Examples of Self-Awareness

Self-Aware Leaders Welcome Change in the Workplace

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I train leaders who are at a point where the old stuff they’ve done isn’t working as well as they’d like and they’re looking to build self-awareness and make some changes. There are many different ways of defining change in the workplace and it’s up to each person to decide what will work for him or her. For some people it means building stronger teams or improving communication, for others it is making slight management changes or developing a plan.

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to changing your workplace, the idea is just to take some kind of action. You call the shots and you get to choose what you want to do. Here are some ideas to help you figure out how to build self-awareness and increase your likelihood of success.

Start Small
It’s much easier to start with small actions rather than trying to take on too much and becoming frustrated.

Be Concrete
Think about what you want to accomplish and then take small actions toward that goal.

Be Consistent
Keep doing things on an ongoing basis and make that routine part of your workplace.

Have Patience
Change doesn’t happen overnight, it takes continuous action over time and allowing time for the changes to take hold.

Celebrate
Enjoy the ride as your move toward your goals. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done and do the same for others.

Try these ideas as a practical way to think about change at work. Modify them to fit your particular goals. The whole point to thinking about these concepts is that change is natural and within your grasp. You have the ability to consciously move in any direction you decide to when you choose to take action.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and welcome change in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Do You Have the Self-Awareness to Communicate Effectively?

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Countless leaders lack the self-awareness to communicate effectively, instead creating workplaces where people do everything but exchange information positively.

A dynamic I’ve seen repeatedly over the years in many workplaces is when something goes wrong or a difficult situation comes up and people stop communicating. This can take the form of not talking to someone because a problem has arisen or ignoring people when things get difficult. The results of this type of behavior are less than stellar when dealing with co-workers or clients.

When you decide not to communicate it leads to making the situation worse because you don’t deal with the issue at hand and both sides are left to make assumptions and create a one-sided view of what’s going on. It’s the opposite of effective communication because there is no exchange of information or ideas.

So what causes this behavior and what can you do about it? Many leaders and employees who lack self-awareness mean well but behave this way because they have not learned how to deal with difficult communication situations. They get uncomfortable or shut down when something is too hard to deal with. Others get angry or hurt and, since they don’t yet have the skills to open the lines of communication, the problem simply gets worse. Here are some tips to help you communicate even in the most challenging situations.

1.  Realize that the situation is not personal.

2.  Let go of any need to win, be right or save face.

3.  Listen to what the other person has to say without rebutting or arguing.

4.  Work with the other person to find a mutually acceptable solution.

5.  Keep calm and look for ways to be accommodating and helpful.

6.  Be as open and transparent as possible.

7.  Work on your own emotional response to difficult situations.

8.  Take an effective communication class.

9.  Train all your employees so that communicate well.

10. Stop pretending that silence fixes things.

Try these ideas and you’ll get much better results than if you shut the communication down.  Workplaces are plagued by the damage that comes from well-meaning people shutting down the lines of communication.  What starts out as an attempt to avoid confrontation ends up creating one.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and communicate effectively?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Know Employees Matter

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Leaders who lack self-awareness try all kinds of strategies to show their employees they matter. These efforts frequently consist of well-meaning but superficial attempts to demonstrate how much the organization really cares. Things like:

  • The company picnic.
  • Employee of the month (including photo on wall).
  • Mention in the newsletter.
  • Bonus of some kind.
  • Giveaway of some kind.
  • Group email extolling some accomplishment.

These types of efforts yield short-term morale boosting results for the person being recognized. What they overlook is building morale by celebrating the unique talents and abilities of everyone and doing it on a deeper level.

So how do self-aware leaders show employees they matter? It’s a revolutionary process called listening to them, which works like this:

  1. Set up a time with the employee where you can talk with no interruptions and both of you are relaxed.
  2. Ask the employee how he or she is doing. Also ask what’s going well in their job and what they would improve. Ask them for their ideas on how to improve things. Make sure to ask only open-ended questions, the kind that don’t result in a yes or no.
  3. Listen to him or her without interrupting, getting defensive, opining, giving advice, fixing anything or reacting negatively.
  4. Repeat the process at a time convenient for both of you.

This practical approach will help you show your employees they matter in less time and with far greater meaning than any recognition program. The reason for this is that people like for their bosses to show an interest in them as well as value their input and wisdom. They like to be recognized on a personal level and feel like they’re important. Listening also builds rapport and trust on an individual level.

So much of the way many organizations run is squeezing the most performance possible out of everyone and then throwing them one or two a recognition crumbs. Self-aware leaders understand that connecting with their employees directly and compassionately creates a happier, more effective workplace. It also helps leaders because they gain insights and perspectives they might not otherwise if they hadn’t listened.

Listening is a powerful tool to validate your employees and show them they matter. Try this approach sometime and make it a habit. You’ll learn things about your employees and organization that will help you lead better and get more done. It also gives you a remarkable opportunity to take action to build a more highly functioning and happier workplace.

An important added benefit: Your employees will like you more. What will you do to develop self-awareness, listen to your employees, and show them they really matter?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Trust Their Employees

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I’ve met many leaders who lack self-awareness and don’t trust their employees. They hover endlessly around any given employee and offer “helpful” tips or constantly correct whatever the person is doing. They allow no independence and don’t delegate tasks. I’ve had leaders nonchalantly express in several workshops that they can’t trust their employees to do anything right so they have to do it themselves.

Guess what kind of workplace these leaders create? It’s usually one populated by employees who are flustered, annoyed, dependent, unfulfilled, unmotivated, and who don’t really care about their work. After all, why work hard when your talents and abilities will never be recognized?

Not trusting employees is not about being good or bad, you’ll just get better results if you trust people rather than constraining them. If you don’t trust your employees here are five tips to help you build self-awareness and move in a positive direction.

1.  Ask yourself the question, “Do I like it when people trust me?”  Most people feel great when their bosses trust them.

2.  Take a look at yourself.  There is a reason you don’t trust people because there are many leader who actually trust their staff and get excellent results from them.  Without mentioning your employees and focusing only on yourself, what is the reason?

3.  Provide educational opportunities.  If you feel you can’t trust an employee with a given task then provide training that will help them learn the necessary skills.  Extra credit if you allow someone else other than you do the training.

4.  Do you feel out of control when your employees make their own decisions?  This is a very normal feeling to have and it can be shifted by simply giving people the ability to work independently.

5.  Change your focus.  If all you think about is that people are untrustworthy then that’s the kind of workplace you’ll create.  Look for ways to focus on how you can trust your employees more every day.

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Trust is earned,” which too often allows leaders who lack self-awareness set arbitrary and constantly changing standards that nobody can ever meet. Granted, there are going to be employees that you can’t trust because you caught them stealing but, for everyone else, they’re just there to try to do a good job if you’ll let them. You decide whether you give them the benefit of the doubt or keep them stuffed in a box.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and trust your employees more?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Effective Communication, and Interviewing for the Ideal Candidate

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Self-aware leaders and organizations can use effective communication skills like active listening and open-ended questions to increase their chances of hiring excellent people. Let’s look at how you can use these skills to understand your job candidates better and increase the likelihood that you’ll find a person who is a good fit for your organization.

Open ended questions area a valuable tool to help you get more information in less time. When you’re developing open-ended interview questions, think in terms of asking questions that allow people to answer without saying yes or no such as, “In what ways does your previous experience relate to A or B,” or “Tell me more about your philosophy on A or B and how it would impact C and D,” or “How would you deal with A, B, C?”

Open-ended questions allow the candidate to demonstrate proficiency in whatever area you would like to highlight. They also help you steer the conversation away from proscribed questioning that tends to elicit yes or no or canned answers. They make your job easier because the candidate is required to show you what they know and tell you about himself or herself without you having to guess.

Active listening is another key skill to help you obtain information that you might not get in a standard interview. Practice asking a question and then not talking at all. Let the candidate tell you about their perspective and only prompt when absolutely necessary and, then, only to encourage them to keep expanding on the subject. You don’t have to direct the conversation so it makes the process more enjoyable. Remember that you can’t listen actively if you’re busy talking.

Practice these skills and you’ll get to the core of what you want to learn about the candidate and make better hiring decisions. It’s remarkable what happens when we simply listen to people telling us about themselves.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice effective communication in your interviews?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Benefits of Workplace Diversity

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Walk into any workplace and you’ll get a pretty good sense whether their leadership possesses self-awareness and values diversity. Better yet, visit the executive suite and see whether their leadership reflects their workforce. I’ve talked with leaders who get bent out of shape about diversity training because they think it’s about redistributing power or opening up wounds. I like to think of it as a way of building a stronger organization. Here are ten benefits of workplace diversity:

  1. Employees get along better.
  2. People trust employees outside their own group.
  3. Everyone is welcome and respected.
  4. All ideas and perspectives are welcome.
  5. People’s talents are recognized.
  6. The company culture encourages positive interaction.
  7. Cross-pollination of ideas and perspectives.
  8. Leadership and employees aren’t separate.
  9. No cliques or privileged groups.
  10. Celebration of all people.

Think of what your workplace would be like if you enjoyed all ten of these benefits. Self-aware leaders understand that having their people get along and support each other creates a much more effective organization than one filled with mistrust and strife.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and enjoy the benefits of diversity in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness Decrease Workplace Morale

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A prevalent leadership style in our culture is to lack self-awareness, run around all day telling people what to do and, in the process, decrease workplace morale. Some innovators ignore beneficial advice and keep doing things that lead in a negative direction. Other visionaries hover over their employees to make sure they’re, “Doing it the right way.” These types of leadership behaviors are the same as telling people that they aren’t smart enough and can’t possibly do things on their own which, in turn, leads to sagging morale. Here are ten tips to help you keep this kind of workplace going and make sure you all enjoy low morale.

  1. Don’t praise people unless you’re trying to get them to do something for you.
  2. Always point out what people aren’t doing correctly and use it as an opportunity to tell them what to do again and again.
  3. Behave inconsistently: be stern one minute, angry the next and occasionally nice but not too nice because that shows weakness.
  4. Always stick to the rules regardless of extenuating circumstances or common-sense concerns.
  5. Focus on practicing behaviors that don’t work like micromanaging, forcing people to do things they don’t want to do or shouting at them.
  6. Tell people they mean a lot to you and your organization and then pay them inadequately and expect them to work like machines.
  7. Stifle creativity by discounting people’s ideas and telling them to stick to the way things have always been done.
  8. Let people know how lucky they are to work for your organization and remind them that it’s a tough world out there if they can’t handle it in here.
  9. Value profits and productivity over people at all times.
  10. Stay away from letting people use their genuine talents and abilities or do work that’s meaningful to them.

Many well-meaning leaders design workplaces very similar to this. It’s not that they’re evil or mean, it’s just that this is the way things have been done for a long time. Your challenge as a leader is to find ways to be self-aware and do the opposite of the examples we’ve mentioned here in order to create a workplace where people feel valued and morale soars. The process starts by examining your own behavior and taking action to move in a positive direction.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve morale in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy