3 Stages of Awareness for Leader Development

By Terry Sexton, business psychologist and founder of Creative Edge Consulting Ltd Are leaders fully conscious at work? They may look conscious, but are they are in fact behaving unconsciously or habitually? Are they just acting out a combination of their personality and the skills that have brought them success in the past? With many organisations now experiencing high levels of complexity, uncertainty and change, their leaders need to be perceptive, agile and creative. Those who remain covered by a blanket of unconscious habitual behaviours, applying old solutions to new problems, are increasingly likely to derail and negatively impact on the performance of their organisation.

So whats the answer? Awareness! Three stages of awareness to be precise:

Self Awareness Reflective Awareness Reflexive Awareness

Each stage of awareness lays the foundations for the next. Progress through the stages enables the leader to realise higher levels of consciousness and break the habitual behaviours. Stage 1 Self Awareness This stage focuses on helping leaders to understand and recognise the type of behaviour they are likely to demonstrate as a result of their personality. What we call 1st Generation psychometrics, such as the MBTI, 16PF, or CPI, will give the leader a good understanding of their authentic personality and habitual behaviour. This stage of awareness will help a leader to develop to Level 4 in the Leadership Capacity Framework. To develop further capacity leaders need to be able to transcend the constraints of their personality and contact a deeper place of authenticity associated with their core being. Self awareness beyond personality can be gained by using, what we call 2nd

Generation psychometrics such as the FIRO-B, Motivational Profile, and Value Orientations. These psychometrics bring awareness of the dynamics underpinning personality such as values, beliefs, self concept, defences, etc. Stage 2 Reflective Awareness Once leaders have received their personality profiles they often ask: So what? What am I supposed to do with this now? This is a very valid question if the development process has been designed to stop at this stage as is often the case. Developing leaders should be encouraged to move on to stage 2 (reflective awareness) where they can periodically reflect on their behaviour in different situations. An excellent method for this stage is the use of Reflective Learning Logs. Typically, leaders would ask themselves questions about key events in the day such as:

What was the situation? How did I behave and was it appropriate to the situation? Was my behaviour out of habit or was it conscious choice? What was the impact of my behaviour? What have I learnt?

Another powerful way for leaders to engage in reflective awareness is through their participation in an Action Inquiry Group. The process used in these groups is based on the dual premise that we can be more effective when we are aware of our own learning and that workplace learning has high value. The power of the group is used to stimulate and sustain individual, group and organisational learning, in ways that are both emergent and planned. Stage 3 Reflexive Awareness The continued practice of Reflective Learning Logs or Action Inquiry often leads to the emergence of reflexive awareness. It is at this stage that the leader is able to witness their own behaviour in the present moment. Reflexive awareness is often called mindfulness or witness consciousness. An aspect of reflexive awareness is Metacogntion, which is a higher order thinking which involves active conscious control over the cognitive processes engaged in problem solving, decision making, and learning. Metacognition enables leaders to be successful learners, and has been associated with higher levels of intelligence. The Cognitive Process Profile provides a good measure of a level of a leaders metacognition. Reflexive awareness, including metacognition, can be accelerated through the use of Cognitive Training. These are a series of exercises, which must be practiced over time, designed to heighten a leaders perception, strengthen concentration, and enables agility of thought under pressure. After Cognitive Training leaders are able to view and identify new situations with greater clarity and create new solutions rather than relying on habitual views, beliefs and churning out past behaviours. The ascent to the highest stage in awareness gives the leader a tremendous strength in self regulation. Consequently, the leader is better able to determine the most suitable behaviour for the situation. At this stage leaders have become fully conscious and aware at work. A leader is no longer in danger of applying old solutions to new problems when under pressure, but instead can view threats and opportunities with clarity, allowing for innovative solutions and business success.