The more we can slow down our reactive-brain reactions when receiving feedback, the more psychologically safe, constructive and growth-based our relationships and culture will be.
The more we can slow down our reactive-brain reactions when receiving feedback, the more psychologically safe, constructive and growth-based our relationships and culture will be.
Shadows don’t exist only in individuals. They also exist in every organisation. Your organisational shadow is what really drives your organisation beneath your nice-sounding mission statement.
Through self-awareness we can better observe our underlying conditioning and the emotional avoidance creating poor behaviour, then self-regulate in real time to consciously choose values-aligned behaviours.
Mindful agreements, as opposed to edicts and expectations, allow the nice leader to create genuine performance accountability without alienating people.
To be self-aware is to be mindful and conscious of what is going on inside us, then learning how to manage our experiences and habits to act more clearly, deliberately and wisely in real time, not after we have acted, when it’s too late.
Values are your talk, and living in accordance with them through your behaviour is your walk. So what are the most important values for leaders to follow?
When leaders focus on skills before self-awareness, change stays surface-level. Real growth begins when you see the patterns quietly shaping your decisions, reactions, and team culture.
By taking committed action in the direction of our values, we consciously move towards who we want to become, reducing the cognitive dissonance we feel and increasing our inner peace.
Image management refers to the time and energy we waste in organisations on blame, denial, deflection, defence, gossiping, politics, saving face, masking our weaknesses to make ourselves feel safe or look good.
The greater our distress intolerance, the more likely we will use denial and defensiveness as a means of coping with the distress, and the less possibility we have for growth.