The Season of Self Reflection
This is a ONE THING article, which is featured in FDI’s monthly newsletter.
Author - FDI Founder, Paul Smith
ONE THING is for the busy (speak of the devil) Future Director, in which FDI Founder Paul Smith picks just one thing Future Directors oughta know or do or stew on for the next month. We hope you get something (at least one thing) out of it.
The one thing to know about this month is the rather ironic relationship between these two percentages – 95% and 10-15%.
That is, 95% of professionals think of themselves as self-aware.
But only 10-15% truly are.
(This is according to research by organisational psychologist Tasha Eurich.)
That yawning gap of the 80-85% who aren’t quite aware of how self-unaware they are, is telling of a bigger bias within our brains.
For the most part we float by on autopilot, not thinking about how we’re thinking or why we’re thinking it. That’s partly functional – how much brainpower would be chewed up each day if we were constantly reflecting on where the power in our brain was going?
Another contributor to the contradiction is flattery – it’s simply, rather nice to think of ourselves as enlightened and awake beings.
But being aware of these biases within ourselves is the beginning of true self-awareness.
And unsurprisingly, a healthy amount of self-reflection is integral to personal (and by proxy, professional) development. According to Eurich’s work it results in better performance, clearer decision-making, and more effective leadership – all things we rabbit on about here at FDI.
Now, taken to its nth degree, self-reflection can morph into self-rumination. A constant critique of self which stymies self-development rather than enabling it. This can also leech into how you view others. One critical of themselves is often highly critical of others.
In actuality, healthy self-reflection is the non-judgemental uncovering of one’s own values, biases, vices, and stories. As Eurich writes, it’s understanding oneself from the inside-out.
But. Importantly. It’s also understanding oneself from the outside-in. Being aware of how other people would view your words and actions, and the truthful, clear and kind relaying of one’s inside thinking processes to those around you.
A great (and close-to-home) example of self-reflection done right is in Non-Executive Director, and last year’s first ever Future Director Of The Year, Leah Fricke.
In a recent conversation (which we recorded, and that you can listen to here), Leah and I discussed what she calls “Deliberate Practice”.
“I ask myself, what does my board need in the next 3 years?” says Leah, “And if I’m not prepared to be that or to develop that skill set, I should step aside to make room for someone who is.” On the other hand, if she is prepared, that means Leah will deliberately take on learning, and other forms of extracurricular development, to actively become what her board needs from her.
That shows the power of self-reflection. And it’s that commitment to continual self-assessment which is in part why Leah was crowned our Future Director Of The Year last year. It could be why you are crowned this year’s too (that’s a subtle nudge to enter now – a good opportunity to be self-reflective in itself!).
So, as the year draws to a close and you have a little more free time than usual, I’m gonna declare it: Tis’ the season to be self-reflective!
It’s time for a raw and real stocktake of self, that might inspire action, learning and growth in the new year. After all, no Future Director is without flaws. In fact, being aware of one’s flaws is what makes you a Future Director.
Perhaps that’s the start of becoming that 10-15%, not the 95.