Increasing self-awareness means becoming more aware of the effect you have on others. This is important because lacking self-awareness can lead you to exhibit behaviours that will end up undermining your relationship with others.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I really know how I am experienced by colleagues?

• Have I really thought about the impact my actions (and inaction) have on my colleagues and broader stakeholders?

• Have I sought feedback from others about when I am effective and when I am not? Have I had the courage to seek really honest feedback and encouraged this in others?

• Have I created an environment where my colleagues feel safe giving me feedback? Have I considered exactly what I need to do in order to create such an environment?

• Have I spent time reflecting on which situations create emotional triggers for me and result in sub-optimal emotional behavior? Have I reflected on what alternative responses I’ll choose in the future?

• Have I considered what actions will and will not build trust between myself and key stakeholders?

Reflecting on the above will help you to identify patterns that aren’t serving you and to implement behaviours that foster trust and collaboration with key stakeholders.

Did you find this tip helpful? You can find many more in our book Master Expert: How to use Expertship to achieve peak performance, seniority and influence in a technical role.

Now available on 👉Amazon.