As a leader, you probably give feedback to your employees all day long. But how often do YOU get to hear how you are doing? Sure, your own boss may offer feedback periodically, but when do you get to hear from those you actually work with every day? Even if it’s not in a formal setting, meeting with the people you depend on, can increase your awareness and make you a more effective leader.
While it’s true that you shouldn’t care about what others think when you wear the biggest hat in creation to a horse race, it is important to know what your team members think about you come across as a leader.
Small slights, even imagined ones, can lead to resentment and a reduction in productivity. As a leader, you should be aware of issues going on in your workspace. Understanding how others view your behavior can be incredibly insightful.
Leadership begins with an awareness of who you are, and what you stand for. It’s all too easy to turn on cruise control and treat each day the same. However, when you are complacent about your skills, they start to stagnate. Displaying agility and the ability to think quickly will fall away when you get stuck in the same old patterns.
Understanding what others see in you can help you correct any limitations and highlight strengths. Your employees will appreciate it when you ask for their opinions about your traits and what you can do to enhance any weaknesses.
Hopefully, you chose the first option. And that is the first step in the right direction. Figuring out what kind of leader you want to be is critical if you want to successfully fit into the Imagination Age. Times are changing, workers are changing, and we all need to keep up.
Leaders that lack self-awareness will not make the best business decisions. They won’t have the foresight to plan ahead, and likely focus only on the short-term. They won’t understand factors that influence their decision-making processes.
Instead, I invite you to be the leader that seeks to realise that awareness leads to an increased agility and an increased ability to handle rapidly changing conditions.
What is necessary to change in a person is to change his awareness of self.
Abraham Maslow
This is one part of the process, the information gathered from family, friends, customers, suppliers, peers, and managers will open your eyes to how others see you.
Armed with knowledge, you can use the tools that the i4 Neuroleader Methodology offers to increase your awareness, and by extension, create a culture of Agility. Effective communication that goes both ways will make your organisation run more smoothly.
The Imagination Age is here, and you can either be running along to catch up, or you can confidently lead the way.