Legendary Attributes: Awareness

This is the first of a multiple part series I plan to write that focuses on the many attributes that are found in Legendary Leaders. While the secret to legendary leadership is found in the three Gs, these attributes are important to recognize if you to show your team what it means to be legendary. The first of the series is AWARENESS.

Awareness in real life

I think the best way to articulate the importance of awareness to leadership is to share an experience I had about a week ago. My family and I are Costco members and for us it makes sense. We have a family of five and focus on organic and healthy eating as much as we can. If you've never been to a Costco, simply put, it is a giant warehouse that sells the majority of their grocery items in bulk and have many organic and healthy options for large families or if you into buying things in bulk at a more efficient price. Also, let me note that I live in Florida. During this time of year we have a migration of snowbirds that arrives in our state from many other northern states. In other words there are a lot more people here than usual.

I am a very efficient shopper when it comes to Costco, and this time was no different. I had a list of things I needed, and those were the only things I would look for. No extra shopping or looking, just getting in and out as quick as possible. I soon found out that this trip's efficiency would be thwarted by a severe lack of awareness.

I was about 4 minutes in to my experience when I first noticed how significant a lack of awareness had on my trip that day. As I was walking down the first (Large Isle) a person with a cart came out of a perpendicular isle into the regular flow of traffic without stopping to look if it was clear first. My dad always taught me to have my "head on a swivel" when driving so I was already looking ahead and considered the possibility of this person not stopping and watched very closely. And sure enough they didn't adjust their speed, they didn't look, and it almost seemed as if they thought they were the only ones in the store. I made sure to check behind me and stopped just before that isle to avoid a collision.

Now, I want to be clear and transparent with you all, because I know how it may seem. When I say I am an efficient shopper, I'm not cruising all over Costco in some kind of super-fast road rage. My pace is a normal walk, and I have plenty of patience for others around me, including all of the folks who lack a sense of awareness.

Ok, avoided an unpleasant collision in this first little experience, but It was far from over... Maybe 30 steps later, in the same Isle there were 3 carts spread across the isle making it impossible to pass. This is probably the second widest isle in Costco and it was completely blocked by 3 carts. Two of the carts were unoccupied and the third cart was the base camp for the conversation that was happening between that cart owner and the owner of the other two carts. How do I know you ask? because instead of going around like most everyone else was doing, I was genuinely curious how long it would take for the cart owners to notice the traffic jam they created. I was there for about 90 seconds before the other two cart owners casually walked back to their carts conveniently in the middle of the isle.

Avoided collision -- CHECK; Cleared Traffic Jam -- CHECK; Now I would be free and clear to finish my shopping. Nope. There were probably about 2-3 more awareness incidence that happened with me present throughout the rest of the trip. Whether it was folks walking in the middle of the isle at 1/4 the speed of everyone else or folks with carts standing in front of coolers/freezers that I and others clearly needed to gain access to.

Awareness and Legendary Leadership

As you can see and maybe have even experienced yourself, that a lack of awareness makes even the simplest of tasks so much harder. As a leader it is incredibly important that you are actively removing the roadblocks and challenges those around you may face. With a full scope of awareness you are not only familiar with those challenges and providing solutions but you can see them coming before they happen. True Legendary Awareness means having a deep understanding of the challenges your team is facing, and keeping yourself at a 30,000 ft view to see and plan for anything that might be coming in the future.

Believe it or not, lack of awareness is not a difficult challenge to overcome. If you've received the feedback that you lack a sense of awareness or maybe you looked at yourself in the mirror and see it yourself the first thing you can do is pay attention. Just as my dad had told me to "keep my head on a swivel" when driving, paying attention will get you on the path to legendary awareness. In fact, taking a page from Benny Johnson of the Benny Show: make it your super power to become a professional at paying attention. This means keeping your eyes wide open, listening first, and understanding that there are consequences to every action.

If you manage to increase your awareness just slightly the people you work with, work for, and those who work for you with benefit tremendously. Yep, it really is more about them than it is about you. But, the nice thing is, (many people miss this), it is a boomerang effect. Your increase in awareness has an immediate impact on those around you, but a mostly delayed impact in your own career and work.

Start with Awareness and become a professional at paying attention. We've got many more attributes to talk about and this one provides the perfect launch pad to all the rest.

P.S. For all of you RPG fans out there... Anyone else wish there was a way that we could just apply more skill points to our awareness meter? Now that would be easy!