Self-Awareness: Your Path to Success, In and Out of the Office
Self-awareness is the key to personal growth as well as the foundation of high emotional intelligence, which is the ability to be aware of, control, and appropriately express emotions. Self-awareness is all about knowing ourselves, our personality, and, most crucially, our weaknesses. Together, these two skills allow us to handle interpersonal relationships of all kinds with empathy and integrity.
While most of us can readily appreciate how self-awareness can help smooth the edges of daily life, it is also critical to practice it in the workplace, particularly for leaders and managers. With the kind of robust emotional intelligence developed by the practice of self-awareness, we can lead a happier, healthier life, in and out of the office.
Here are some of the ways that self-awareness can benefit you in the workplace:
Improved resilience
Part of the self-awareness practice is acknowledging what triggers intense emotions like anger, stress, and defensiveness, and then learning how to calm yourself. Knowing what sets you off allows you to create space between your triggers and your response. For example, instead of unleashing knee-jerk reactions that can worsen the situation or cause your coworkers' stress levels to rise, you develop the ability to take a few moments to breathe deeply and collect your thoughts before responding. Additionally, an essential part of how self-awareness helps you deal with stress is by helping you be aware of when you need to rest to avoid burnout.
Improved time management
Self-awareness also tells you when and how you are your most productive and efficient. If you tend to have lots of energy when you first arrive for work, for example, you will know to schedule your most demanding tasks at that time. If you find that you work best with limited distractions, you will feel empowered to work in a quiet place, if possible, or to invest in the best noise-canceling headphones you can afford. Increased self-awareness helps you do your best work and put your best professional foot forward.
Increased empathy
The benefits of self-awareness don't stop with you. The work benefits everyone around you because you will be better able to see how your words and actions affect others. Knowing how your moods and reactions ripple out to others can help you take action to minimize the effects when you experience stress. There is nothing wrong with having negative emotions, of course, but with some self-awareness, we can prevent them from affecting others. Also, by doing the work of developing a practice of self-awareness, we learn that it can be a struggle. When others display signs of struggling with their emotions, it can remind us to have patience.
More receptive to feedback
Getting feedback on our work can be extremely stressful, regardless of our position or level. The very thought can set palms to sweating and hearts to racing. However, one of the great benefits of self-awareness is that thanks to your knowledge of your weaknesses, you will likely be able to anticipate what feedback is coming. You will be more open to constructive criticism and be able to learn from it and improve. Each time we get feedback is a time to grow our self-awareness.
More confidence
Although we’ve said that a self-awareness practice of knowing your weaknesses, it is also a practice of learning your strengths and talents. Knowing what you’re good at helps you feel more confident at your job and can help you steer your career if your current role isn’t taking advantage of your skillset.
Tips to improve self-awareness
Even if you’ve already embarked on a project of self-awareness, there is always room and opportunity for more growth. Here are some tips to help you get started:
Practice mindfulness: Although it may be challenging to find time away from our daily tasks, email, etc., even just a few minutes a day to start will reap benefits. Mindfulness practice is a great way to get to know yourself better.
Try journaling: Journaling doesn’t need to be a tell-all about every aspect of your life. When you experience stress or other intense emotions, writing down how you feel can help you identify your triggers and different behavioral patterns and be a game-changer for your self-awareness.
Ask for feedback from colleagues: Sometimes, it can help us see ourselves and our behaviors through other people's eyes. Ask your direct manager or trusted colleagues for feedback – if you identify a pattern, take that information and learn from it.
Self-awareness is about being honest with yourself about who you are. It is accepting the reality of how things are, not the way you wish them to be, then doing what is in your control. This honesty makes you a more genuine person, whom the people in your life will value for your strength and integrity. Want to learn more about how to develop self-awareness and use it to become a better leader? Contact Leadership Delta today!