In the book, Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck, Anthony K. Tjan and his co-authors found in their research that there is one quality in leaders that trumps all others. That one quality is self-awareness. In Harvard Business Review (7/19/12), Tjan goes on to say, “The best thing leaders can do to improve their effectiveness is to become more aware of what motivates them and their decision-making.”
In an article by Jack Zenger in Forbes magazine (April 17, 2014), the author states that “The National Advisory Council of a prestigious west coast business school was asked what single quality they thought would be most valuable for their graduates to acquire as they graduated. The answer was self-awareness.”
We should not think that secular leaders are different than clerical leaders. Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta was quoted as saying, “It is important to gain self-knowledge as part of spiritual growth – to know yourself means you can know and believe in God. Knowledge of yourself produces humility, and knowledge of God produces love.”
As recently as December 2016, in The Gift of the Priestly Vocation issued by the Congregation for the Clergy of the Vatican, Ratio 45 states, “it is necessary that the seminarian should know himself.” Obviously, this observation is valid for ordained priests as well.
So clearly, both religious and secular sources have stressed the importance of self-awareness but that must lead one to ask why? James Hunter, in a book entitled, The Servant, defined leadership as, “the skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified as being for the common good.”
Zenger, in the Forbes article cited earlier, stated that leaders must have a clear understanding of their impact on the people around them. Taken together this would stress the importance of self-awareness.
Successful leaders must truly know and understand themselves, both their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can effectively guide and influence their team. Once a leader can evaluate their behavior and actions objectively they can begin to understand how they may need to evolve or change to be most beneficial to their team as they help to implement their vision. Leaders cannot change if they do not understand what needs to change.
Often others can see weaknesses before we see them in ourselves. We tend to accurately understand our strengths but often are blind to our weaknesses. If we remain blind to these weaknesses, which may be evident to others, it can create improper doubts among your team about your leadership abilities. Occasionally, leaders can also overplay their strengths and doing so can turn the strength into a weakness.
So, in summary, truly effective leaders must have a strong sense of self-awareness so they can understand the impact of their actions and behavior on their teams. In our next post, we start to discuss several ways that leaders can begin to better understand themselves and become more effective.