We have all heard about the importance of self-awareness. In all honesty, it isn’t something that people would admit to not having.
If you disagree with me, try telling someone that they’re not self-aware and note how they react. I want to refocus your attention on self-awareness and get you to consider why we should see it as an essential skill that needs to be sharpened, rather than something that’s just nice to have.
What is self-awareness
There are so many definitions of self-awareness, but for me, there are two aspects to it: 1) Knowing who you are – your strengths, communication style, how you act and react etc., and 2) understanding how you are perceived by others.
Why is it a vital skill to master?
There’s a lot going on right now that pushes these skills down our priority list, but here are 3 very real issues we are facing that make self-awareness a vital skill for you and your colleagues.
- Staff shortages
Many businesses are facing a real challenge to get skilled workers for their teams. To compound this, we are hearing about the ‘great resignation’ where many people are re-evaluating their careers. Just imagine the impact on your business if you lost your best colleagues at a time of talent shortage.
Self-awareness allows managers to connect more effectively with their colleagues, making them feel valued and understood and driving team engagement.
This could have a twofold effect, reducing the likelihood of losing our high performing colleagues and creating a culture that attracts the best available talent to the business.
- Hybrid working
We have all been working more remotely over the last 2 years, but is this trend here to stay?
In a recent LinkedIn poll by the NeuroLeadrership Institute, 67% of the 1,064 respondents said they did not want to return to the office full time.
There are also many colleagues who have joined companies during the pandemic; how do they connect with their new teammates with such limited face to face opportunities?
Self-awareness can help us thrive in this more remote world by helping us understand what is important to ourselves and others in a more virtual environment. It also gives us the tools to connect more effectively with others in landscapes that are constantly changing.
- Shift happens
By now, we are well aware of the fact that the changes we are facing are not going to stop. If it’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, is that shift happens!
Research by the McKinsey global institute said 375 Million people could have to change roles to meet the evolving needs of work – that is 14% of the global workforce.
Building self-awareness in such situations helps us to understand how we respond to the inevitable change we will face.
It also helps people realise how their strengths can be used to master roles that do not even exist yet.
Fancy having a chat about the challenges you are facing and whether this is something we could support you with?
