Chess Leadership Concept On The Chessboard

The Internal and External Qualities of Leaders

The Internal and External Qualities of Leaders

Daniel Goldman, the guru on Emotional Intelligence, recognizes self-awareness as one of the essential skills for great leadership.  Knowing one’s strengths, weaknesses, drives, value and impact on others is just as equally important as having IQ (technical skills).

Everyday we are required to make decisions. Do we have the right people expertise? Can we launch a new product on time? What do we need to do to increase sales?  Leaders who are equipped to assess themselves tend to do better at decision making and leading organizations.

Assessing oneself requires looking at your personal blind spots, the internal and external, and seeing how it impactsthe organization.

  1. Internal Blind Spots: how we see ourselves in terms of …..

strengths

our purpose

our values

thoughts

behaviors

weakness

 

  1. External Blind Spots: how others see us in terms of our …..

strengths

our purpose

our values

thoughts

behaviors

weakness

Research conducted by Harvard Business Review found that leaders who see themselves the same as employees see them tend to have a better relationship with them and are more satisfied with their performances. Why? Because a certain level of trust for healthy conflict has been built.  Good leaders have given their employees the safety that is needed to give their feedbacks, good or bad.

 

Does Experience and Power Hinder Self Awareness?

One study found that the more experienced managers are, the less accurate they were at assessing their leadership effectiveness.Similarly, the higher up the leaderis in the executive position, the more likely they overestimate their skills and abilities.

What is the cause for this disparity? The more senior one is the fewer people there are above them who can provide feedback on their External Blind Spots. Those beneath themare less comfortable in providing feedback for fear of jeopardizing their jobs or how they might be perceived.

How To Assess Your Blind Spots?

Create room for healthy feedbacks without people fearing judgement is one sure fire way to gain insight into your Blind Spots.

Another way is to see where you fit on the Four Self Awareness Archetypes and have others assess you. as well.

The bottom line is, Blind Spot whether Internal or External is a delicate balance of the two.The more you begin to ask and listen for feedback the more clarity you gain.  You will begin to observe patterns in your behaviors and question whether they are meant to serve you or the people that work for you?

Serving your people in a way that inspires them to be their beststarts with knowing exactly who you are.

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