Self-reflection isn’t just for gurus or children sitting in the naughty corner anymore, it’s something we should all be doing in order to better our relationships and ourselves. From business reasons to personal, self-reflection (and ultimately self-awareness) are important in growth and efficiency.
From learning to listening, to realizing your own weaknesses and how to best mitigate them or delegate those items to others with different strengths, reflection will help you be a better manager, business-owner, and person.
I hold regular evaluations with my team, not just for me to check in with them or evaluate their work, but for them to evaluate me as well, and let me know what areas for improvement they can think of for me. And though this is a great practice, you should always constantly be self-evaluating yourself for maximum growth and the best outcomes.
Self-Reflect on Your Strengths
I like to begin my own self-reflection time by digging deeper into my strengths and how I can use them in the future to further my business, or better help my team. For example, I know that one of my strengths is my ambition and drive to turn companies into success stories. So, how can I use this for the betterment of my business, work environment, and team development? What tasks should I take on, and which should I delegate in order to best utilize this strength?
Additionally, self-reflection doesn’t have to only be the surface (‘what am I good at’) but also deeper questions like ‘why am I good at this’ or ‘what’s my driver for this’.
I believe my ambition and drive for the grind is due to a desire for success, and that desire for success isn’t just for me, but for my team, my family, and the businesses I work with. This also means that I want my team to have that same drive, or our working relationship might become strained, as I have little patience for laziness. Luckily, that’s why we hired the team we have, because they are not only good at what they do, but passionate about it.
Just understanding this one strength of mine has helped in a number of managerial areas in my life and business. Even self-reflecting on hiring practices, the ‘why’ behind the reasons we choose someone to work with is important, as it all gives us a better understanding of ourselves and our drives.
Self-Reflect on Your Weaknesses
Just like we need to reflect on our strengths, we also need to look for our weaknesses and dissect them. Do we have trouble with organization? Do we have trouble with deadlines or HR and interpersonal issues? Maybe we have a lack of patience or an aversion to a certain personality trait in others. Whatever the weakness is, it’s important to reflect on that as well.
A common weakness for individuals like myself, or do-ers, is that we can take on too much due to our ambition and get lost in our work, forgetting to come up for air. And this perfectly showcases one of my favorite wise sentiments and a lesson I live by:
“Your biggest strength is also your biggest weakness, depending on the situation.”
This means that even though ambition and a hard-working nature are great in many situations, sometimes they can be a weakness and get you close to burnout, or blurred priorities, too. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses through self-reflection can help you to see which situations are helped or hindered, which will then make you a better manager (and know when to delegate vs hold onto a project).
Self-Reflect on Your Overall Performance (& Ask Others)
This last reflection point is one that I do myself, but also where I ask others (via our employee evaluations). As I mentioned above, these evaluations are a two way street, where we evaluate our employees, and they evaluate us, letting us know what they see, what areas they want us to improve upon, and what areas they feel are strong in our managerial skills.
Being evaluated, or letting others reflect on your performance, is an important part of being a manager, as none of us are perfect, and we should all be striving for growth and improvement. And though evaluations aren’t always the most fun or can be nerve wracking for some (something you may want to reflect on and dig deeper into) they are worth it.
Use the knowledge you gain from evaluations to self-reflect further and see if you agree with what others are picking up on. Yes? Why do you think you react that way? No? Why do you think others view you in that way?
There is so much to be learned in business, but a good chunk of that can be about yourself. So, as your business grows, make sure you are growing too, both as a person and as a manager, so that you can be a good support and leader for the business no matter where it takes you.
Self-Reflection Speaking Engagements & Business Coaching
If you or your company are looking for a business guest speaker or business consulting and coaching, then contact me to learn about my services and seminars, or simply set up a time to talk. I look forward to speaking with you!
Have a great holiday season.
Recent Comments