Attention

Our first priority as leaders should be developing a high level of self awareness.

I struggled with self awareness for a long time.

I was intimately familiar with everything I needed to DO BETTER.

I was much LESS comfortable recognizing my strengths or accomplishments.

I’m doing much better these days, thank you—I want you to be able to say the same.

Self awareness is associated with higher job performance and satisfaction, happiness, and the ability to cope with anxiety and stress.

So how can you pull up a chair and get to know yourself better?

> Call a timeout—preferably in a quiet, distraction-free place.
> Keep an open mind.
> Get into a constructive headspace.
> List 3-5 of your most deeply held personal values.
> List 3-5 things about your patterns of thinking, doing, or feeling that you’d like to improve.
> Review your calendar from last week—what experiences and activities lit you up? Burned you out?
> Review your calendar for the upcoming week—what opportunities do you have to “bring your values to work”?

Socrates famously quipped “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

With all due respect to my Greek BFF, I would expand his wise counsel by adding:

“The unexamined leader is not worth following.”

Let’s make ourselves better leaders by getting to know ourselves a bit better.

#TalentOptimization #Leadership

COMMENT

In your experience, what’s the most important thing leaders should know about themselves?