Top Takeaways Tuesday: Technology and Self-Awareness
The Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast, Ep. 61 with Susanne Mus
Hello KSKOers
I spoke to Susanne Mus in episode 61 and we had an interesting conversation about her journey to discovering self-awareness, it’s impact on her relationship with her colleagues and running a company focused on delivering accessible training to build self-awareness skills. Here are my top takeaways from our conversation:
1. Self-awareness is a game-changer in personal and professional growth. Susanne emphasises the transformative power of self-awareness. By understanding our thoughts, behaviours and impact on others, we can improve our communication skills, manage stress more effectively and better navigate societal expectations. This strengthens my view about the need for deep introspection and understanding of how our actions and words impact those around us.
Reflection Question: Do you actively observe and reflect on your own thoughts and behaviours to cultivate self-awareness in your life? Are you happy with your answer?
“I believe that when people are more self aware, they communicate better, handle stress more effectively”
2. Technology for self-awareness training: Susanne says that technology can be a catalyst for making self-awareness training more accessible in professional environments. If we think about study-at-your-own-leisure type online modules, they definitely increase accessibility through flexibility alone. The integration of digital tools and personal coaching can help people adopt new behaviours and incorporate self-awareness practices into their day to day work lives.
Reflection question: What digital resources or platforms could support you in growing self-awareness skills in your organisation?
3. Embracing all aspects of the self is essential for genuine self-awareness. Susanne talked about the need to own every part of ourselves, including the positive and negative aspects. This is something Alison Smith also referenced in our conversation. By letting go of defense mechanisms and facing the truth about ourselves, we can achieve a deeper level of self-awareness and fulfillment. Being vulnerable and honest can really help us become more self-aware and in turn, develop and grow.
Reflection question: What steps can you take to confront and embrace the less flattering aspects of yourself to achieve greater self-awareness?
4. Building resilience and embracing failure are vital for self-aware leadership. We talked about the importance of experiencing failure and developing resilience as crucial components of self-aware leadership. Difficult experiences contribute to a deeper understanding of our capabilities and limitations, strengths and weaknesses. When we go through challenging experiences such as difficult conversations at work or manage crises, we learn a lot about our abilities and emotional responses.
Reflection Question: How have your experiences with difficult situations contributed to your self-awareness and leadership skills?
5. Education, training and raising awareness of awareness: We talked about the need to raise awareness of the importance of self-awareness on a larger scale. Educating leaders and team members about our blind spots and impact on others can contribute to a more self-aware and empathetic work environment. I give the example of buying a new car: if you buy a yellow car, you start seeing them everywhere. It’s the same with awareness: once we start talking about it, it’ll generate conversations in places you might not expect to hear them.
Reflection question: How can you actively contribute to promoting self-awareness in your organisation and encouraging open discussions about our impact on others?
“I believe we have to do something and give more people, especially in the professional environment, a toolbox where we can help them grow their self awareness.”
How can you use these top takeaways and reflection questions (TTRQ)?
Pick one of the TTRQs
Share it with you team
Ask for their thoughts and views. Reflect, discuss and debate
Get to know your own thoughts better. Help others to know their thoughts better. Get to know each other better.
Share your thoughts here with us on what you’ve discovered and learned.
Hope you enjoy the episode and find that these TTRQs generate interesting and awareness raising discussions!
Looking forward to having you on my learning journey!
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Nia is an expert leader who talks the talk and walks the walk. She is an academically awarded thought leader in self-aware leadership and practices self-aware leadership every single day in her role as a Director in a Children’s Charity.
Really like this point - “By understanding our thoughts, behaviours and impact on others, we can improve our communication skills, manage stress more effectively and better navigate societal expectations”!
One thing, your reflection questions really drive home is that true self-awareness requires candor and guts. It’s not a causal, one-off exercise and demands commitment. Without self-awareness, though, the search for meaning in all we do is impossible, which renders life insipid.
Sorry to get all philosophical, but there it is.