Tasha Eurich: Increase Self Awareness To Maximize Your Leadership

Masters of Leadership

If you are a leader, the data is in: As you increase self awareness your leadership will improve. Self Awareness is a very simple concept, but quite difficult in practice. That’s because we don’t always see ourselves the same way that we come across to those we interact with. On this episode, my guest Tasha Eurich shares her findings regarding the quality of self awareness and drives home how important it is for leaders to increase in self awareness for the sake of their teams. Be sure you listen to learn how simple it is to improve in self awareness and how to establish daily habits that help.

Ask the question, “How much time do I spend focused on knowing myself?”

To begin an assessment of how self aware you really are, Tasha suggests you start by asking a simple question, “How much time do I spend focused on knowing myself?” She says it doesn’t take extraordinary amounts of time to get to know yourself but it does require a concerted effort.

On this episode, Tasha shares a few simple but powerful routines you can add to your daily schedule that will help you discover who you really are and then apply that knowledge to your role as a leader. She also shares a free self awareness quiz she’s developed to help anyone quickly ascertain how self aware they really are. Get the details on this episode.

Grow your self awareness by establishing the habit of a daily check-in

One of the most highly consistent data points Tasha discovered that was common to people who were highly self aware but weren’t previously was a daily habit of checking in with themselves about how they are relating to others. The daily check-in she recommends consists of 3 questions:

1. What went well today?
2. What didn’t go so well today?
3. How can I be smarter tomorrow?

What Tasha loves about those questions is two-fold: First, it enables you to stay out of “overthinking mode,” which is counterproductive when it comes to increasing self awareness. Secondly, these simple questions can give you micro insights you can use to be more aware of your interactions with others. This can reveal big aspects of yourself that you haven’t been aware of before.

Awareness is at the heart of being successful as a leader - and a human

High profile leaders who are self-aware are a rare sight these days. Tasha points out that one of the best models of self awareness she’s met is Alan Mulally, a business leader who turned around two iconic American companies that were in big trouble - Boeing Commercial and Ford Motor Company. What enabled him to turn Ford from a $17 billion loss to a $20 billion profit just 6 years later?

Surely, there were many things he did to enable that kind of turn-around, but he says that at the heart of any success - and something he focuses on personally - is the issue of awareness. When you have that value at your core, you are able to see the gems about yourself or your situation that enable you to make adjustments to what you’re doing. Don’t underestimate the power of awareness.

People in positions of power tend to be less self aware: Find loving critics

Leaders are high power, high energy individuals for the most part. But they don’t always have the greatest sense of self awareness. These people must go out of their way to get quality feedback. Tasha calls those who give this vital feedback "loving critics,” people who care enough to tell the truth about how the leader is coming across to those they lead.

This insight alone is a gem that you can use to increase self awareness in a way that empowers your leadership, equips your team to be more productive and creative, and to become better at empowering and equipping others to become leaders themselves.

Don’t miss this great conversation.

Outline of This Episode

• [1:22] Tasha’s working definition of leadership: Bringing out the best in others
• [2:01] The power of improving self awareness
• [3:57] What does it mean to be self aware and how do we grow in self awareness?
• [6:06] How to apply a “daily check in” to enable your self awareness
• [7:42] Leaders Tasha holds up as great examples of leaders who are self aware
• [10:30] How to improve in self awareness in a society that works remotely?
• [14:01] Tasha’s biggest piece of advice for leaders
• [16:21] How to connect with Tasha

Resources & People Mentioned

• Tasha Eurich’s website
• The free 14-question self awareness assessment
• Tasha’s book: Insight
• Tasha on LinkedIn
• Tasha on Twitter: @TashaEurich
• Tasha on Facebook
• Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
• Alan Mulally - turned around both Boeing and Ford using self awareness
• Ed Catmull of Pixar

Connect with Erica

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