A coaching truism: self-awareness is the starting point for development. Indeed, this applies to career and leadership development.
Unfortunately, most people are so busy cramming each day with work, family, leisure, and life-maintenance tasks that we rarely take the time to reflect on who we really are right now.
Many of us look back at ourselves in high school and college, or during our twenties or thirties and have a laugh or think of that gospel lyric ‘thank God I’m not like I used to be’.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know your current self so that in twenty years you don’t reflect on this time and cringe? The good news is, that with awareness, you can make changes to start living and working more as the person you hope to be. However, Daniel Goleman does warn us to not become obsessed with knowing ourselves.
But, how do you get to know you? Fortunately, feedback is all around.
A shift in perspective about daily encounters is one way to gather feedback. Think about your interactions and relationships with friends, family, co-workers, employees, customers, grocery store cashiers, your postman, etc. Monitor how they react to you as therein are clues. Defensive behavior, excuses, and more may also provide insight.
Another way to get information is to ask people what they think. Others may not be comfortable giving feedback about your perceived weaknesses but usually will share with you perceived strengths. Being clear on strengths is just as valuable as clarity around our weaknesses. A way to put a little structure into this is to do your own version of the Reflected Best Self exercise.
Traditional feedback includes the formal performance discussion at work and also data from personality inventories or 360 degree feedback instruments. Reliable and valid assessments provide another snapshot of you. If your employer does assessments, ask to participate. If not, consider finding a coach that provides these services.
Self-awareness is an ongoing process worthy of consideration every so often.
What techniques do you use to know yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Fun, fun, fun
Are you having some fun? Sadly, too many people just don’t have enough of it.
Can you think of something fun that you really love to do? Is there any way to work it into your schedule this week? Put fun on your to-do list. Make it a priority.
Spending several days in New Orleans during Mardi Gras got me thinking about the need for fun. NOLA during Carnival is a well-oiled fun machine and it’s wonderful how people spill out onto the streets to celebrate with friends, neighbors, and total strangers.
Everyone needs down time, especially those in high pressure jobs or really boring jobs and those whose work requires creativity and innovation.
Hey managers, are your people are having some fun? It doesn’t always have to be complicated. I wrote about making workplace fun happen in this earlier post.
One more thing about Mardi Gras – I love it for a lot of reasons but especially because it allows so many artists to showcase their spectacular talent and make a living doing what they love as float builders.
Would love to hear ways you incorporate fun into your workplace.
Culture and the Handshake
Another day, another listicle, right?
Danny Rubin shared one recently listing 24 Things Millennials Need to Know About the Real World.
Item #2 caught my eye: A flimsy handshake and poor eye contact make you look weak and unsure of yourself.
Here’s a lifehack for that one: Knowing when a firm handshake and eye contact are appropriate shows you are culturally fluent and understand the global nature of our world.
The norm in the US is the firm handshake and eye contact but US companies and their customers are becoming increasingly diverse so thinking before you shake and stare is a good idea. The appropriate greeting can vary depending on culture.
Here are just a few to consider:
- In Africa a limp handshake is correct; direct eye contact with someone in authority is usually considered aggressive and rude.
- In Japan, a soft handshake is appropriate.
- Junior level people in South Asian and East Asian cultures typically avert their eyes after extending a hand for a handshake.
- A lighter handshake is preferred in the United Kingdom.
Because of the diversity in our world, it may be best to not judge someone based on a handshake. Further, we can’t always know the greeting style people prefer but it is worth consideration. Experts on cultural competence often mention the platinum rule “Do unto others as they would like to have done unto them.”
Becoming a student of cultural norms and preferences is a good idea for pretty much everyone in the 21st century. Classic work in the area of culture and behavior and a good starting point for learning more is Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. For more on culture and the handshake, google that phrase.
Finally, as a small-boned woman who wears rings and may have a bit of arthritis, I don’t particularly like to shake hands. Probably because too often handshakes are crushing and painful. I’m also a bit of a germaphobe and prefer to not shake hands at an event where food is involved – like cocktail buffets or lunch/dinner meetings.
I realize that not shaking violates all sorts of business etiquette rules and social expectations so I regularly do it, but I just wanted to share my innermost thoughts on this one.
What do you think about handshakes and other greetings in a professional setting?
Louisiana Leadership Wisdom
Here’s a recap of some thoughts shared by panelists at the recent Louisiana Women in The Global Economy Discussion Forum sponsored by AT&T and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.
Three lessons of success from Sandra Woodley, University of Louisiana System President:
1. Determination – summed up by Sonia Perez, AT&T Louisiana President, who said (something like), “I haven’t always been the smartest person in the room, but I’ve always been willing to work the hardest.”
2. Confidence – you may not know everything about the job when you are selected for it, but you must be confident that you can master what you need to learn and that you will be successful.
3. Self-honesty – Woodley said you must be brutally honest about your weaknesses and willing to address them. This takes confidence. (see #2)
About mentoring and developing young women into leaders, Ann Duplessis, Sr. VP at Liberty Bank and former Louisiana State Senator, urged women to bring their daughters to work to shadow them. She said over the years she has observed men do this often with their sons, no apologies. However, women don’t do it as much for fear they’ll be perceived as babysitting. There is great value to kids in seeing that they don’t necessarily have to reinvent in the (career) wheel as their mom or dad has cut a path for them.
Maya Bennett, educator and former Teach for America Corps member, discussed STEM (science, technology, engineering, & math) education. Girls lose interest in STEM in middle school. One way parents can kindle and keep interest in STEM is to answer kid’s questions from a science standpoint when possible. A quick google search can usually answer most anything. For example, ‘why is the sky blue?’. And in case you haven’t heard this one, add Art to STEM and you get STEAM.
Bennett also shared that in Louisiana, for every one unemployed person, three STEM related jobs exist. It’s really not a job shortage but a lack of skilled workers. Sonia Perez stressed how critical this is becoming and that women comprise only about 25% of the STEM workforce. Some good news though – Georgia Tech, in collaboration with AT&T, is now offering an online masters of computer science degree for about $6600.
Your thoughts?
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- …
- 27
- Next Page »