PERSONAL SPECIAL................ Lack Of Self-Awareness Could Ruin Your Career

Lack Of Self-Awareness Could Ruin Your Career

If you aren't aware of yourself, you could be ruining your business dreams.

I'm a firm believer the biggest obstacle in people's way is often their own selves. It's their pride, ego, and desire to be accepted or to prove their own importance that runs them into the ground.

What drives you and how other people perceive you can and will affect you -- whether you're conscious of it or not. The old mantra "what you don't know can't hurt you" doesn't hold up in this case. You should always strive to know what you don't, and the things you already know should just be a factor, not the driver for how you operate.

Self-awareness in the business world is crucial. If you aren't aware of how your own patterns and behaviors affect others and the trajectory of your organization, you'll probably make some moves you'll regret. 

Here are a few ways you can develop better self-awareness:

1. Leave your ego at the door.

When people first come into an organization, they tend to be very guarded. They feel like they were selected because they're experts and the pressure to live up to that perceived expectation makes them afraid to consult the opinions of others.

But this leads you to put your ego first, with your main priority proving yourself worthy for your role. That shouldn't be your main priority, though. It's your job to help grow the business, and to do that, you have to let go of your own self-importance.

2. Surround yourself with people smarter than you.

Look for successful people and people who think far outside your typical box. Choose people who've mastered skills you want to improve or people you want to be like. If you're the smartest person at your company, hire smarter people. Recruit advisors who are way above your level of knowledge and experience. If their astuteness intimidates you, you're on the right track.

Don't forget to ask for advice from peers or less experienced people who think differently from you, too. Creativity and wisdom come in unexpected forms.

3. Try to prove yourself wrong.

If you are never pushed to the point where your weaknesses are exposed, you won't ever have the opportunity to become stronger. Same goes with your ideas and plans. Instead of trying to lead others to support your answers and decisions, ask them to prove you wrong.

If you spend more time finding potential pitfalls in your plans than you do trying to prove why they'll work, you'll have a better awareness of the risk. That could lead you to changing direction or selecting a better option.

4. Check your motivation.

Most people want to be liked, and without realizing it, this desire can easily become more important than making the right business decisions. If your goal is to always try to please everyone so they won't be upset with you, you'll always fail.

You'll never be able to make everyone happy simultaneously. You'll have disagreements about frivolous things. You'll have disagreements about salient things.

Don't make it your goal to be liked. Make it your goal to calculate and make decisions based on feedback gathered from the variety of people you trust -- and not just those who support your case.

Being a leader isn't about taking on all responsibilities or knowing all the answers. It's about knowing how to leverage the talents and ideas of your colleagues and employees to move toward your goals.

Check your ego at the door and become more aware of your own tendencies that might be getting in the way of growth. Don't let your pride come between you and the success of your business.

By Ilya Pozin 

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