I had a great conversation with Sally Evans, Organisational Psychologist in episode 2 of The Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast, all about self-aware leadership.
Here are my Top Takeaways:
Power shift: in recent years, and mores because of COVID, the power shift has changed from employers to employees. We’ve really seen this with the improvement and developments in the areas of employee engagement and wellbeing over the last 2 years. Home working is anther key factor in the power shift.
Shadows: when we’re in leadership, we cast a long shadow. I hadn’t heard this saying before, but it’s absolutely true. Leaders in organisations impact a great number of people and if we’re not aware of this and the impact we have on others, we negatively impact individuals and our organisations.
What?: Use the ‘what’ question to develop your self-awareness. Rather than reflecting on, and getting others to give you feedback on ‘how did I do?’, start asking ‘what’ questions. What can I do differently? What can I do to help you? These questions draw out far more useful and practical information that feeds-forward instead of feeding back. This is exactly what the brilliant Tasha Eurich says!
When a team says no!: When you’ve developed the culture and confidence across your team that allows them to disagree with you in an open, constructive way, you know you’ve achieved that psychological safety that helps teams problem solve, innovate and grow
Barriers: When leaders are lacking in reflection and thinking time, and suffering from stress and exhaustion, all of these things form barriers to effective self-awareness and effective leaders. Leaders who want to reflect and have the ability to reflect are impeded in doing so by a lack of time, exhaustion and stress.
I’d love to know what your Top Takeaways are from this episode!