Brightmind Consulting Group CEO Jevon Wooden is a business consultant, leadership coach, author, speaker, and U.S. Army Veteran.
As a leader, you must be willing to commit to doing the difficult work of self-reflecting. Learning more about yourself makes you a better leader, communicator and individual. This article will provide ways for you to participate in reflection to hone your self-awareness.
One of my favorite moments of introspection is during a long walk without technology.
During your own moments of introspection, you can ask yourself:
How do I foster growth and development in those I lead?
How effectively am I communicating my vision and expectations?
How do I receive feedback, and how do I act on it?
Am I truly listening to what others have to say?
What does success look like for me and my team?
In what situations do I feel most confident, and when do I feel uncertain?
How do I handle stress, and could I manage it more healthily?
What are my core values, and how do they impact my leadership?
How do my emotions affect my decision-making and the people around me?
What are my strengths, and how can I leverage them more effectively?
What weaknesses do I have, and how can they impact my team?
What legacy do I want to leave as a leader?
How balanced are my work and personal life, and how does this balance affect my leadership?
Setting Time Aside
The daily discipline of self-reflection requires allocating time and recognizing it as a strategic investment. This time should be one of stillness. It should be an uninterrupted period where you are separated from the usual requirements of daily tasks to allow yourself to explore the emotional responses to recent actions and decisions.
Soliciting And Embracing Feedback
I’ve mentioned this before, but feedback is a mirror that reflects a leader’s emotional disposition from multiple angles. It is crucial to help uncover blindspots in your self-awareness and should be sought from peers, mentors and subordinates. It is a process that helps uncover patterns in your behavior that you may not be able to see on your own.
Here are four of the quickest ways to get feedback:
1. Directly ask for feedback: Be specific in requesting more valuable feedback.
2. One-on-one meetings: These can create an environment that promotes candid responses and shows that you respect and value the feedback given.
3. Digital tools or apps: These platforms allow for anonymity and offer repeatability if you’re looking for trends in the feedback.
4. After-action reviews: We used these often in the Army immediately after a project or action was taken. Frame the session with clear guidelines to ensure focused and constructive feedback.
Developing A Journaling Practice
Journaling is also a great way to reflect on what transpired in a given moment and how you handled the situation. With a consistent journaling practice, you can perform a kind of wargaming to ensure you respond more effectively in similar situations. Many of my coaching clients tell me they do not like writing, and that’s okay; your journal is for you, so record your thoughts in whatever way works for you. I typically use voice notes that I can replay while on the go.
The Waterfall Effect Of Self-Recognition
From Self To Others: The Social Recognition Connection
Working on yourself leads to better connection and understanding of others. As a leader, the success of your operations depends on those around you. You must learn to read and understand others to help them become the best version of themselves.
Self-Management: Steering The Ship
Leaders with a keen sense of self-awareness captain their emotions with the expertise of a skilled boat captain charting a course through stormy seas. Such leaders are apt to temper their emotional responses, ensuring a more constant and calm atmosphere for their teams. The essence of self-management lies in the power of choice—selectively responding to challenges with deliberation rather than succumbing to the whims of impulsive reactions.
Social Management: The Art Of Influence
Armed with self-awareness and an understanding of others’ emotions, leaders can exercise social management—shaping the emotional climate of the organization. It is about inspiring and motivating effectively, resolving conflicts with compassion and fostering a culture of emotional intelligence throughout the organization.
Self-Awareness As The Foundation Of Effective Leadership
Understanding yourself and being accountable for your actions is foundational to high emotional intelligence because it supports and enables self-management, social recognition and social management. To be well-rounded, you must look inward and take time to discover yourself. Self-awareness requires courage, intentionality and vulnerability, but it is a journey worth investing time in. By mastering self-awareness, you will be a more effective leader, and your team will be resilient, productive and collaborative.
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