Last month I introduced confidence as the kickoff theme for our monthly Women of Color in Big Law Cohort. Each month I’ll offer an important highlight from the program. This month we focus on self-awareness as the starting point of leadership development.
| How would you rate your level of self-awareness? You’re probably among the 95% who think they are self-aware but in actuality only 10 to 15% of us really are. Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and to be clear about how others see you. Sounds simple, right? Well, maybe not. The negativity bias, burnout, stress, and fractured focus destroy self-awareness, and for women of color the Imposter Syndrome and discrimination are huge additional factors.So how can you increase self-awareness? Self-observation is one of the most effective tools to increase self-awareness. Many confuse self-judgment and self-observation. Judgment contains a critical element absent in self-observation. To increase self-awareness begin by observing your behavior: emotional responses, somatic responses, triggers, habits, and patterns. Become curious and ‘befriend’ these responses. With practice, you’ll gain greater sensitivity to these patterns and be able to choose how you want to respond rather than react out of unconscious habit. Experiment with this practice and let me know what happens. |
