Leaders, do you know your Self?

The Ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself” (Greek: γνῶθι σεαυτόν, translated: gnōthi seauton; also ... σαυτόν … sauton with the ε contracted), is one of the Delphic maxims and was carved in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek author Pausanias.

Leadership scholar Warren Bennis, in his study of how successful people learned to become leaders, mentioned that self-knowledge is an essential part of defining a leader’s integrity. ‘‘To become a leader, then, you must become yourself; become the maker of your own life.’’

He discovered that knowing yourself is ‘‘the most difficult task any of us faces. But until you truly know yourself, strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to do and why you want to do it, you cannot succeed in any but the most superficial sense of the word.’’

The dictionary defines self-awareness as the conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

Before knowing anything else, we require to know our-self first. We need to know our weaknesses, strengths, beliefs, and desires in life. Keeping in touch with our emotions means we have to be self-aware.

Every leader first they experience themselves before they support others. All of us are leaders, either we coach someone else to become leaders, but first, we have to identify ourselves. 

“As my awareness increases, my control over my own being increases.”

– William Schutz

Few questions to seek to identify our inner self and record them down:

• Who I am? 
• Why Do I signify?
• Why do I get out of bed each day?
• What do I think about myself?
• What do I appreciate about myself?
• Am I a respectable person?
• Who loves me?
• What do I choose to be printed on my gravestone?
• How would I describe the purpose of life?
• Do I feel inspired by someone or something?
• What qualities do I value in life?
• What is life asking of me?
• Who are the most prominent individuals in my life?
• How do I measure my self-worth? 
• Do I know what my talents are?
• What’s my most noteworthy accomplishment?
• What am I good at? 
• Do I realize what I enjoy performing?
• What do I regret doing?
• What am I bad at?
• What makes me glad?
• What makes me angry?
• What makes me unhappy?
• What makes me afraid?
• What stresses me out?
• What relaxes me?
• How do I want others to perceive me?
• What do I desire to alter about myself?
• How would I express my childhood?
• What worries me most about the future?
• What type of individual do I choose to be?
• What type of partner do I want to be?
• How would my best friend describe you?
• Do I have a goal?
• What’s my interpretation of success?
• What is my biggest strength?
• What is your biggest weakness?
• Does it truly matter what others think about me?
• Have I made someone smile today?
• Whose support do I rely on?
• How do I invest the majority of my time?
• Who has had the greatest impact on my life?
• Am I leading my life for myself?
• Do you feel attached to my community?

“Self-awareness is one of the rarest of human commodities. I don’t mean self-consciousness where you’re limiting and evaluating yourself. I mean being aware of your own patterns.”

– Tony Robbins

Thus, strengthening self-awareness takes time, a lot of effort and practice. It demands a person to pay attention to his/her own personality and behavior.