Great leaders look in the mirror

We can all recall that time when we went for a job interview or an important meeting and were eager to make the best first impression. We check to see in the mirror if our shirt is ironed, our hair is clean and most importantly that there is nothing in our teeth! Taking this time to really look in the mirror to see if there are any imperfections that can be corrected is what boosts our confidence, and puts us more in control of our behaviour and the desired impression we want to make.

This approach is the same for leadership. We need to take time to reflect on the way we interact, influence and achieve change as leaders. This reflection, helps to improve our awareness of whether or not we are having a positive impact on others. However, not all leaders do this.

Why do some leaders dare to look in the mirror, while others don’t?

• Fear plays a big role in our reluctance to seek feedback about our performance and presence as a leader. We fear the feedback being negative, which can contribute to feelings of inadequacy and failure. This fear, contributes to avoidance, inaction and stagnates growth as we would rather push away the uncomfortable feelings to protect ourselves, than tackle them head on.
• Self-deflection — Some people fail to see and acknowledge that there are serious detrimental impacts happening on the team and organisation. We refer this to the “everything’s great” mindset. This lack of awareness is usually due to one’s own subconscious protection mechanisms that are in place to look after one-self in order to deflect responsibility, blame, and error.

But what are the costs of not looking in the mirror and identifying the areas that are holding us back?

• We end up going around in circles, and as a consequence we don’t break the cycle of bad habits and mistakes
• We tend to miss valuable opportunities for personal and professional growth
• Without bringing our “blindspot” into conscious awareness we blindly set ourselves up for oversights
• We are not as in control over our thoughts and behaviours if we are not aware of them

What can you do to self-reflect?

1. Seek feedback from team members through a 360-degree leadership assessment. You don’t know what you don’t know. These are objective, anonymous and provide incredible inside into your strengths as well as development areas. Knowing the blind spots and gaps, enables you to grow and develop.
2. Become more aware of your thinking patterns: Working through thinking patterns that hold us back from being the best we can be is essential to being a highly effective leader. If we don’t address our unhelpful beliefs, biases and ways of thinking that continue to pop up, they will continue to play out negatively in every aspect of our life from, the team, to client to our friends and family.
3. Take time to self-reflect. Incorporate into your working week a 30 minute reflection session. Ask yourself: “What worked well this week?” When you have an interaction, take notice of how the other person reacts to you — What aspects of your behaviour could you focus on to create greater impact?

Leaders are not born, they are made — When we work on ourselves to be more constructive and impactful we become better leaders. What can you do today to self-reflect?

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Written by Laura Shepherd, Manager Culture & Business Development Implementation at ODG Solutions.