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Leaders, did you know that you can prevent leadership people skills errors through more self-awareness? Many leaders that I have coached initially thought they would have to change who they were to be modern day leaders. Then as we worked together, they realized that they had to know more about themselves vs. changing who they were completely. So here are key self-awareness steps to prevent leadership people skills errors.

Prevent These Leadership People Skills Errors w/ Self-Awareness. Image by wiromoto via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Image by wirotomo via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Ten Key Self-Awareness Steps to Prevent Leadership People Skills Errors

Your Beliefs About People

1. Do you think people are naturally disengaged or looking to contribute? It affects how you lead, how you treat them, and of course the results.

2. In your mind, do you think people should conform or contribute their unique talents, to reach the common goals? Think about this. If affects how well employees will respond to your leadership.

3. What are your views about diversity in the workplace? If you wish you didn’t have to deal with it, your view will leak out and create leadership people skills errors.




How You View Work

4. Is it just a means of earning a living, of survival? Being aware of this is essential as you lead diverse people. Younger generations see a career as more than just survival. They care about doing purposeful work, finding meaning, and knowing they make a difference.

5. As a follow-on to that, how do you view emotion at work? If you expect people to leave all emotion at home, you will have difficulty leading today. You may blurt out “stop whining” instead of finding out the real trouble to solve. Yet, if you are aware of your view, you can put it aside in moments where emotion is at play. Your leadership will shine!




Your Personality Type

6. What is your personality type? Oh yes, it matters. It guides what you focus on and how you interact with those you lead. It is a critical element in leading others. Once you know your type, you can more easily spot other’s types and lead them better.

7. Also, knowing your own personality type helps you avoid mislabeling trouble as just a personality conflict. Not all trouble between team members is from personality differences.




How You Define Successful Work Behaviors

8. What attitudes do you value at work — in yourself and others? Self-confidence? or is it arrogance? There is a big difference and it affects you and those you lead.

9. Are you OK with people challenging your ideas? Or do you take that as a threat to your authority? It’s important to let those you lead know how to disagree with you. It helps them prevent stepping on your toes without having to go completely silent.

10. What do you see as authenticity? Does it mean saying whatever you think without regard for the impact on others? Or do you believe that responsible authenticity includes filtering? Being blunt may make you feel good but it is packed with emotion and hurts others. Consider being honest with care not blunt under the label of being authentic. Remember leaders, you can’t un-insult someone. So it’s best to know yourself very well so you can interact with the diverse people you lead and do it very well!

Summary: Leadership People Skills Errors

Self-awareness gives you the ability to adapt –temporarily — to close the gap between you and those you lead. You don’t have to change who you are. It’s about having a breadth of knowledge about yourself and knowledge about those you lead. Then find the fit!

Related Posts:
8 Common Causes of Leadership People Skills Mistakes to Increase Your Success
Emotionally Unintelligent Bluntness: Are You Trapped?
Self-Awareness: Give Freely Without Seeming Weak or Losing Yourself

©2022 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Tags: communication, emotional intelligence, empathy, Growth, Leadership, leading morale, listening, Mindset, people skills, Personality Type, self-awareness, Soft Skills