Many of the great leaders and entrepreneurs are very self-aware. They know that self-awareness is an essential leadership skill. They know who they are and can see others and situations as they are These leaders are aware that this best ensures that appropriate steps are taken along the way. Not only is self-awareness great for the business world, but this skill will help you connect with others while also navigating life in a more meaningful way, allowing you to make more mindful choices.
6 Tips For How To Improve Self-Awareness:
1. Self-Reflection & Goals
Reflect on what matters most to you. Write out what motivates you, write down your goals and detail how you will achieve these goals and the timeline in which you will do them. Reflecting on these regularly and asking yourself whether these continue to resonate will ensure that you adapt and grow. Your desires and self-awareness may change over time. This is an excellent way of tracking that growth.
2. Feedback
Request feedback from colleagues and clients. Ideally, 360-degree feedback interviews with colleagues and clients would be performed. Short of this, reaching out to colleagues and clients for their feedback is powerful. Asking what their experience is of you, can tell you a lot about how you handle challenges, stress and success. This feedback loop will help you course-correct.
3. Listening
Listen to what others have to say – not only will this help you learn, but also it will help you communicate more effectively. Do your best to avoid defensiveness. Keep an open, growth-oriented mind. You can learn a lot by listening to other’s views. Taking those views and reflecting on them is a critical way of learning who you are and who you are not.
4. Work Journal
At the end of each day, take 5 minutes to write down what worked well and what didn’t work as effectively as you had hoped. Three things that went well and one growth opportunity. Seeing your strengths on paper is a real confidence booster. It helps you see how you succeed. As for something that you can improve upon, this helps understand the challenging themes that you experience. Reflecting on these and working with a thinking partner/executive coach can help you explore a more effective way to lead others.
5. Personality Test
There are countless personality tests available everything from Myers Briggs to Strengths Based Assessments to you name it. All can help to some extent in building self-awareness. Understanding your general tendencies is excellent. Taking that knowledge and putting your learning into action is where real growth happens. Working with an executive coach can help leverage these insights you have learned.
6. Trusted Friends
Take some time to ask trusted friends to describe how they experience you. Listen and avoid the judgment of what they have to say. Attempt to do this without a defensiveness. Doing this with humility can be incredibly insightful. Their words can help you see yourself more clearly.
Conclusion
Developing self-awareness takes effort, and time and diligence will pay off in the end. Keep focused and determined to grow self-awareness, and it will transform you, others you work with, and the business you run. Great executive leaders are incredibly self-aware. Knowing who you are, seeing others as they are and seeing the world as it is is an essential mode to success.