“It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem it’s me…..” My daughter and I are a little obsessed with Taylor Swift’s latest song ‘Anti-hero’ (so good!).
I doubt Ms Swift intended it but every time I hear the chorus I can’t help thinking wow – a global popstar singing about self-awareness!
Self-awareness – the cornerstone of Emotional Intelligence, the never-ending journey that we are all on, some of us very consciously so, some of us not so much. I love the classic model of self-awareness created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, and aptly named the Johari Window.
Johari can really help us to reflect on and explore…
- Our Arena: what we know and share about ourselves (eg our strengths, experience, perhaps some of our values and beliefs)
- Our Façade: what we keep hidden from others (eg perhaps our fears, our saboteurs, our known derailers)
- Our Blind Spot(s): what others know about us but we don’t see (eg our unknown derailers and talents, our unknown impact)
- Our Unknown Potential (What neither we nor others know about us – yet!)
Self-awareness is key for our growth and development and critical for leadership. If you don’t know yourself, how can you build trust and lead and influence others?
If you’d like to increase your self-awareness or would like to help your leaders explore this, including through the use of psychometrics and 360 tools contact me jane@janesendall-leadership.com for a discussion on how coaching could help. I am currently offering a chemistry meeting and one pro bono session per client.
