Self-Awareness

Both David Goleman's exposition of Emotional Intelligence and Chris Lowney's book on Heroic Leadership point to self-awareness as the foundation to good leadership.

Many people, however, will miss a tiny but important point. Self-awareness is important even if you don't dream of becoming a leader.

Lowney points out that the early Jesuit trailblazers were not really leaders who commanded thousands of followers. What's important to understand is that each of these Jesuits had the ability to self-lead.

Self-awareness is, first and foremost, knowing what you want to achieve. A person with a goal in mind will be better motivated than someone who does not.

Self-awareness is also knowing your strengths and limitations. How far can you go to achieve your dream? Are you willing to work extra just to reach it?

Try answering the following questions:

1. When you retire (at 50, 60 or whenever), how do you want others to remember you by?

2. Now ask yourself, are your daily thoughts, work and habits oriented towards achieving number 1?

3. If not, what do you need to focus on? What do you need to jettison?

Also ask these supplementary questions:

4. What do you enjoy doing most?

5. What do you hate doing most?

6. What do you wish to do more of, if you only had enough time?