In recent interviews I got to talk about self-awareness and have been stewing on the concept for a bit. Self-awareness is not just a personal development side project. It is literally the difference between whether your business is steeped in life or steeped in death.
If I don’t know myself then I will be unaware of my impact on others around me. When the result of that impact comes to fruition I will look for the cause in every other place besides where it came from. Me.
This is where blame come in. We either blame a person, a system, or just life itself. The answer is often much more simple than what we would like to believe. We like to believe the answers to problems we have are complex and outside ourselves, then at least we can be forgiven for not solving it or seeing it before it needed to be solved. We are victims in this narrative. Victims of the hardships of business.
The truth may just be that we are fooling ourselves to avoid confronting ourselves.
This is the first place we should go. How did I facilitate this? How did I catalyze this? What can I do to change it? It reminds me of a Shift Break I did called “My Favorite Interview Question”. The question I ask is, “In what ways did you contribute to the dysfunctions in your last job?” Simple enough. It’s designed to get you to show how self-aware you are. I have received responses that range from taking full responsibility – to throwing others under the bus. Needless to say if you are not used to practicing a mindset that first looks in the mirror, then it is hard to answer this question without reverting to the old standby excuses.
As leaders, we are looked upon to set an example in words and actions. We would all agree that self-awareness, honesty, and taking ownership are things we want to see from people we lead. Certainly they need to be first true of us.
Let’s make a habit of regularly checking in on ourselves to make sure we are practicing what we preach. The life of our business depends on it.
-Chris
Listen to the latest Shift Break and related episodes on self-awareness:
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You can contact me at : Chris@keystotheshop.com
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