A511.7.3.RB - Self-Awareness

Understanding oneself is a core competency of good leaders. After all, self-knowledge allows us to be able to understand others as well. For most individuals who train to become coaches, the value of the training is as much about their increased self-awareness as it is about their ability to work with others and help them achieve their potential.

Goffee and Jones’ article “Getting personal on the topic of leadership” emphasizes the art of self-awareness, as does your textbook’s discussion.

Now, think about yourself, and reflect on what differences distinguish you and would help you in living and acting on the basis of your core values.

When I read the article about authentic self-expression, it made me think of a conversation I had with a new guy in our group. He had come in straight from college and was a really enthusiastic and inquisitive learner. He and I are still good friends to this day. I trained him for the first six months of his employment at Boeing and every day, even Fridays, traditionally a pretty casual dress-down day, he wore button-down shirts or polo shirts with khaki or black dress pants. It was a very professional look and that’s great but when you work in the environment where we work, a fabrication plant that is almost a million square feet big full of aluminum mills and chemical tanks, it might be good to dress down a little. In my experience, it has always helped me connect with people when I look like I have the same level job as they do. When I worked in supply chain management, I was a coordinator for the entire Puget Sound area. When I started showing up on jobs sites in jeans, steel-toed boots and Carhart jackets because I was tired of dry-cleaning my clothes, I noticed that suddenly I was received as a peer. The walls came down and I learned a lot more about my customer and how to better help them. They called me instead of their assigned sales-person because they felt more comfortable doing that. I realized that I was entering their culture, the culture of some crusty old electricians who were grizzly and curmudgeonly, and if I came at them from any kind of authority figure angle, then that is the relationship we would have. But when I came at them as a peer, those crusty old electricians would open up and tell me totally inappropriate, but absolutely hilarious, jokes and would even share information with me. It just made so much sense to me.

Back to the new hire…I asked him why he always wore khakis and was so buttoned up when we worked in such a filthy environment and he said that he just did. It probably felt safe and like the image he wanted to present…and that is perfectly fine! It didn’t make him any better or worse at his job. I must say too that when I have meetings with leadership, I present myself in a more professional attire because I want to add credibility to what I'm reporting on or discussing. It seems like a bit of a chameleon game but it feels like the right thing to do...but is it authentic?

Goffee and Jones talked about Bill Gates and how his image of “geekiness” was actually what made him stand out. “Gates’s consistent display of his ‘geekiness’ tells us something very important about him and his company.” (Goffee, 2006) Bill Gates is the ultimate computer nerd and his image reiterates that. It also gives him credibility in his industry. If he looked like and had the swagger of George Clooney – his computer skills might be suspect. Why? Because surely this guy with this swagger did not spend every Friday night in high school and college working on computer code. No one would believe that he nerded out with his techy friends and wasn’t at “Make-out Point” with Betty or Tammy or Susie. With Bill Gates, his “geekiness” is authentic and people can get on board with that image. “What characterizes effective leaders is a sense of what works for them with others.” (Goffee, 2006) The adaptability and understanding of what is needed to best connect with people is the self-awareness that makes people memorable. “Adaptation is enhanced by accurate interpretation of information about the environment[.]” (Yukl, 2013)

I watched a documentary on Steve Jobs (Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine) this week and his appearance changed several times in his tenure(s) at Apple. He started out looking like all of the other programmers in jeans and a t-shirt, he even looked uncomfortable in a suit in one of the early interviews. Even though he was eventually worth millions, he didn’t change to the “corporate” attire until the Apple IPO happened. Then, towards the end of his life, and coincidentally with the birth of the iPod, he simplified his look to the blue jeans, tennis shoes and a black mock-turtleneck that we are all familiar with. “In his signature black turtleneck and blue jeans, shrouded in shadows below a milky apple, Steve Jobs' image was ubiquitous. But who was the man on the stage? What accounted for the grief of so many across the world when he died?” (Gibney, 2015) This look was aesthetically simple, just like the iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTouch that Apple still produce today. Was it intentional - self-awareness? Was this his zen or was it just part of the marketing? Whatever the answer, it was effective and people remember him for it more than some of the less ethical (or totally unethical) things he did. “Jobs aimed for the simplicity that comes from conquering, rather than merely ignoring, complexity.” (Isaacson, 2012)

Maybe that’s the lesson here – self-awareness is about understanding yourself as a leader and as a person. It’s about digging down to the most core values in the most simplistic and authentic terms. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and even George Clooney (I’m guessing) all have a deeper understanding of who they want to be, what they value and they make it simple and organic. Maybe that’s why I have trouble sometimes with my own self-awareness – I’m always assimilating and adapting to be like the people I interact with in order to create a connection based on similarities which aren’t necessarily my authentic self. Although, my own core values are about kindness and helping others so perhaps that fits right in with how I understand what works best for me with others.

References:

Gibney A. (Producer), Gibney A. (Director). (2015). Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine [Motion Picture]. United States: CNN Films.

Goffee R., Jones G. (April, 2012) Getting personal on the topic of leadership. Human Resource Management International Digest. Vol. 14. No 4. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Isaacson W. (April 2012) The real leadership lessons of steve jobs. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.