STOP. PUT. YOUR. PHONE. DOWN.
I’m going out on a limb. I just googled leadership books and in .28 seconds 762,000,000 results popped up.
I’ll bet you that every one of those books includes “Know Thyself” as the cornerstone to leading, that self-awareness and self-reflection are the keys to well-being and success.
If you find one that doesn’t talk about knowing yourself, write me and I’ll wear a clown’s nose for a full day in public – I swear – I’ll take and post pictures to prove it.
Whether you’re leading your busy life, leading a company, a classroom, a team, your kids’ schedules and on and on, when is the last time you stopped, breathed and really thought about YOU? About what makes you tick?
Spring Cleaning
It seems we’re addicted to what’s next. We’ve let an endless, chaotic intake of information and activity cover up self-awareness about who we really are, how we’re thinking, feeling, and are being in the world.
Today, we’re having a blizzard here in St. Louis yet my thoughts are all about spring. Renewal. Growth. New energy. New insights. Getting myself ready for new life! With things shut down, I’m getting the gift of time. I’m cleaning out the mental cobwebs of winter.
How about you? Are you ready for Spring?
Tools for Triggering Reflection, Growth
The wonderful couple that cleans my home just delivered their amazing spring cleaning sale notice — yippee! Wait a minute, I could offer a spring sale too, not to clean homes (I’m not skilled in that area) but using what I know how to do best!
Over the 20+ years of my career, I’ve used many different instruments to reignite my self-awareness and support self-reflection of those around me. When I’ve wanted to grow greater trust in teams, when I’ve wanted to refresh my understanding of strengths and what might be holding us back, diagnostic assessments (personality/behavioral assessments) have been fantastic tools.
Once, a company asked me to draw a picture of a pig as a “personality test,” part of their application process. My picture came out looking like an evil devil pig, I’m sure that’s why they didn’t hire me! (The unfortunate soul who got the job was kidnapped while working for the company abroad so the devil-pig saved me.)
There are a lot of self-awareness tools to choose from — not the crazy ‘draw a pig’ test.
For a decade, I was a true believer in Gallup’s StrengthsFinders after having the awesome experience of going through their Great Leaders program. I still have a special place in my head and heart for a strengths-based focus.
However, I also want to know what pitfalls, what potentially derailing traits I’m manifesting in the world.
inCourage Leading’s Spring into Self-Awareness Offer
When I finished a certification program in Executive Coaching back in 2010, I knew that a diagnostic assessment would play an important role in my confidential thinking partnership with coachees. From my experience, I believed that the right assessment would launch our relationship from a deeply insightful level.
After reviewing over a dozen popular tools, I felt dissatisfied. Most are designed by psychologists who didn’t intend their tools to be used as business growth-engines or clear pathways from self-reflection to action.
Then, an Executive Coach colleague (a retired Navy Admiral) introduced me to the Winslow Dynamics Assessment System .
The power, the robustness of this 42-year old assessment is extraordinary. No wonder professional sports associations, the U.S. Marine Corps and Fortune 500 companies like Oracle use it!
Know Yourself, I’ll Help
Knowing ourselves well means taking a hard look at our endurance, our self-confidence, our flexibility and creativity. Having
information about 24 traits is remarkable.
Using the Winslow System, I can help you with information about your Interpersonal Traits, Organizational Traits, Dedication Traits and Self-Control Traits.
I’m inviting you to join me in welcoming spring with a Spring Into Self-Awareness Sale on inCourage Leading’s Winslow Dyanmics Assessments.
If I can help you fertilize, water, and tend to your growth in this way, I’ll be delighted!
As always, love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and about tools you find useful too. I hope that spring is in the air where you are!
All my best going out to you, Jone
P.S. Details of the Spring into Self-Awareness Sale will be posted in the next couple of days!
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