Self-awareness

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IN A NUTSHELL...

An HR specialist with a personal mission to help staff develop, grow and flourish in their work, summarises as follows:

• Be confident in your strengths - you have many of them, even if you do not know it!
• Be aware of your personality traits (see below).
• Have the humility to accept you have weaknesses (nobody is perfect!)
• Be conscious of how your unique personality can affect the people around you.
• Have a plan to improve and grow and achieve your potential - step by step.

Even experienced and accomplished people changing careers suffer from lack of confidence fearful that what they learned in one career may not be relevant in another. Recruiters see this frequently with people leaving the forces or moving from the corporate to the not-for-profit sector. It's all about transferrable skills.

A large part of the interview process is actually about these areas - so being able to show you understand them will take you a very long way.

CHECK THESE LINKS OUT - THEY WILL EXCITE YOU TO GROW IN SELF-AWARENESS:

(These are just examples to get you going - you will find lot's more if you are interested)

SEARCH: humanmetrics.com/personality

Have you ever wondered what makes you tick? What drives you, motivates you, and what you fear?"

Understanding yourself on a deeper level is an important aspect of personal growth and development.

SEARCH: "Enneagram Test" - very insightful!

Another super helpful insight is the role you prefer to play in teams...

SEARCH: Belbin Team Roles

Another good model explains the four basic we all exhibit:

• Driver (results)
• Analytical (facts)
• Expressive (sometimes loud!)
• Amiable (relationships first)

SEARCH: "Social Styles"

No one trait is better than the other and with experience you can learn to adapt your behaviour to match people with whom you are communicating. 

One of the great books (30 million copies sold) is also well worth looking at "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie

AWARENESS OF OTHERS

The more you are self-aware - the more you will understand others. You will be able to adapt your behaviour to build relationships and trust. However, not everyone you meet will necessarily have your interests at heart and will only be in it for themselves (I win - you lose type people - as opposed to win/win types). 

Some people behave at extremes of self-interest (as competitors or bosses) 

• They can seriously spoil you day if you are not very careful how you deal with them.
• Some of the most successful people in all areas of life display the qualities below - so it is good to be able to spot the signs and so adapt your behaviour if you find yourself working with them or for them.

SEARCH: 

"Narcissist characteristics"

"Psychopath characteristics"