Episode 178

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3 Pillars of Self-Awareness

May 10

178

Leader Notes

Main Idea: To lead yourself well, you must know yourself. You must have a true foundation, and increasing grasp of self-awareness. Typically we have one overdeveloped, over-obsessed pillar, and two that are almost completely unformed.
Pillar One: Who Are You?
  • Character:
    • Are you lying to yourself about what could potentially destroy you?
    • Are you shaking off, or actively combating, truths that are uncomfortable?
  • Personality:
    • What energizes you? What depletes you? What’s your natural rhythms
    • Personality Testing: DISC, Enneagram, Leading from your strengths.
  • Gifting:
    • We try to operate in other people’s gifting because we see the impact it has clearer than we can see the impact of our own gifting.
    • Test: StrengthsFinder
  • Ethos
    • Emotional Intelligence component of who you are.
    • Question: “What’s it like to be on the other side of me?”
  • Further Statements
    • Only when we know what we’re made of and what we want to make of it can we begin our lives. Bennis
    • Warren Bennis on how to know yourself
      • 1) You are your own best teacher
      • 2) Accept responsibility. Blame no one.
      • 3) You can learn anything you want to learn.
      • 4) True understanding comes from reflecting on your experience.
Pillar Two: What do you want
  • This is one aspect of self-leadership that is almost completely unformed. People set out to be leaders, without knowing why.
    • “No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely-all your skills, gifts, and energies- in order to make your vision manifest.” Warren Bennis.
    • Reflection: I don’t think that’s true, many people set out to be a leader.
  • Mercenary Leader or Visionary Leader
    • Mercenary: Developing and deploying skills to whatever seems the most interesting and pays the most.
    • Visionary: The person who becomes a leader, develops what is needed, in pursuit of a vision they desperately want to accomplish.
      Mercenary Leaders bail early.
  • Sources
    • The 2nd Habit of Highly Effective People from Stephen Covey, “Begin with the end in mind”.
    • The first element of leadership is having a guiding vision. Bennis
  • Aspect of it, plan, “You’re either going to be proactive or reactive- without a plan, you have a much greater probability of getting ‘off purpose’.” Harkavy
Pillar Three: Are you willing to do what is necessary to get there?
  • Angela Duckworth, “Grit is the combination of passion and perseverance…that is a stronger predictor of high-achievement than intelligence, talent and other personality traits.”
  • My belief: People over-obsess on personality tests, don’t really have a good idea of what they want to accomplish, and bail at the first sign of difficulty. The third pillar of self-awareness must be an awareness of “are you willing to do what is necessary to get there?”
  • Many men want to be president, few want to do president. Steven Sample
  • Metaphor of knowing if you can get there. Count the cost
  • The difference between where you are and where you want to be is the pain you’re willing to endure. Sam Chand
Close
  • “A leader should always act as if he himself, not history or fate, is responsible for his actions.” Steven Sample

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