by Ron Carucci
I recently observed a town hall meeting where a new leader had just been promoted to run his division. In his introductory remarks, many – including me – were struck by his declaration, “One of the things you’ll find is that I’m very self-aware and open to feedback.” Even from the side of the room, I could see the eye rolling.
Over my 30-year career working with leaders, I’ve heard many declare such self-enlightenment. But telling people you’re self-aware doesn’t mean you are. And while we know that higher self-awareness leads to better team performance, unfortunately, research suggests that most people aren’t very self-aware at work.
If you want to understand how people genuinely perceive you, try these four things instead
- Ask your coworkers to push back.
- Read nonverbal cues.
- Monitor how you narrate the story.
- Know your triggers and encourage others to call them out.