Leadership Development at NSU

Featured Topic: Self-Awareness

We are many individuals, but One NSU. As leaders, we set the tone and the direction for the culture of how we do what we do. Seth Godin offers a simple, but accurate, description of what culture is: "people like us, do things like this." 

As a Leader at NSU, creating an environment where everyone can do their best work is a vital part of our culture. To do so, we must create and protect an environment of Self-Awareness.

Developing self-awareness as a leader is essential for effective leadership. Self-awareness involves understanding one's own strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations. Here are some ways that leaders can develop self-awareness:

1. Seek feedback: Leaders should seek feedback from others to gain insight into their blind spots. This can be done through 360-degree feedback, mentoring, coaching, or regular check-ins with team members.

2. Reflect: Leaders should regularly reflect on their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. They can do this through journaling, meditation, or simply taking time to think.

3. Seek diverse perspectives: Leaders should actively seek out diverse perspectives to challenge their own biases and assumptions. They can do this by reading widely, engaging with people from different backgrounds, and actively listening to feedback from others.

4. Practice empathy: Leaders should practice empathy by putting themselves in other people's shoes and understanding their perspectives. This can help leaders understand how their actions impact others and make more informed decisions.

5. Develop a growth mindset: Leaders should adopt a growth mindset, which involves a belief in one's ability to learn and grow. This can help leaders embrace feedback, view failures as opportunities for growth, and continually strive to improve themselves.

Overall, developing self-awareness is an ongoing process that requires dedication and effort. By seeking feedback, reflecting, seeking diverse perspectives, practicing empathy, and adopting a growth mindset, leaders can become more self-aware and improve their leadership effectiveness.

According to the Center for Creative Leadership: 

“Self-awareness is the most important leadership skill we can develop.  It is essential for knowing strengths and weaknesses, for extraordinary business acumen, and for high levels of emotional intelligence.” 

Matt Tenney, author of The Mindfulness Edge: How to Rewire Your Brain for Leadership and Personal Excellence Without Adding to Your Schedule

The Power of Vulnerability - from Brene Brown

Further Reading

"Dare to Lead" by Brené Brown - Find at the Alvin Sherman Library HERE

Featured Article to Go Deeper 

What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It) 

By Dr. Tasha Eurich

Excerpt

Although most people believe that they are self-aware, true self-awareness is a rare quality. In this piece, the author describes a recent large-scale investigation that shed light on some of the biggest roadblocks, myths, and truths about what self-awareness really is — and what it takes to cultivate it. Specifically, the study found that there are actually two distinct types of self-awareness, that experience and power can hinder self-awareness, and that introspection doesn’t always make you more self-aware. Understanding these key points can help leaders learn to see themselves more clearly.

Continue Reading on HBR.org 

Podcast: Enhance Your Self-Awareness, with Daniel Goleman

In 1995, Daniel Goleman published the blockbuster bestselling book Emotional Intelligence*, a book that now has more than 5 million copies in print worldwide in 40 different languages. He’s the author of a new series of primers for the competencies of emotional and social intelligence, titled Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence* and he’s launching an emotional intelligence coaching certification.

Key Points

• Emotional Intelligence has given us permission to talk about emotion in the workplace.
• Emotional Intelligence is about how well you can manage yourself.
• Self-awareness is fundamental.
• If you have a sense of your true strengths and weaknesses, you can have self-confidence that is based on reality.
• If you feel your emotions flaring up, pause and name what’s going on. That’ll allow the executive part of your brain to take back charge.
• Notice what your triggers are and intentionally avoid them.
• Self-awareness can give you insights into bad habits you might have as a leader.