In my opinion, the value of self-awareness to leaders can be summarized in three points:
- None of us, leaders included, can fix or change what we can’t see. That’s why they call them blind spots.
- The higher one advances in an organization, the less likely it is that he or she will receive accurate and useful feedback. In a sense, the higher one goes in the organization, the more blind leaders become if solely dependent on feedback from others.
- Therefore, the most reliable source of useful insights for leaders in organizations is their own capacity to self-observe and self-correct which we often lump under the term self-awareness.
In my experience, there is no more critical skill for leaders to develop, if they are to be effective in a sustainable way, is than nurturing and developing self-awareness in themselves and those whom they lead.