Introduction to Leadership - Lesson 2: Developing Self Awareness
Prefer to listen? Click here.
Workshop Scenario:
You are a student or young professional who is passionate about making a difference in your community. You strongly desire to lead and make an impact, but you're unsure where to start. You've noticed that many of the leaders in your community are not very effective, and you don't want to make the same mistakes.
Learning about leadership can provide you with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration you need to positively impact your community. Whether you want to grow personally, advance your career, or make a difference in the world, learning about leadership can help you achieve your goals.
In this lesson, you will learn how to understand your strengths and weaknesses, the importance of emotional intelligence, techniques for improving self-awareness, and building resilience and grit.
At the end of the workshop, you will submit a plan for leadership as your final project. You will work on this plan throughout the workshop, and add to it at the end of every lesson.
In the last lesson, you chose a goal and a leadership style, envisioned a plan for your goal, and reflected on your existing leadership skills as well as those that require growth. Your next step is to analyze your self-awareness and self-confidence and decide on a plan to continually regulate your emotions.
Lesson Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
Analyze the role of self-awareness in effective leadership and its impact on decision-making.
Evaluate the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, including self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills.
Apply various strategies for improving self-awareness, such as mindfulness, journaling, seeking feedback, and active listening.
Contemplate how to build these skills through self-care and goal-setting.
Before we dive into the topic, let’s start by asking ourselves a few questions:
How does self-awareness impact a leader's ability to navigate complex situations and make informed decisions?
What are some of the key components of emotional intelligence and how can leaders work to develop these skills?
What are some effective techniques and strategies for building resilience and grit as a leader?
Understanding Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Developing self-awareness is a critical component of effective leadership. Leaders who are self-aware are able to understand their own strengths and weaknesses and are better equipped to navigate complex situations and make informed decisions. In this lesson, we will explore the importance of self-awareness and the steps that leaders can take to develop this important skill.
The first step to developing self-awareness is to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. This can involve self-reflection, as well as seeking feedback from others. Consider the following questions to help you gain a deeper understanding of your strengths and weaknesses:
What are you naturally good at?
What do you enjoy doing most?
What activities or tasks do you struggle with?
What are some areas in which you would like to improve?
It is also important to seek feedback from others, as they may have a different perspective on your strengths and weaknesses. You can ask for feedback from your coworkers, friends, family, or mentor. It is important to be open to constructive criticism and to use the feedback you receive to identify areas for growth and improvement.
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Leaders who have high emotional intelligence are better equipped to handle difficult situations, build strong relationships, and lead with empathy and compassion.
Here are some key components of emotional intelligence:
Self-awareness: The ability to understand your own emotions and how they impact your thoughts and behaviors. A great Leader is self-aware and understands his or her weaknesses. A great leader also knows how to defend their emotional triggers.
Self-regulation: The ability to manage your own emotions, and to avoid impulsive or reactive behavior. The power of a leader is based on their ability to focus and be consistent.
Empathy: The ability to understand and share the emotions of others.
Social skills: The ability to build strong relationships and communicate effectively with others.
Techniques for Improving Self-Awareness
There are several techniques that leaders can use to develop their self-awareness, including:
Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of focusing your attention on the present moment and becoming more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings. This can help you to become more aware of your own emotions and how they impact your behavior.
Journaling: Keeping a journal can be a useful tool for reflecting on your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Writing down your thoughts and observations can help you to gain a deeper understanding of your own emotions and behaviors.
Seeking feedback: As mentioned earlier, seeking feedback from others is a critical component of developing self-awareness. Consider asking for feedback from your coworkers, friends, family, or mentor.
Practice active listening: Pay close attention to what others are saying, and focus on understanding their perspective. This can help you to develop your empathy and social skills.
Managing Emotions for Effective Leadership
As a leader, it's important to know how to manage your emotions to make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and lead your team to success. When you experience a strong emotion, the first step is to acknowledge it and allow yourself to experience it. After that, you can take steps to manage the emotion, starting with containing it by taking three deep breaths through your nose. Then, you can control the emotion by paying attention to how it's affecting your body and taking four deep breaths through your nose. Once you've controlled the emotion, you can release it in an honorable way that doesn't harm yourself or others. Finally, you can reset with calm and move forward with a clear head, ready to lead your team effectively. Remember, managing emotions is an important part of being a successful leader!
Building Resilience and Grit
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges and setbacks and to maintain a positive attitude even in the face of adversity. Grit is the perseverance and determination to achieve long-term goals, despite obstacles and setbacks. Leaders who are resilient and have grit are better equipped to handle challenges and maintain their focus on their goals, even in difficult circumstances.
Here are some tips for building resilience and grit:
Practice self-care: Take care of your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. This can include activities such as exercise, meditation, and spending time with loved ones.
Set achievable goals: Set realistic and achievable goals for yourself, and work towards them with determination and perseverance.
Accepting Feedback
Additionally, leaders are able to remove ego and accept feedback. They understand that there is one goal at hand– for the team to be successful. If that means that someone else has a better idea, they are able to accept that.
Closing Assessment
It’s time to work on your leadership plan. Please open up your leadership plan document, and answer questions 4-7.
Advance your understanding by participating in the 24/7 Discussion Forum:
1. Please answer one of the following questions in the comment section below and interact with learners from around the world.
How can being self-aware help you navigate complex situations and make informed decisions?
What are some of the critical components of emotional intelligence and how can you work to develop these skills?
2. Please read and reply to other learners’ answers in the forum. Provide feedback, thoughts, or questions. Your replies should offer new substantiated ideas or provoke thoughtful discussion.
Course created by Samantha Nally and Rob Grillot
or try a prompt below!
