Self-awareness is awesome, but you eventually must do something with it!
Witherington stated, “We spend so much time analyzing our thoughts and our behaviors that we never get around to changing either one.”
That’s a great statement for leaders who can easily become bogged down in analysis, rather than just getting to work and making things happen. I must admit that I am a self-assessment junkie and I love to dig deeper into why I am the way I am, and then discovering what I can do to become better at what I do. However, at some point, self-awareness needs to lead to action. I must do something with what I am learning. If all I do is become more and more self-aware, what good am I to anyone but myself? I must take what I’ve learned and apply it to being a better leader and make other people’s lives better.
If you are the same kind of leader as I and have spent lots of time in personal introspection, make sure to break out of the cage of self-analysis and use what you’ve learned for the good of others and your organization. “Know thyself,” but use that knowledge to make things happen.
Lead well.