Dr. Seuss for Adults - Self Awareness

At Idealawg, Stephanie West Allen summarizes a nine-page leadership report in which ultimately the only unifying trait between the successful leaders surveyed was self-awareness. 

During the past 50 years, leadership scholars have conducted more than 1,000 studies in an attempt to determine the definitive styles, characteristics, or personality traits of great leaders. None of these studies have produced a clear profile of the ideal leader. Thank goodness. If scholars had produced a cookie-cutter leadership style, individuals would be forever trying to imitate it. They would make themselves into personae, not people, and others would see through them immediately.

After interviewing these individuals, we believe we understand why more than 1,000 studies have not produced a profile of an ideal leader. Analyzing 3,000 pages of transcripts, our team was startled to see that these people did not identify any universal characteristics, traits, skills, or styles that led to their success. Rather, their leadership emerged from their life stories. Consciously and subconsciously, they were constantly testing themselves through real-world experiences and reframing their life stories to understand who they were at their core.

When 75 members of Stanford Graduate School of Business's Advisory Council were asked to recommend the most important capability for leaders to develop, their answer was nearly unanimous: self-awareness.

Interestingly enough my students and my clients both know this is the very first issue we take on before we ever embark on the journey of going solo.  Without a firm understanding of who you are at present, how can you ever create a business model that speaks to you directly and allows you to achieve success?. And I'm not talking about traditional personality tests and things of this nature.  I'm talking about something more personal and profoundly honest. And, then you must do periodic reassessments as you grow and your life changes. Otherwise how can you reconcile your professional and personal lives as each does not necessarily automatically accommodate the other through the years.

This is not new age or 'touchy-feely.'  It's common sense.  And as my husband likes to quote, "common sense is just not that common." And as I've always said, "If you follow someone else's definition of success you are bound to fail."