase your leadership effectiveness.

On an organizational level, the benefits are even greater. When you acknowledge what you have yet to learn, you're modeling that in your organization it's okay to admit you don't have all the answers, to make mistakes and most importantly, to ask for help. These are all characteristics of an organization that is constantly learning and springboards to innovation and agility - two hallmarks of high performing organizations.

Acknowledging the need to become better at anything is only the beginning, and it's often the most difficult step in the whole process. This difficulty to see in yourself what others see so easily is what makes the path to self-awareness so challenging.

One way to get started is by soliciting and listening to feedback from those who work with you. Once you've solicited feedback it's crucial that you listen without justifying your actions or people will stop giving you feedback.

The skill of asking good questions can be invaluable to you and your organization. When the question is about your own performance however, it can be harder to be objective about negative feedback. When you show that you are equally open to all types of feedback, you demonstrate self-awareness and the willingness to learn.

Asking questions models a solid, transparent approach to problem-solving and decision-making that benefits everyone in an organization. But perhaps most importantly, it models that it's okay not to know everything, which encourages everyone that it's okay to be constantly learning.

By modeling habits of good self-awareness you help to create a more self-aware organization. An organization that is self-aware is open to learning and better equipped to adjust quickly to changes as the marketplace dictates. This ability is the defining characteristic of a learning organization and possibly the most compelling reason all managers at all levels should include self-awareness in their development goals.

Leadership Development Through Self-Awareness

Self-awareness might sound more like a talk show topic than a leadership development tool. Yet, experts in all areas of coaching, education and leadership development converge on this as the key to many problems leaders face.

Most leaders are like thoroughbred racehorses, charging around the track at full tilt. They are not making it a priority to develop greater consciousness through techniques such as taking regular quiet self-reflection time, aggressively seeking to uncover what's in their blind spots, questioning their fundamental beliefs and how they relate to their behaviors, regularly seeking feedback from mentors or trusted advisers and learning from integrating career setbacks or failures. These are the practices that lead to new ways of operating.

Traditionally, leaders rise to a certain level because of the way they've done things, and then they tend to stick with them. In that way, their proven methods become less flexible as time goes on. In contrast, current and future leaders must be self-aware enough to want to detect their own errors, learn from mistakes and self-correct them throughout their entire career.

It's important to recognize the need for self-awareness. That starts with making it an explicit organizational value. It needs to be reflected in the organization's culture and also in hiring and selecting only those leaders who demonstrate humility (ego in check), as well as a strong willingness to seek knowledge about themselves, and who aren't afraid to say they value self-awareness. Those qualities at least unlock the door for more development.

Resource

Gifted Leaders, giftedleaders.com