Enneagram Library
Self Awareness for Leaders
We’ve all had experience with leaders who possess strong business intuition, but lack relational intuition. By unlocking the power of self-awareness, any leader can enhance their relational intuition and apply these improvements to their vocational demands.
Leaders who lack relational intuition are often those that are prone to having a fit of anger in a meeting or for disappearing from the office when a personnel conflict arises. Though these kinds of leaders can still excel at juggling the constant stream of demands placed upon their resources, when it comes to engaging with interpersonal dynamics, they often fail to deliver, and their employees are always the first to notice. So what’s the linchpin separating these otherwise good leaders from becoming great ones? It’s not IQ, education, or even prior business experience: it’s self-awareness.
Studies have shown that increased self-awareness contributes positively towards stress management, effective decision-making, creative thinking, and the ability to practice ‘the pause’ in the face of chaos. But as the demands on our time, attention, and energy grow, often the first thing to be cut from our priorities is the cultivation of self-awareness.
Part of the problem is that self-awareness requires a different skill set than many leaders have naturally tucked away in their tool kits. Cultivating self-awareness requires the patience for stillness rather than the energy of movement; it demands the humility of reflection instead of continual forward action; and it requires the courage to see ourselves clearly, both for our positive and for our negative qualities.
There are three avenues by which a leader can develop self-awareness. The first is through self-reflection: by pausing and directing attention inward, a leader can see themself as external viewers might.
A second avenue to grow in self-awareness is by cultivating an environment that supports and encourages honest feedback. A leader will benefit from receiving direct feedback from those who work most closely with him or her.
Finally, a leader may choose to utilize an assessment or personality tool to build greater self-awareness. At InnerWork Coaching, we recommend a tool called the Enneagram because of its powerful framework for cultivating self-awareness. Those who choose to devote the time and attention to apply it in their personal and professional development journeys will reap significant benefits.
“Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve.”
– Henry David Thoreau
So what is self-awareness?
Self-awareness is the ability to accurately and consistently pay attention to ourselves. This process occurs both internally and externally. Quality self-awareness directs attention to what we think, feel, and experience internally while simultaneously paying attention to how we impact those around us. Accurately identifying these internal patterns of relating and how these patterns impact others is the essence of self-awareness, and in this way, self-awareness becomes foundational to our relational awareness.
The foundational nature of self-awareness has been recognized by Emotional Intelligence researcher and author Daniel Goleman. Goleman notes that self-awareness is the least visible of the emotional intelligence competencies, and yet, individuals who test high in self-awareness also demonstrate the overwhelming majority of emotional intelligence competencies. Basically, if you cultivate the soil of self-awareness, the odds are in your favor that you will harvest self-awareness along with emotional regulation, empathy, and inspirational leadership, all of which are the cornerstones of strong emotional intelligence.¹
For leaders with a broad scope of interactions and responsibilities, self-awareness is of great value because it cuts across all interpersonal interactions. In these interactions, self-awareness helps correct for the bad while simultaneously augmenting the good. Once cultivated, increased awareness can be utilized positively in every interaction.
Cultivating Self-Awareness
Unfortunately, quality self-awareness is a scarce commodity.
Ironically, the first barrier to self-awareness is that the overwhelming majority of people believe they already have it. Sasha Eurich notes this in her book Insight. When we believe that we already possess a sufficient amount of self-awareness, we cease to be curious about how we could grow even more self-aware.
Secondly, like most commodities, you must devote resources in order to acquire self-awareness. When individuals, especially leaders, are juggling multiple competing priorities, devoting attention and time to cultivating self-awareness often falls by the wayside.
In light of these two obstacles, we must recognize that we are prone to think we have self-awareness when we do not and, as a result, we devote insufficient resources to cultivating it further. Despite these potential challenges, Eurich highlights the good news of self-awareness: it is a trait that can be actively developed.²
Self-awareness is a lot like a muscle. We need a baseline of strength and health followed by routines and practices that maintain good functioning. This maintenance rarely provides dramatic returns in the moment; rather, the returns on the investment in self-awareness compound over time. If we can recognize the value of self-awareness and the need to focus on growth in this area, we can then take steps to cultivate deeper, more reliable self-awareness.
Strategies for Cultivation
There are a number of strategies to cultivate self-awareness: many can be implemented individually, while others may benefit from professional support. At InnerWork Coaching, we specialize in supporting your journey through coaching, 360° reviews, and workshops, many of which are informed by the Enneagram framework.
1. Listen
Listen to others and to yourself. There is no substitute for paying attention and being willing to listen to what is unfolding in and around you. Listen, and listen well.
2. Personal Reflection
Practices like journaling, meditation and mindfulness serve to engage your inner world. This, then, helps you to recognize patterns that may be present in your inner world and how these patterns impact your external actions and behaviors.
3. Feedback from others
This can include asking direct reports for points of frustration or things they appreciate about you. The same can be asked of colleagues and board members in order to broaden the range of perspectives.
4. 360º Review
For a more formal version of feedback, consider engaging with a 360º review from a professional coach. These reviews offer independent perspectives as conducted by thorough, neutral professionals.
5. Trusted Friends
Self-awareness is cultivated by having multiple vantage points to see ourselves from different perspectives. The longevity and trust present in our closest friendships offers an invaluable entry point into self-awareness.
6. Therapy
A good therapist can go a long way towards helping us understand the things that shape us and drive us, both personally and professionally.
7. Coaching
A good coach will share similar skills with a therapist, but with a focus on specific applications within your life or work.
8. Mentoring
A trusted mentor can offer another valuable angle from which to see yourself. Additionally, a mentor may have unique familiarity with the roads you are walking down.
9. Reading
Read books and articles that consistently feed your curiosity about who you are and how you operate. Here are a few that we recommend.
Contact a coach today to start your leadership development journey.
Applications for Self-Awareness
Once you are focused on enhancing your self-awareness, you will see endless applications and opportunities to practice this skill. By cultivating self-awareness and becoming aware of your tendencies, blind spots, and patterns, you can:
Make more informed decisions about where to put your energy.
Correct for known weaknesses or blind spots. This takes work and a willingness to accept our limitations. But once located, you have the opportunity to surround yourself with people and systems that correct for your weaknesses.
Implement a strategy to address known default patterns. These patterns can include anger in the face of conflict, fear in the face of decisions, paralysis in the midst of chaos, etc. You may default toward action or inaction. There is not a right or wrong set of defaults. There is only awareness and willingness to find solutions that match how you operate.
Aim for intentional interactions and not reactive responses. The best laid business plans, even those with every chance for success, can be derailed by our relational blind spots and reactivity.
Actively remind yourself of the importance of self-awareness during conflict.
Recognize the value of self-awareness to regulate high-pressure meetings.
Speak openly and vulnerably about this process for yourself. In doing so, you will inject this value into your organization from the top down.
Utilize this openness and vulnerability to build trust within your organization. In his book Trust Factor³, researcher Paul Zak noted the positive benefits of vulnerability to increase organizational trust.
Remember: Self-awareness is a key differentiator between a good leader and a great leader. Cultivate this differentiator by deploying your relational resources into building a strong sense of self-awareness.
“To be aware of a single shortcoming within one self is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in somebody else.”
– Dalai Lama
¹Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence
²Sasha Eurich, Insight
³Paul Zak, Trust Factor
Our Services
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The Enneagram is a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal development. We offer a range of Enneagram workshops in which our trained professionals support your team in applying the lessons of the Enneagram to support their growth as humans and their effectiveness in the workplace. Learn more.
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We offer a range of additional team-oriented training programs and workshops that focus on supporting your team’s interpersonal engagement and functioning. Our workshops are designed to meet your team’s needs and focus on a variety of topics; all workshops utilize the training of our coaches to support and enhance the interpersonal health of your team. Learn more.
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Qualitative 360° Leadership Reviews that involve identifying key stakeholders, conducting qualitative interviews, and synthesizing the data into a cohesive picture based on interpersonal development and the needs of the business. Learn more.