Having a clear picture of yourself pays off when facing challenges and is a key to professional success. Managers and executives are first and foremost people. It is important for them to know who they are and what they want to achieve. Those who know each other well can lead and instruct themselves and their employees better and much more purposefully. But there are many other advantages of knowing yourself well. You can find out more about this and how self-knowledge can further develop your personality in this article. You can also read how you can learn to perceive yourself better and to optimize your leadership style in a targeted further education with the goal of being a management specialist in accordance with the training content of the Swiss Association for Management Training (SVF).
Distinction between internal / external communication in companies
Self-knowledge is the result of a comprehensive and critical analysis of one’s own “I” – with the aim of getting as detailed as possible about one’s own thoughts, plans, characteristics, challenges, strengths and weaknesses.
In most cases, self-knowledge is the first step for established or prospective leaders to achieve their own goals better and faster in order to make better decisions. Because in order to be able to pursue these in a targeted manner, management specialists must first know exactly what they personally want to achieve in concrete terms. In addition, they should gain clarity about which of their existing competencies will best help them to put their projects into practice in relevant situations. It is just as important to analyze your own weaknesses. In this way you know in which areas you could get in the way of implementing your own goals and how to avoid them.
In short: self-knowledge is essential for personal development in order to strengthen one’s own strengths and alleviate existing weaknesses.
Internal and external communication accompany each other
At the same time, self-knowledge is extremely important when it comes to managing personnel. Because only those who have maximum clarity about their own professional goals, which for managers are usually closely linked to the company’s plans, can clearly guide teams to achieve them together.
Managers with a high level of self-awareness can …
• … define and set clear goals
• … often specify tasks more clearly.
• And they have a clear idea of which to-do’s should be done by which person.
In addition, managers who have good self-knowledge usually express themselves more clearly and can perfectly motivate their teams and better understand and classify their behavior. By dealing intensively with themselves, they ultimately know exactly how they affect others and how they influence others. They know the gestures, facial expressions, behaviors or statements with which they inspire trust or encourage their employees to perform at their best. In addition, good self-knowledge often creates greater self-competence. After all, the manager in question is fully aware of his previous successes – that gives strength and self-confidence.
Internal communication has two main functions
So there are many benefits that come with knowing yourself. But we don’t want to gloss over anything at this point. In practice, the way to get to know each other better can sometimes be a bit rocky depending on your personal situation, which affects not only your professional life, but also your private life. Because it’s not just about dealing with your own strengths, but also with your own weaknesses. And that’s not always easy.
Sometimes the confrontation with one’s own “I” washes disturbing memories to the surface. After all, we keep asking ourselves on the way to self-knowledge: Why did I become what I am? This processing turns established or prospective managers into better and, above all, more humane managers.
Remember that once you have confronted your own weaknesses and acknowledged that they exist, you can also deal more understandingly with those of others. In other words, by recognizing and accepting your weaknesses, you accept that your team members have them too. And since you learn to deal constructively with mistakes in the self-awareness process, you can show your employees ways in which they can overcome their weaknesses.
What is effective communication in business?
The question now is: can self-awareness be trained? And if so: how? There are different aspects and possibilities. You can of course try to look behind your own facade on your own. For example, there are a number of books that will guide you to decipher yourself. However, this is not really recommended, because then you usually only get superficial insights. The way to yourself works better under expert guidance. The Swiss Association for Leadership Training (SVF) offers, for example, dedicated advanced training for managers on the subject of self-awareness. That Course module self-knowledge of the Swiss Connect Academy (SCA) is part of the SVF Leadership Certificate, which enjoys the highest recognition in Switzerland.
What is advantageous in this training for managers who usually have little time anyway: It can be completed online without any problems. You learn independently of time and place and thus have the opportunity to integrate your advanced training perfectly into your everyday life. Learners benefit from a wide variety of learning materials and formats. There are varied videos, podcasts, e-readings, e-tests, e-cases, scenario-based training and much more.
Why is optimal communication in companies so important?
At the same time, experienced experts and coaches are available to them in live training formats, which is particularly important when it comes to self-awareness. Because participants can only get an intensive self-awareness process with the right exercises and the right instructions.
And since the findings can sometimes be challenging or even painful, support from experienced experts is extremely advisable. You will find the right words even with unsightly findings and guide the participants through the process of self-awareness in a targeted manner. In this way, as a manager, you will gain the right insights about yourself, take responsibility for your own life and be able to lead others better. You can go directly to SVF Leadership Training here .
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