Appropriately, “awareness” is the first step in the Leadership ABC’s and in making any changes. Awareness includes self-awareness, situational awareness, and awareness of other people. Being aware helps create better choices that lead to better actions and results.
Awareness comes from many places including all our senses and experiences. Awareness of things like values, skills, cultures, habits, beliefs, behaviors helps us understand and apply meaning to situations and our decisions and actions surrounding them. Knowing strengths, challenges, visions, likes and dislikes can all be used to choose actions. Self-Awareness is the first step in building emotional intelligence, a key trait of successful leaders.
People with low awareness are sometimes labeled as arrogant, unapproachable, oblivious, out of touch, checked out, self-important, not empathetic, uncaring. Low awareness can result in poor planning, bad choices, low trust, ineffective actions, and slow results. Not being aware that the word “yes” can have at least eight meanings can lead to disaster, personally and professionally.
Awareness is the first step toward getting different results. Awareness is a muscle to exercise and build up. Awareness is a type of lens with which to view a situation.
Ten Things To Do To Build Awareness
- Stop: Reflect and Analyze on a regular basis, at least 20 minutes a day.
- Practice Alternate Realities: Try applying multiple and maybe even crazy meanings to a situation or person, and see how the different meanings change the next choice or action you might make. For example, you hear other people offering the same good idea you have already brought up in a meeting. Your Alternate Reality Possibilities: They stole my idea because they don’t have any of their own; they took it because they are scared to lose their jobs; they had it first; they didn’t hear me say it first: it’s a universally accepted idea; they don’t want me to get credit; they heard me and are speaking up for me because it’s a great idea. Always leave room for a positive alternate reality – it might actually be the real one!
- Listen Only: Listen for 10 minutes. Do not give an opinion or try to solve a problem in that time.
- Observe Only: Sit for one hour in an odd place and record what you see and include as many of your senses as you can. Recommended Locations: Park bench, office hallway, cafeteria, coffee shop.
- Sound Off: Watch a TV show without the sound on and guess at the situation, emotions, and intentions.
- Ask for Feedback: Ask someone else for feedback about you or the situation you are dealing with. The intention is to see it through their eyes. Do they see something you don’t?
- Get your own Feedback: Videotape yourself and watch it with a critical eye.
- Assess Yourself: Take a personal assessment test or quiz (Myers Briggs, DiSC, etc.) or have a 360-degree feedback performed.
- Shake it up: Physically move around, leave and come back at a different day or time, or try a different seat or location.
- Be a Detective: Be an empathy detective. Spend a day walking in someone else’s shoes, and guess what their feelings, motives, and beliefs might be. Validate with them if appropriate.
Top Three – Awareness Gone Wild (Too Much or Too Little)!
- I love being Aware! It’s a pastime. All the time, any place, and any way, and I never take action. (Too much awareness)
- Prove it! Analysis Paralysis. An inability to make a decision. Holding out for that additional nugget of information that may be there. (Too much awareness)
- Nothing’s new, but something’s there. Something is not adding up or making sense and I’m charging ahead anyhow. (Too little awareness)
If you find you are wallowing in awareness, move to action. Even if it’s not perfect, use a good-enough belief or scenario to move and then review the results.
When there is not enough awareness, it’s time to build the awareness muscle. Try using one of the ten suggestions above.
Additional Important “A’s” for Leaders
- Abundance Thinking
- Adaptability
- Acknowledgement
- Alignment
- Alternatives
- Authenticity
This material is based on the “A is for Awareness” webinar that was delivered last month, and is available as a live presentation to your business.
