Great Leadership Skills - Self Awareness

A great leader has a strong sense of self and will identify with both their strengths and their weaknesses. It means recognising what you are good at and acknowledging that there is still a lot for you to learn. It also means being prepared to state when you do not know the answer and addressing the mistakes you might make.

This can often go against our in-grained beliefs, often we are determined to demonstrate that we know and can do everything. However, just because we don’t recognise our weaknesses, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If you try and hide things, it will mean that others might question your abilities, which in turn will undermine your efforts as a great leader.

When you develop a strong sense of self you will model behaviour that demonstrates that it’s alright to admit to not knowing all the answers, to make mistakes and to ask for help. All characteristics that, when adopted by the staff, will help an organisation to develop and grow.

On an individual level, by having self-awareness, you will be able to identify where the support of your team is required and utilise their expertise to ensure effectiveness.

There are many ways that you can develop your self-awareness. A few things you can start to focus on are...

- Be true to your strengths
- Solicit feedback
- Ask good questions and listen to the response
- Commit to lifelong learning

This article is an excerpt from the brand new training course materials from Trainer Bubble called, 'Great Leadership Skills'. You can view these materials and many others at - Trainer Bubble Training Course Materials.