Self Awareness

Authors

• Narayana Rao

Published

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

Version 4

Last edited: 25 May 2011

Exported: 26 Nov 2011

Original URL: http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2utb2lsm2k7a/652

I have to coordinate a training programme for executives. One of the topics is self awareness for performance improvement. I am not the specialist faculty for the area of the topic. I shall take up sessions on finance for technical personnel. My interest in the topic is aroused. I had come across an exercise on self awareness in a new book on Emotional Intelligence. I happened to browse the book in an exhibition. Now I am reading articles on the topic and assembling this knol. 

 

What is Self Awareness?

 

Self-awareness means knowing your values, personality, needs, habits, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, etc.  With a sense of who you are and a vision of the person you want to become, a plan for professional or personal development can be created.  Moreover, self-awareness allows you to motivate yourself and manage your stress better, helps you with your intuitive decision making, and helps you to lead and motivate others more effectively.  Self-awareness is very useful (Scott Williams).

 

How to Increase Self Awareness?

 

To begin to increase your self-awareness, seek feedback on your performance from others by asking good questions and listening without justifying or defending your actions.

 

Once you've solicited feedback it's crucial that you listen without justifying your actions or people will stop giving you feedback. Moreover, when you are busy defending your actions, you miss what the person is trying to tell you.

If on the other hand you listen and accept feedback without defending yourself, you're more likely to hear what you need to hear, increasing your credibility with the person giving you feedback and creating a trust bond that will enable them to continue providing useful feedback in the future (Chris Musselwhite).

Feedback sessions and group meetings need one important practice. It is easy to listen to the feedback of a person who assures the other that he accepts him as a colleague, subordinate or as a superior and then lists of his assessment of strengths and weaknesses and provides his suggestions for improvement of both strengths and weaknesses. A feedback session should end with a gesture or an activity that symbolizes the ongoing relation and trust between them. Similarly a group meeting must end on the note of camaradarie even though during the meeting there are heated discussions. After the close of formal discussions of the subject matter, there has to be an activity which bring back cordiality among the group.

 

Knowing Your Values

http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/values.htm

References

Chris Musselwhite, Self Awareness and the Effective Leader, http://www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20071001/musselwhite.html

Scott Williams, Self-Awareness and Personal Development, http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/selfawareness.htm

 

For Additional Reading

 

uwf.edu/mschultz/man6156/man6156chapter1slides.ppt

 

www.aber.ac.uk/crisalis/Eskills/SelfAwareness.ppt

 

practicaleq.typepad.com/practicaleq/selfawareness/

 

faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/kbandy/documents/Ch02.PPT

 

 

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http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2utb2lsm2k7a/652

Narayana Rao - 14 May 2011