How To Help Your Team Increase Their Self-Awareness

“How can I help my team increase their self-awareness?”

This was the most common question I got while at the CMAA World Conference in Vegas earlier this month. 

(Well, besides the question: “Have you done anything for fun while in Vegas!?”

The answer is yes, btw, I saw Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson One and it was off the charts! People moonwalking up the side wall, zombies dropping down from the ceiling to Thriller, and Michael’s infamous hat and gloves dancing their way across the stage. I’m still smiling about it now!)

Back to helping your team build their self-awareness. Here are some ways to consider:

#1  First start with yourself. The greater your self-awareness, the greater you’ll be able to draw it out of your leaders.

#2  Personality assessments. DISC, Predictive Index, Enneagram, Myers Briggs, etc. – all of these help us learn a little more about ourselves and put words to the way we relate with others.

#3  Nurture a culture of feedback. Feedback should be given across all reporting directions regularly. Make sure your team has a method or script on how to give feedback and clear expectations of how and when to do it.

#4  Help your leaders see their impact on others. One model you can adopt that keeps emotions neutral is the SBI Model: Situation. Behavior. Impact.

For example:

Situation:

“Last night during the cocktail party…”

“This morning during our executive management meeting…”

“Yesterday in the maintenance shop…”

Behavior:

“…I noticed servers were standing around and members’ champagnes weren’t getting refilled…”

“…You interrupted Adam while he was sharing his idea…”

“…The blades weren’t balanced properly with the grinder…”

Impact:

“…The members didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves when they were waiting for a drink which resulted in an energy lull.”

“…Did you notice how Adam then stopped contributing to the rest of the discussion?”

“…Which can lead to uneven cutting or damage to the mowers.”

#5  Leadership development. And of course, you can bring me in to work with your leaders through a half or full-day emotional intelligence workshop or for leadership coaching. Click here to book a call with me to explore more.

To your team’s success!

Your coach,
💜Sara

P.S. What else has worked for you to help your team increase their self awareness? Please comment below and let me know so I can add it to my arsenal. 😊