The best leaders possess self-assurance, confidence and determination. However, all leaders have blind spots, sometimes make mistakes and don’t always have all the answers. As a leader in your company, you need self-awareness to learn from your shortcomings, move forward rather than allow mistakes to hold you back, and become a better leader in numerous ways.
1. Know your Compass
Understand your “why” and clarify your values. When you know what motivates you to build unique homes, develop branded apps or bake gluten-free pastries and when you know what you stand for, you can lead your company with clarity, perseverance and integrity. Of course, you’ll face obstacles, but your inner compass will help you successfully navigate those challenges, take risks and remain committed to what’s really important.
2. Understand Yourself
Your personality, thinking style and behaviors determine who you are as a person and how you lead your company. To understand yourself better, take two tests.
Myers Briggs helps you understand your personality, communication preferences, stress management, and goals.
DiSC helps you understand how you respond to conflict, work with others and communicate.
3. Identify your Strengths
You will use your problem-solving, creativity or networking strengths to lead your company. You will also use this knowledge to build a well-rounded team of leaders who possess strengths you don’t have and are capable of handling any situation.
4. Address your Blind Spots
Whether you’re disorganized, forgetful or a workaholic, self-awareness allows you to recognize your blind spots or bad habits and compensate for those weaknesses. You can always hire an organizer, make checklists or establish set work hours as you address and overcome your blind spots and become a better leader.
5. Learn from Mistakes
Maybe you approve a new product that flops, hire or promote an employee who’s not a good fit for the position or miss an important deadline. Instead of wallowing in your mistake and allowing it to cripple you, damage your momentum or prevent growth, analyze your actions and learn from them so you avoid making the same mistake in the future.
6. Know your Emotional Triggers
As you lead your diverse team, handle contract negotiations and prepare presentations each day, you must manage your emotions in the moment. By practicing self-awareness, you identify your emotional triggers, embrace rather than deny your emotions and take steps to handle your emotions in a professional manner.
7. Change Directions
Sometimes, your business needs to evolve and move in a new direction. You will make the necessary changes as you embrace and understand your authentic self. Instead of staying in the past with a business model, products or team member that doesn’t work, you will adjust, change and grow in ways that fit your customers’ needs and secure your company’s future.
8. Set Boundaries
Your leadership duties sometimes require you to establish rules, say no to people or projects, and make other decisions that protect your personal and company time, resources, energy, integrity, and future. Awareness of your personality, values and behaviors can give you wisdom, courage and fortitude to make and keep healthy and essential boundaries.
9. Trust your Intuition
Because you’ve taken time to get to know yourself, you have learned how to recognize and trust your intuition. You know when to take risks, when to step back and what to do next, skills that propel your business toward success.
10. Pay Attention to Others
In addition to knowing yourself, self-awareness allows you to hone in to the strengths, weaknesses and personalities of your employees. With this information, you utilize your team’s strengths, maximize their productivity and speak to them in ways they understand. You will be a more creative, compassionate and motivational leader because you value self-awareness in yourself and use it to pay attention to others.
11. Maximize your Time
After you discover that you’re more focused and productive in the morning or that your creative muse turns on after dark, you can maximize your day. Plan client consultations, video editing or data analysis entry based on your energy level. Your focus will improve, and you’ll get more done each day.
Self-awareness prepares you to be a great leader. Start practicing it today as you improve yourself and your business.
Guest Post By – PJ Taei from Uscreen.tv
PJ is the founder of Uscreen, a video monetization platform to help you sell any kind of videos online.
You can contact PJ at pj@uscreen.tv or reach him at through facebook or Twitter here
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