Let’s talk about Self-Awareness.  Some may call it emotional intelligence, and others may refer to “People Skills”.

What is Self Awareness?  Maslow refers to Self Esteem as having confidence, a drive for achievement, respect for others and respect by others.

When coaching, we refer to Self-Awareness as a gateway to self management and leadership.  Maslow talked about his theory where a person’s baseline needs safety and security and love/belonging have to be met before anyone can develop Self Esteem.  Once Self Esteem is established, then a person can move into times of Self-Actualization and reach beyond themselves into helping others achieve their life goals.  Maslow believed that people like Mother Theresa and Ghandi lived in the Self-Actualization space permanently.

I didn’t know Mother Theresa or Ghandi, but I don’t know that anyone can live in a permanent place of setting aside all of their needs to meet the needs of others.  It makes for good dinner conversation.

What I have observed is when we have a strong Self Esteem, then we are Self Aware.  We recognize our patterns of behavior.  We predict when something may adversely affect our responses.  We can manage the “voice in our head” to truly filter what another person’s perspective is and respect that they are individually unique.  We respect perspectives that are different than our views.

The current election season is a true test of Self-Awareness.  I function in different spaces.  I am a business consultant who after years in a Fortune 25 company, have found that I love the entrepreneurial mid to smaller sized organizations’ fast pace of growth.  I also spent 7 years as a Mom to a special needs child and dealing with the abysmal processes in our health care system. Lastly, I am a jewelry artist.  I spend much of my personal time with artists and creative types.  I have friends who are far right conservative Christians, Lesbian/Gay, black, asian, Spanish, and who are far left on the political spectrum.

And I want all of them to see politics the way I do.  When they don’t, I want to get angry, argumentative and frustrated about their impact on where our country is headed.

This is my “practice what you preach” challenge this fall as it relates to Self-Awareness.  My friends and colleagues have formed their perspectives based on their values and life experiences the same way I have.  I can still be who I am without sharing their beliefs.  I can certainly be secure enough to hear them out on their thoughts without moving to hatred and anger.  By keeping my Self-Awareness in check, I am able to engage in conversations that bring about learning.  For me and maybe for them.  I caught myself “unfriending” someone on Facebook because I was sick of reading what they were posting politically.  If I do that, then what have I learned?  If they do that to people, what might they miss?

In business, this is a critical factor in leadership.  We may not see eye to eye, but can we own our selves well enough to work together, see one another’s perspective and move the business forward?  Leadership is a mastery of this ability.  Leadership is Self-Awareness.

Here at The Wineinger Company, we are passionate about developing leaders and helping career-oriented people achieve their very best. Check out some of our many coaching and training programs!