What is meant by self awareness 

Self awareness is an individual’s ability to accurately recognise things about themselves, including their strengths and weaknesses.

All of these five areas are relevant to a leader in considering their strengths and weaknesses:

• Knowledge: A leader’s knowledge refers to their understanding of a subject, process, or situation. Having strong knowledge in an area can help with confidence and decision-making, while a lack of knowledge may lead to mistakes or hesitation. 
• Relationships are also important, as leadership involves working with others. A leader who builds trust and communicates well can create strong teamwork, whereas struggling with relationships can lead to misunderstandings or conflict. 
• Character strengths shape the way a leader approaches challenges. Qualities like patience, resilience, honesty, and decisiveness can inspire confidence in others. On the other hand, impatience, self-doubt, or being too controlling may create difficulties. 
• Essential skills also play a role in leadership. Being good at the other essential skills can make tasks easier, while struggling with these skills can slow progress. 

Finally, experience helps shape leadership abilities. Learning from past situations can provide valuable insight and help avoid mistakes. However, limited experience in certain areas may make some situations feel unfamiliar or challenging.

Why self awareness and reflection are important

Self awareness is key to personal growth. Leaders can take simple steps to understand what they do well and where they need to improve.

• Reflect on past experiences: Think about what has gone well in different situations and what has been difficult. Consider which tasks feel easy and enjoyable versus those that feel challenging.
• Ask yourself key questions: What do people often praise you for? What tasks do you avoid or struggle with? When have you felt most confident or most unsure?
• Try new challenges: Stepping outside of your comfort zone can highlight strengths and weaknesses. You may discover hidden talents or areas that need more focus.

Developing a mindset of seeking growth and self-development is critical. Too many leaders feel they need to avoid showing weakness and therefore stop developing as leaders.

How to build self awareness of strengths and weaknesses

Understanding how others see you can provide useful insights that self-reflection alone might miss.

• Ask for feedback: Request honest opinions from people who have seen you in different situations. Ask specific questions, such as “What do you think I do well?” and “What could I improve?”
• Give different feedback opportunities: Some people will be too nervous to give you direct feedback, especially if you are senior to them. Think about whether you could use anonymised tools or other structures like 360 feedback to encourage feedback.
• Observe how people react to you: Notice how people respond when you speak, make decisions, or work in a team. When do they often turn to you for advice, and when do they hesitate?
• Look for patterns in feedback: If multiple people mention the same strength or weakness, it’s worth paying attention to. One person’s opinion may not be accurate, but repeated feedback can highlight real areas for improvement.
• Demonstrate being open to learning: Avoid being defensive about weaknesses - see them as opportunities to grow. Recognising strengths can also build confidence and encourage further development. Giving examples to your team of things that you are wanting to improve on will give them confidence that you really are open to feedback.

By developing self-awareness and seeking feedback, leaders can better understand their strengths and weaknesses, leading to more effective and balanced leadership.