Excellent post at LeadingBlog on self-awareness for leaders:
12 Keys to Greater Self-Awareness
- Stop blaming others for your choices. It’s you.
- Take a personality assessment to help you gain some perspective.
- Get feedback from as many significant people in your life as you can. This can be uncomfortable for both you and them, but it is the fastest method for gaining a better picture of yourself. (Make them feel safe. It's a big, unknown risk for them!)
- Get a coach or mentor. They don't have to know more than you. They just have to see you in action and help you to be a better you. You're not as hard to figure out (complicated) as you would like to think.
- Understand that your biggest irritations look a lot like you.
- Look beneath your behavior to reveal your assumptions and filters. They dictate how you see yourself and others and impact how you relate to them.
- Look at your roadblocks. Learn to separate facts from your interpretations of them.
- A lot of negative interactions signal a selfish approach to life.
- Reflect daily on your behavior. Ask questions like: How do I handle difficulties? What do I think or do when I don’t get my own way? How adaptive am I? Can I control my emotions? Do I tend to say what I’m thinking when I’m thinking it? Do I judge other people and create conflict? How do others relate to me?
- Organize your thoughts in a journal. It is one of the best ways to capture what is going on around you and inside you. Make a note of the causal remarks people make about you.
- Read books and go to seminars that help you rethink your assumptions and address your problem areas and blind spots.
- Words mean a lot. Your language reflects your thinking and attitudes.