Self-Awareness in Leadership      

Self-Awareness in Leadership

            An increasing pool of empirical research posits that self-awareness is related to successful leadership. While self-awareness study has offered various scales for measuring self-awareness, none has accomplished explicit exploration of leadership. The present study explores the literature review of multiple sources that are designed for beginning and establishing validation for a paradigm to assess cognizance in the concept of self-leadership and establishment of a leader. The building of self-awareness has been explored by a considerable number of academic disciplines and aspects that suggest that elaborate self-awareness differences in a multitude of domains. In their article “Connections between emotional intelligence and workplace flourishing,” Schutte & Loi, (2014) posit that while definitions are different, self-awareness is an inwardly-concentrated and evaluative practice in which people create criterion or self-comparability with the goal of better improvement and self-knowledge. With the growing attention given to self-awareness, procedures are obtaining from leadership models, a measurement scale based on the concept that self-awareness could be of value in self-leadership roles.

According to Hulsheger et al., (2013), human beings have an extraordinary capacity to imagine based on their status quo, but regarding their appropriate status quo. This capacity is cemented on the ability to contemplate about a better tomorrow than yesterday, determine alternatives, identify issues, and a compelling continuity toward an ideal leadership. Based on the journal “Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction” by Hulsheger et al., (2013), the processes of thoughts, introspection, self-reflexive thinking, and self-examination is vital in determining a productive leader. Further, the article adds that all these elements circumscribe to the foundation of self-awareness, and while conceptualizations concerning self-awareness do differ, at their heart is the focus on inward attention as well as examining oneself as if looking in a mirror.

The importance of self-awareness cannot be overemphasized. As a matter of fact, Cooper & Petrides, (2010) theorize in their literature review that self-reflection could have been among the fundamental drivers of landmark quick physical appearance of human civilization about 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. These authors explore various pieces of literature to attribute that the rapid growth in technology and human culture during this time to reaching a nascent potential to make people think abstractly and symbolically regarding oneself and pondering the necessary transformation needed toward a progressive future.

There have been many cross-cultural and long-standing interest in self-awareness by clinicians, philosophers, social scientists, and in the recent past leadership theorist. In the journal “Whistle while you work: Toward a model of emotional self-leadership,” authors Manz t al., (2016) argue that writings about self are known and identified from 500 BC in China and India self-writings were known as early as 700 BC just to mention a few. More contemporary seminal treatments of self-awareness by the aid of sociologists and psychologists, as presented in the works of Manz et al., (2016), demonstrate that self-awareness is a fundamental tool for human development as observed from the past history.

While each of the present writers has a nuanced perception of self-awareness where a standard model erupts insinuating that people see themselves as both subjects and observers of observation, all is not covered about self-consciousness and its relation to self-leadership (Ashkanasy & Humphrey, 2011). Furthermore, individuals usually apply a reflective process where they imagine themselves against the benefit of point of one another with the aim of assessing self-evaluations from others’ evaluations. Specifically, the article “A conceptual model for understanding the process of self-leadership development and action steps to promote personal leadership development” authored by Ross, (2014) notes that people have a motivated urge for ideal determination of progress or self-worth against a standard or a goal. According to the author, the sufficient use of the self-reflective process would appear to be significant in leadership fields.

Different publications of self-awareness have come up with new frameworks that have increased nuances on past versions. As a beginning point, Mache et al. (2014) present the model of objective self-awareness. According to this theory, people focus periodically on inward attention and initiate a process of comparison that aides the determination of themselves from a standard that is salient such as a particular behaviour or success of a given goal. Mache et al., (2014) add that the objective self-awareness model predicted the possibility of results of such comparisons would refer to recognition of a standard limitation or shortage of self-identification skills, which leads to adverse effects. The usual comparison included an introspection as well as a self-evaluation process.

In one of the initial endeavours to establish a scale to evaluate self-awareness Schneider,  (2001) demonstrated the following dimensions; precaution with future, present and past behaviours, a sensitivity that generate inner feelings, acknowledgement of one’s negative and positive attributes, subjective expression, a tendency to imagine or picture oneself, concern due to appraisal of others, as well as awareness of one’s physical presentation and appearance. On the final scale, a three-dimensional framework was developed by Schneider (2001), and the dimensions of each were named “private self-consciousness.” These measures were testing the people’s consent of self -reflection by the statement “I reflect about myself” and self-consciousness about the public by an exhibition of the statement “I mind about what people think and imagine about me.” Additionally, the measure of social anxiety, which was determined by showing the statement “I’m nervous about huge gatherings,” assisted the author in determining people’s perception of self-awareness.

Consequentially, the article “Efficacy: The power of believing you can” by Maddux, (2002) used the dimension model as a source of revision when finding answers to self-awareness dimensionality. Maddux, (2002), for instance, noted that the factor of private self-consciousness was better described as a construct with two-dimensional paradigms that contained dimensions with given identity internal state and self-reflection awareness. The self-reflection awareness dimensionality included feelings such as depression, tranquillity and elation as well as bodily events such as breathing and heartbeat. Additional exploration by Schneider, (2001) using various participant measures that indicated better fit by the use of revised dimensionality, found that people need a high level of self-awareness to control individual “gut feelings.”

As can be determined from such discussions, earlier researchers assessed self-awareness procedures as being predominantly cognitive in design. Diener et al., (2010) looked at this discernment as a niche and suggested that other than cognition, it was also important to look into emotional and motivational influences.  Diener et al. (2010) further indicate that people can boost their self-awareness levels based on anxiety or the benefit of earning personal growth and self-knowledge. As section of their justification concerning emotional or emotional influences, Seligman, (2002) cited a massive piece of study demonstrating that due to high amounts of self-reflectiveness, paradoxically, people can experience either good or bad outcomes. One the beneficial side, high levels of self-awareness have been proven to show psychotherapeutic impacts and allows people better self-leadership strategies by making them adjust to their different circumstantial settings. On the opposite, high self-awareness is significantly related to various diseases such as anxiety and depression. According to Ryan & Deci (2000), self-leadership is associated with self-awareness in terms of reasoning, and people who have a positive influence of self-awareness disposition demonstrate practical self-leadership skills.

In various pieces of literature explored in the article “Fun in the workplace: A review and expanded theoretical perspective,” Michel et al., (2019) state that self-awareness is a crucial tool to developing emotional intelligence. He defined it as an aspect that helps people be aware of both their thoughts and moods. On the other hand, Quick et al., (2010) described self-awareness as an insightful practice that brings feedback about oneself, which later advances oneself productivity. Stewart et al., (2011) wrote in their article “Self-leadership: A multi-level review” that individuals with high levels of self-awareness are in a better position to articulate and recognize their mood and apply the information to lead their behaviour.  Stewart et al., (2011) elucidated “enhancing self-awareness it is like akin to telling a person: before the act, take a moment and contemplate about yourself and what you believe to be ideal to you. In the explanation of these mindsets, which fits you the best.” According to Ryan & Deci (2000), self-awareness is a type of schema that is special and contains all the information owned by ourselves. They add that this information undergoes processing, which makes it be organized better than any other information that influences self-leadership. In their literature review section, Stewart et al. (2011) maintain that self-awareness is beneficial to people in diverse ways.

Ross (2014) wrote that a more significant amount of self-awareness is key to helping people in monitoring and observing their behaviour. Ross perceived it as being a pillar to effective performance on the job since it allows people to precisely react to various interpersonal interconnections that are common in any workplace such as duplicitous colleagues, demanding boss, and angry clients. On the contrary, individuals with low levels of self-awareness suffer from a lack of requisite information concerning their lives that is needed in the formulation of policies about their response to situations and people. Further, Ryan & Deci (2000) added to the necessity of having high self-awareness as a vital tool to the eradication of poor work habits. The effectiveness of critical emotional intelligence is substantiated by establishing interpersonal expertise, excellent communication skills, as well as mentoring abilities. Hulsheger et al. (2013) suggested that self-awareness is an integral element of providing these life skills. To boost the self-awareness level, Schutte & Loi (2014) recommended that one should assess how he or she makes appraisals. Appraisals refer to expectations, ideas, and perceptions that people have themselves and others.

Another recommendation from Schutte & Loi (2014) that can facilitate high levels of self-awareness was tuning in to one’s senses. This means that you should have the ability to differentiate between appraisals and insights. Getting in touch with one’s feelings, listening to your actions, and learning about personal intentions are also recommendations by another source named “A psychometric analysis of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form” by (Cooper & Petrides, (2010). From the literature, it is suggested that self-awareness is a potential leadership competency tool.  Ashkanasy & Humphrey (2011) postulated that growing self-awareness is the initial procedure for becoming an effective leader. Lack of adequate self-awareness senses has cost many organizations as their leaders make critical career and company errors. Ashkanasy & Humphrey, (2011) added that while self-awareness is overlooked in business environment, it is the mother of other organizational competencies. Leaders need to be in a position to recognize their emotions so that they can manage them.

Moreover, the capacity to know one’s own emotions is essential to comprehend other people’s feelings, which refers to empathy. The authors also added that self-aware leaders formulate sound decisions regarding their values, dreams, and goals, and in most cases, the made decisions reflect what means the best of their interests and those around them. Leaders who are cautious of self-awareness, spend considerable time developing keen intuition and in self-reflection that helps them in making policies centred on their worldly wisdom of life. As explained by Schneider, (2001), self-aware leaders learn to believe and trust the feelings of their guts the recognize that these feelings guide them in offering practical information more so when the answers are not found from the external sources. Mache et al., (2014) surmised that self-aware leaders are better at taking actions that are authentic and have conviction, which is significant in engendering the followers’ support.

In conclusion, Seligman (2002) asserts that self-awareness is a key factor in emotional literacy. It forms the basis of numerous competencies that enhance effective leadership relations as well as self-interactions. While Stewart (2011) warned that excessive self-awareness could be detrimental, the likelihood is that many individuals suffer from limited comprehension of their emotions. Therefore, such people are endangered to becoming dishonest to their selves, which can contribute to interpersonal and intrapersonal issues in their daily way of living. To avoid being on the disaster end, Quick et al., (2010) advise that people must learn to cultivate their inbuilt self-awareness.

References

Ashkanasy, N.M. & Humphrey, R.H. (2011). Current emotion research in organizational behaviour. Emotion Review, 3(2), 214-224.

Cooper, A., & Petrides, K.V. (2010). A psychometric analysis of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) using item response theory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92(5), 449-457.

Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, K., Choi, D-W., Oishi, S., Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97, 143-156.

Hulsheger, U.R., Alberts, H.J.E.M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J.W.B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310-325.

Mache, S., Vitzthum, K., Wanke, E., Groneberg, D.A., Klapp, B.F., & Danzer, G. (2014). Exploring the impact of resilience, self-efficacy, optimism and organizational resources on work engagement. Work, 47, 491-500.

Maddux, J.E. (2002). Self-Efficacy: The power of believing you can. In S.J. Lopez & C.R. Snyder. (Eds). Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

Manz, C.C., Houghton, J.D., Neck, C.P., Fugate, M., & Pearce, C. (2016). Whistle while you work: Toward a model of emotional self-leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organisational Studies, 23(4), 374-386.

Michel, J.W., Tews, M.J., & Allen, D.G. (2019). Fun in the workplace: A review and expanded theoretical perspective. Human Resource Management Review, 29, 98-110.

Quick, J.C., Cooper, C.L., Gibbs, P.C., Little, L.M., & Nelson, D.L. (2010). Positive organizational behaviour at work. International Review of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 25, 253–291.

Ross, S. (2014). A conceptual model for understanding the process of self-leadership development and action steps to promote personal leadership development. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), 299-323.

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78

Schneider, S.L., (2001). In search of realistic optimism: Meaning, knowledge, and warm fuzziness. American Psychologist, 56(3), 250-263.

Schutte, N.S. & Loi, N.M. (2014). Connections between emotional intelligence and workplace flourishing. Personality and Individual Differences, 66, 134-139.

Seligman. M. (2002). Authentic happiness. Random House, North Sydney. Chapter 8: Renewing strength and virtue.

Stewart, G.L., Courtright, S.H., & Manz, C.C. (2011). Self-leadership: A multi-level review. Journal of Management, 37(1), 185-222.