Are you aware of the two types of Self-Awareness?
This week we delve into internal and external self-awareness. Research shows that between 10-15% of leaders have an accurate understanding of their self-awareness! If you and I believe we are self-aware, we have a 1 in 10 chance of being right! Ouch! Listen in to this weeks podcast to find out more about this research. And take the following quiz with someone who you trust to be honest if you are interested in developing your self-awareness. https://www.insight-book.com/quiz What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate it) - Tasha Eurich #LeadershipDevelopment #Coaching #Training #WorkingGenius
-
Would you believe that research shows only ten to fifteen percent of leaders are as self-aware as they believe they are? Ten to fifteen percent!
Tasha Eurich and her team studied nearly five thousand people to find out what self-awareness is and the results were fascinating.
They found that there are two types of self-awareness. Internal and external.
Internal self-awareness is the understanding of self. This is incredibly valuable. As a persons awareness of their values, feelings and behaviours increase so does their ‘job and relationship satisfaction, personal and social control and happiness.’ Equally this increase relates to decrease in anxiety, stress and depression.
The Second category is external self-awareness. This relates to how accurately we understand the way that those around us see us. Those who can accurately define this are ‘more skilled at showing empathy and taking others’ perspectives. For leaders who see themselves as their employees do, their employees tend to have a better relationship with, feel more satisfied with them, and see them as more effective in general.’
And if I have high internal self-awareness, do I also possess high external self-awareness? Unfortunately the research suggests this relationship is not easily defined. We can be highly aware in one and not the other, or we can be highly aware of both.
The other fascinating part about this research which surprised me, is that the more senior a leader becomes, the less likely they are to be truly self-aware in both categories. Here’s why. A good leader who is both internally and externally self-aware is likely to receive greater opportunities. However as we develop greater experience, we place greater value on our own experience and less on others. Equally the greater power we yield leads to our followers being less willing to give us honest feedback. Both these natural aspects of becoming more senior, lead to decrease in opportunity for self-awareness. Unless, key word here, ‘Unless’ the more senior leader increases his or her efforts to stay open, humble and to receive feedback from their team, board or trusted mentors and coaches.
I have included a link in the description for a simple and free test you can do to help you understand how your internal and external self-awareness align. I encourage you to check it out. And make sure that you listen to my podcast next week, when I talk through what we can practically do to increase our internal and external self-awareness.