Awareness is a learned skill. It balances a need for understanding, with the humility of appreciation. In this ‘Leadership Wisdom‘ article you will find out the benefits of awareness, why it can be a struggle and why it is of great value when you use it well.
In the busyness of work, it can be easy to lose the ability to be perceptive. For a leader, this can be fatal. For if you are ignorant of what is happening around you, you will suffer and your people will not follow you.
Leadership is all about people. And any leader needs to be fully in touch with what is going on in their team. Each individual is different – and has different needs – but the critical factor for any leader is that they have the radar to be aware enough to act when things are not going to plan.
One of the biggest challenges any leader has is to be precise in how they use their time. If a leader gets too involved with things they need not be involved in, they will not have the inner resources to keep alerted to this radar. Because of this, it is vital to ensure that a leader’s role is geared towards what the role is intended to be and much less on the tasks their team could deliver. Freeing up time to be with their people is how the best leaders do what they do and have a clear awareness of how to motivate their team and grow performance.
When a leader fails to prioritise awareness of what is going on, they will be unable to respond to the needs of individuals and the team as a whole. Being with their people is how they do this, appreciating these subtle nuances only comes from a close appreciation of the mood and culture which exists.
Finally, when you accept help from others you are showing a small vulnerability; a humility that shows that even as a leader you are like the people in your team, and that sometimes you also need support.
To download the poster, backed by the article and 5 Steps to Being More Aware, click here.