EP126: Know Thyself: The Secret to Exceptional Leadership
YOU HAVE PIXIE DUST
When you spend time with your own self-awareness!
Enjoy!
Listen Here:
(The notes below are only a brief bullet point summary of what is discussed in the podcast. Be sure to listen to get all of the goodness! If you would like a full transcription of the episode, please send an email request to: angie@angie-robinson.com. We’d be happy to provide that!)
I’m always talking about how self-awareness is pixie dust for being the most impactful and effective leader. I would add for being the most engaged and invested leader as well. You can replace that word “leader” with entrepreneur, teacher, engineer, volunteer, human….any type of role. Because I believe it’s true across the board.
But self-awareness is not only pixie dust…it’s game-changing. I love a good framework and methodology (I have created my own! You can learn about The Three Elements of Leadership Magic on Episode 117) and exceptional training workshops (I lead them all of the time), but those can only take you so far. Because the one thing we are bringing to all of our job duties, projects, presentations, feedback meetings and interactions is ourselves. Our personality preferences, our values, our thoughts, our limiting beliefs, our biases, our doubts, our experiences, our strengths, our weaknesses…our whole selves.
So bringing awareness to all of that is the secret. It is the magic piece.
It’s about understanding the current state of you and your leadership. It’s deciding what to do with that knowledge AND gain the cognitive tools to continue to make magic with self-awareness going forward.
Definition of Self-Awareness
My definition of self-awareness is:
knowing and understanding yourself by bringing the subconscious to the conscious - allowing you to intentionally leverage your uniqueness, create change and connect more effectively with others.
There’s really a lot those goes under all of that. It includes like bringing awareness to your values, your why, your experiences, your biases, your personality preferences, your strengths, your barriers and tendencies (such as people-pleasing, perfectionism and imposter syndrome), your blind spots, your beliefs (especially the limiting ones), your mindset, your triggers (that bring about things like overwhelm and stress), your dreams and your goals.
This awareness is not a way to beat yourself up for what you don’t like - it’s a way to choose intention to leverage and change (if necessary) who you are.
Ten Reasons Self-Awareness is Critical for Impactful and Effective Leadership
This is not an all inclusive list - but ten of the top reasons why I believe deep and wide self-awareness is critcial:
Self Awareness:
Allows us to be our best self. It fosters authenticity – which minimizes comparison. When we are more authentic – we tend to foster trust with both with ourselves and others.
Increases confidence. When we have less (unhealthy) comparison and more self trust – we don’t look to the external as much for validation. This builds confidence. We also are more willing to just DO, to take risks and to make things happen. We start to build evidence that we can have successes and mistakes/failures – and still survive.
Helps us to be better at decision making Self-awareness helps you understand your values, strengths, and weaknesses - leading to better, more informed decisions. And, with that self-trust and confidence – we aren’t as afraid to make decisions.
Increases our emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to perceive, express, and regulate emotions. People with high emotional intelligence are more likely to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, and respond to co-workers with empathy.
Leads to better stress management and resilience. Understanding personal stress triggers allows you to manage stress more effectively, maintaining your composure in challenging situations.
Improves communication. As a self-aware leader - you are a better communicator because you understand your own preferences and how you work for you or against you and how your words and actions affect others, leading to clearer and more effective interactions. You can handle conflicts more effectively by remaining calm and understanding different perspectives.
Builds connection: You will create stronger relationships with yourself and others by having increased compassion and curiosity. By knowing yourself, you can build stronger, more empathetic relationships with your team members, enhancing collaboration and teamwork.
Increases productivity. You will know and leverage how and when you work best, implement boundaries, own your results, and clear up headspace.
Supports and fuels us in reaching our goals and live into our future - Self-awareness fosters continuous personal and professional development, as leaders recognize areas for improvement and actively seek growth opportunities.
Elevates the inspirational factor in your leadership. Leaders who understand themselves can inspire and motivate others by setting a positive example and demonstrating confidence and self-assurance.
How to Elevate Self-Awareness
There are a lot of ways to increase your self-awareness. I’m not going to go into all of it here…but here are just a few quick tips:
Listen to the many episodes of Leadership Magic - most are grounded in this topic!
Take advantage of any assessments you have taken (as long as they are valid!)
Recap: Why Self Awareness Matters
Knowing the hows and whys of who we are opens up space for compassion and intention
We can understand why we might react and/or behave and/or approach things
We can decide what to leverage, what to manage and what to change
We can be better leaders
What Do You Think?
Are you ready to go deeper with your self-awareness?
Links
Episode 117: The Three Keys to Leadership Magic
Episode 118: The Discomfort of Self-Awareness
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