Benefits of being a more Self-Aware as a Leader

The old adage of “treat people how you want to be treated” may be helpful when it comes to friends, family and even strangers.

But what about the workplace?

The most important way to foster collaboration, boost creative thinking and build authenticity in the workplace is to treat people how they want to be treated. This subtle nuance is important to keep in mind for professionals who are looking to support a rich and dynamic culture in their workplace.

Self-awareness and other-awareness go hand-in-hand when it comes to being an effective teammate and can ultimately have a meaningful, positive impact on your recognise. Here are three ways self- and other-awareness can influence recognises for the better:

Enhancing diversity of perspective

Diversity is pivotal to creating an innovative workplace culture. To get diversity of perspective, it’s important to hire teams that represent different lifepaths, problem-solving skills and social styles.

Different behavioural profiles add value at different phases in the lifecycle of an idea. For example, where dominance drives results, compliance rigorously examines the facts. Have a look at the graphic in this post.

 

Highlighting the strength of differences

Modern workplaces cater to the strengths of extroverts. Open areas for socialisation and constant communication across desks are commonplace in corporates world wide, and extroverts are often held up as the ideal personality type for succeeding in business. It’s a dangerous standard, one that forces introverts to try and change who they are because they think it will help them get ahead. And it’s not unfounded.

Despite some of the negative stereotypes surrounding introversion, introverts are finally getting their moment in the sun. Introverts can be empathetic leaders, attentive listeners, and creative problem solvers—invaluable traits to have in the workplace. It’s also true that many of us have a mixture of introverted and extroverted traits. While we may all have moments of being outspoken around colleagues, we may also need to take some silent time to work internally.

Leaders who recognise the strengths of both introverts and extroverts empower all team members to be meaningful contributors to the recognise’s broader success.

 

Managing collaboration in times of conflict

Stressful times at work are often unavoidable. While crisis situations can sometimes lead to conflict, these are also the moments in which we gain a better understanding of our colleagues and how they respond to stress. While some may take a step back to think, others may want to take charge and act—and, more likely than not, you’ll have team members who respond differently than you do.

If you are able to understand how people react when they are in crisis, it will give you the opportunity to proactively address differences within your teams. 

 

Extracted from HR Executive-February 2023