Following on from World WellBeing At Work Week last week, we’re continuing to focus on the traits of leadership and their effect on workplace wellbeing.
Today, Executive Coach Monica Hunter guides us through how curiosity can lead us to greater self-awareness, and ultimately make us more effective and productive in our workplace.
The turbulence of the last three years and the continuing economic and social crises are testing leaders and their organisations like never before. Employees and the wider community are asking for help, for change, and solutions. The expectations are huge and the risks enormous.
This can be a very tricky time for many leaders, particularly if they rely heavily on strategies and tactics that worked successfully for them in the past. The world around them is shifting at speed and they are required to rapidly transform themselves. They are called to stop relying on what worked in the past and find new ways of being and acting in the world, so they can create decisions and solutions that match the current reality.
Self-awareness may sound like the latest buzzword in management, but it is actually the foundation on which all other leadership skills are learned and can evolve. Leaders who see themselves clearly can make better decisions, because they know what triggers them, what makes them react positively or negatively, and how their biases affect their judgements.
So how can you start to be more self-aware? By being curious.
Firstly, observe yourself. Why do you react a certain way in certain situations? Why do some people trigger you more than others? What are the emotions and thoughts you have when you think of the challenges you are facing?
Secondly, ask others for their feedback. Notice when you feel resistance to this; it is perfectly normal not to want other people’s opinions, but this is often a reaction of the ego. Feeling judged, criticised, unliked; these can all be triggering but only when seen through the lens of the ego. Instead, use the feedback as a tool to develop your self-awareness further by continuing to stay curious: why is this person’s feedback triggering you? What makes you react the way you do when you read the latest employee survey? On what do you base your decisions?
Curiosity will increase your self-awareness and, as you develop this crucial leadership skill, you will become more aware of the ways in which you limit yourself and others.
Curiosity will increase your self-awareness and, as you develop this crucial leadership skill, you will become more aware of the ways in which you limit yourself and others.
If you are the CEO of a large business unit and your bonus is dependent on hitting a certain revenue target, do your decisions come from the fear of losing your bonus and your title? Or are they based on what is really best for the company and its employees long term?
Most leaders take the reins with a vision and a desire to make a long-lasting impact. But without self-awareness and curiosity, their vision loses its sparkle as soon as reality triggers their deep-rooted fears of not being liked, not being successful, or failing.
A decision made from fear will lead to somewhat predictable results in the short term. It will most likely be a predictable and safe decision; and yes, your bonus may be safe for now. Eventually, however, as the world around you shifts as quickly as it has done over the last three years, your fear-based decision-making process will become limited and constrained. Possibility, creativity and opportunity will leak out – the very ingredients needed in times of crisis and uncertainty.
As your organisation and your leadership are being challenged by the current reality, curiosity will allow you to overcome the limitations of simply repeating decisions or strategies that worked in the past.
Ask your employees what they want and what they need. Ask your teams for their opinions and feedback. Ask your customers what they need next. And, as you keep asking questions, leave behind your own thoughts and biases. Really listen with curiosity and, if you feel triggered by the feedback, answers or ideas you receive, get even more curious to find out why.
There is no limit to how much you can increase your self-awareness and how much value that will bring to your leadership and to your organisation.
Monica Hunter is an executive coach who supports leaders to reinvent themselves in order to create the experience of work and life they desire. She is an ICF accredited coach. and has a wealth of experience in the corporate world, having worked in senior positions for large organisations such as BT, Informa and Inmarsat. She holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, and is a promoter of curiosity, play and joy in the workplace.
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