Leadership Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Being a Good Person

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Leaders spend a lot of time trying to be productive or interact effectively with their staff without first building a foundation for success.  They read vast quantities of material or try many leadership approaches only to find that nothing works quite well enough.  That’s why there are so many leadership books.

Let’s try to simplify this whole leadership thing and figure out what creates amazing leaders.  I’m going to let you in on this coveted secret, it’s…

Build up Your Self-Awareness So You Can Be a Good Person

Pretty simple isn’t it, but think of all the chaos that is created in countless workplaces because leaders try to ignore this vital idea.  The reason leaders get tied up in knots and lose their way is because they forget to be good people.  I’ll leave it to you to decide how you define good person but it includes some of the following behaviors:

  1. Give without expecting anything in return.
  2. Treat others kindly.
  3. Set an example you and others genuinely admire.
  4. Don’t do stuff that hurts others.
  5. Be proud of your behavior, don’t behave out of pride.
  6. Listen to the voice inside you that tells you you’re off course.
  7. Don’t compromise your ethics or justify negative behavior.
  8. Heal yourself and be happy.
  9. Behave with humility.
  10. Practice empathy.

Leaders who do these things will struggle far less with having to twist logic and reality to get results.  When you’re a good person you do things that are observable by everyone around you.  When people ask your employees they confirm you’re a great person.

You don’t have to be perfect and you’ll notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that you have to be obnoxious or preachy about doing these things.  Just be someone who leads from a place of self-awareness, kindness, humility and balance.  What will you do to increase your self-awareness and be a good person?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Benefits of Being Wrong as a Leader

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Leaders who possess self-awareness understand that it’s okay to be wrong and that it is a positive way to learn new things, grow, and move in more beneficial directions.

Yet a lot of leaders seem to live in a world where they cannot be wrong. No matter how dire the situation or how obvious their mistake is, they obstinately stick to their position and insist they are right.

Many people are taught at a young age that it’s not OK to be wrong, that somehow there is something wrong with them if they say or do something incorrectly. This point of view has a limiting effect on them that ranges from not taking risks because they’re afraid to fail, to not communicating their needs because they’re fearful of the repercussions.

Being wrong is not as horrible as it is portrayed in our workplaces so go ahead and relax as you increase your self-awareness and think of the following benefits next time you miss the mark on something:

Being Wrong is a Learning Experience

People forget that human beings can learn valuable lessons from being wrong. We find out what we can and can’t do and what we will avoid in the future. If we look at being wrong as an opportunity for building self-awareness and growing, it loses its stigma.

You Get to Let Go

If you don’t worry about being wrong you can let go of all that fear and trepidation. You don’t need to be concerned about making a mistake and you can try new things and relax a little more. You also get to enjoy being more self-aware and not making your life a living hell by hating yourself when something doesn’t go exactly to plan.

You’re Like Everyone Else

The best kept secret is that everybody is wrong all the time. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t make mistakes. So relax a little, you’re perfectly normal. It’s human to not be right all the time and we have the capacity to learn from these situations.

Being wrong is just a sign that you’re trying to learn new things and experience the world. Try thinking of it as a way the universe has put together of teaching you valuable life lessons. If you think about it, there is no mistake that we can’t learn from. It’s up to us whether we make it into a tragedy or an opportunity.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve your leadership by admitting when you’re wrong?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Why Leaders Should Care about Diversity

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Leaders frequently ask me why they should care at all about diversity. My answer is usually related to building self-awareness and using diversity as a tool to help the organization move forward positively. Certain policies and behaviors lead in one direction while others create different results. The outcome is up to each company. Think about the following outcomes when thinking about how to increase self-awareness and create a diversity-friendly environment, these are the potential payoffs for your company of paying attention to diversity.

1. Increased trust.

2. Greater collaboration.

3. Resolution of differences.

4. Improved communication.

5. Better staff cohesion.

Now think of the effects of each of these five outcomes and project what each of them might do for your company’s bottom line. Imagine if your company excels in even one area. What would happen if it achieved all five?

Companies who commit to developing self-awareness and making diversity a positive force in the workplace reap substantial benefits because they get rid obstacles to success. The good news is that organizations can move in this direction at any time by planning and implementing a diversity strategy that, over time, leads to the outcomes we’ve listed. All it takes is sustained effort and commitment.

What will you do to increase self-awareness and promote diversity in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Promoting Excellent Communication in the Workplace

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Self-awareness can help leaders promote excellent communication in the workplace because, when people understand and are comfortable with their own and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, they are able to get along with fewer issues.

Workplaces are interesting entities in that they can be a source both of great satisfaction but also incredible frustration. Leaders I’ve worked with have shared many stories with me about less than effective communication and its negative effect on their workplaces. Here are some ideas to build self-awareness and promote excellent communication in your workplace:

1. It’s OK to ask for what you need from your co-workers.
2. It’s OK to speak up in your workplace.
3. It’s OK to challenge things you don’t agree with in your workplace.
4. It’s advisable to talk with co-workers with kindness and respect.
5. It’s OK to talk about our organization’s challenges and do away with secrets.
6. It’s OK for leaders and employees to talk about difficult things and try to find ways to function more effectively.
7. Leaders and workplaces can change any time they want.
8. Workplaces often benefit from having an uninvolved, outside person give them a fresh perspective on what’s going on and how to fix it.
9. We owe it to ourselves and our organizations to be as healthy as possible.
10. Why toil in misery when we can communicate well and build happier workplaces?

Leaders who lack self-awareness often get stuck doing things a certain way because they don’t know any other way to do things. It’s been my experience that there is always hope for more effective communication but we have to commit to doing it.

Effective communication only happens if you put the time and effort into it to change the patterns you’ve established. It takes a leader with the vision and insight to build a new kind of workplace. What will you do to build self-awareness and promote excellent communication in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Using Self-Awareness to Communicate More Effectively

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You can use self-awareness to communicate more effectively because, when you understand and can positively manage your and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’re more adept at chatting with people.

We all are capable of communicating effectively, we just haven’t learned how to actually do it. Here are some basic tips on how to get started.

1. Set up an atmosphere for communicating. Everyone gets to say what they want, nobody is punished, everyone is safe to say what they want with no fear of retribution.

2. Everyone agrees to listen and only person talks at a time. When someone speaks other people simply listen. There should be no advice giving, rebuttals or contradicting. Everyone gets a chance to say what they want.

3. Everyone agrees that there is no such thing as a wrong comment or dumb question.

4. Everyone agrees to talk about the same amount of time. No one person monopolizes the conversation. No one person is more important than another.

5. We agree to communicate with each other respectfully, with a calm tone of voice, without harsh language and with no derogatory comments.

6. We agree that any information that is communicated will not be used against someone or to make them feel bad.

7. Keep it simple. Say what you mean, say it briefly and constructively.

8. Leave any personal agendas out of the meeting.

9. Keep it positive. Communication ideally builds a positive atmosphere that promotes solutions rather than only gripe sessions.

Once you follow all of these ideas, you will be on your way to communicating effectively. Each one takes practice and commitment from all parties involved. Practice each one (one at a time) until you master it. When you have mastered all of them you will experience the peace of mind that comes from communicating in a healthy way.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Business Consulting That Builds Self-Awareness

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Business consulting based on self-awareness can help you improve yourself and your business by helping you focus your energy and talent on things that will help you take your business to the next level. I help executives, managers and companies develop self-awareness, improve staff morale, increase productivity, build stronger teams and practice excellent workplace communications. I help managers to help them delegate more effectively and give their staff the opportunity to grow and excel. I help business owners focus their vision and take action on their goals.

Successful business owners know that when their employees feel their skills and abilities are being recognized and utilized the business benefits from a more productive workforce. Skilled managers understand that a happy workforce reduces turnover and hiring costs. I enjoy working with businesses to help them identify their employees strengths and use their talents.

The consulting services I provide include:

Self-Awareness Consulting for Individuals: Targeted support for leaders and staff to help improve specific situations. Helping individuals clarify what is happening in the situation and develop strategies to meet the challenge. Individuals build on their own strengths and devise their own plans of action with the support and encouragement of a coach.

Self-Awareness Consulting for Groups: Working intensively with staff to build a shared culture and purpose. Building stronger interpersonal connections through ongoing skill building. Monitoring participant progress and promoting accountability by encouraging participants to meet their goals and plan for the present and future.

Self-Awareness Consulting to Increase Success: Supportive partnering to identify areas of interest, barriers to achievement and areas of strength. Building clearer goals and devising specific strategies to reach those goals. Developing a clearer vision of where you are going and how you will get there.

Businesses benefit from having an impartial outside person help leaders and staff individually and in small groups to build skills and achieve goals. My self-awareness consulting services are an ongoing process that helps the individual clarify what she wants to accomplish and helps her achieve it through strategic support and accountability. My consulting is individualized and focuses on promoting successful behaviors that create change over time.

What will you do to increase self-awareness in your organization?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Deeper Communication Skills

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This two-part series on self-awareness and deeper communication skills is designed to help you build a workplace environment where people interact positively and get more done with less effort.

Many workplace conflicts arise because of disparate values, goals, objectives, strategies, levels of self-awareness, and points of view. Well-meaning, intelligent leaders and employees can genuinely want to get along but not know how to communicate meaningfully and productively. When I consult with groups in active conflict, I often help the participants learn and practice skills to help them connect on a deeper level, interact positively and generate positive results in the workplace.

We sometimes forget to build relationships before jumping into problem-solving and we don’t consistently create environments where people are encouraged to be self-aware and work together to find solutions. The most common communication model is people talking at each other instead of with each other. I’ve found that individuals have an amazing capability to work collaboratively when they take the time to build a strong foundation first. Here is a practical approach to help you create a workplace environment where people are self-aware and reach mutually beneficial solutions. This process works best with groups of twenty people or less.

  1. Agree on a place and time to meet. Make it comfortable, interruption-free and conducive to conversation.
  2. Have a skilled, welcoming, neutral facilitator run the meeting.
  3. Have the facilitator welcome everyone and present the ground rules: One person talks at a time and, when that person is talking, everyone listens. All opinions and ideas are valid.
  4. Have the facilitator pick a single topic of interest.
  5. Have each person in the room talk about his or her perspective on the topic for up to two minutes. Encourage people to talk from the heart and not from the head. Also mention that they don’t have to talk about anything they don’t feel comfortable sharing.
  6. Ask the group to listen to the person speaking without interruptions, comments, editorializing, rebuttals, reactions or any other kind of distraction. Ask people to simply listen and remind them that everyone else will do the same for them when it’s their turn.
  7. When everyone is done speaking ask the participants to share their impressions of what just happened. Go around the room and allow each person up to a minute to share.
  8. Take a break.
  9. Have the neutral facilitator pick another topic of interest.
    Repeat the process three times.

Once you’ve repeated this process three times the group will be ready to move on to the next phase which is working together. Stay tuned for part two of this series where we’ll talk about how to help people collaborate to solve problems.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice deeper communication skills in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy