My journey to becoming self-aware

A lot has changed for me in such a short amount of time. My journey to becoming more self-aware started when I joined the team back in April 2021 and is something I am passionate about and continuing to develop.

So, what is self-awareness?

To me, being self-aware isn’t just about how people see me and how I see them. But it lies on a deeper level of my values, strengths, beliefs, empathy and understanding other people’s perspectives.

The Harvard Business Review splits self-awareness into two categories:

#1 Internal self-awareness: “This represents how clearly, we see our own values, passions, aspirations, fit with our environment, reactions (including thoughts, feelings, behaviours, strengths, and weaknesses), and impact on others.”

#2 External self-awareness: “This means understanding how other people view us, in terms of those same factors listed above. Research shows that people who know how others see them are more skilled at showing empathy and taking others’ perspectives.”

Why is it important?

Self-awareness is something I had never really thought of before starting at Form but is now something I regularly try to practice and believe is key to developing my leadership skills.

Research shows that through understanding your strengths, you can become more engaged at work, more productive in your role and happier and healthier …and who doesn’t want to be happier and healthier?!

Why is it important to leaders?

Self-awareness has been referenced as the most important capability for leaders to develop, according to the authors of “How To Become a Better Leader”. 

Research also suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We can make better decisions, build stronger relationships, communicate more effectively and make more-effective leaders with greater satisfied employees and more profitable companies. 

How to start your journey to becoming more self-aware!

There are lots of different tools and techniques for becoming more self-aware but for me, it started off by recognising my strengths:

Get to know yourself better – 

Strength finders was a great starting point and allowed me to understand my strengths. It equipped me with tangible actions to further my personal development by allowing me to use my strengths not only to my advantage but for the greater good of the team.

Try gathering trusted feedback – 

It’s not easy to get feedback but it is vital to understanding your personal blind spots. Developing your self-awareness is also about being ready to face your personal weaknesses and limits.

Stay curious – 

Continue to explore new ways to improve your self-awareness. Start a journal, join a course to learn new skills, get a mentor and continue to question what is really happening, and what it tells you about yourself.

To conclude, I hope my exploration into the topic of self-awareness has enlightened you to explore as well. The benefits are vast and will not only result in positive results for your personal growth but also for your team.

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Want to start a conversation with the team? Let’s chat. 

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