Unlocking the Power of Self-Awareness: Your Path to Personal and Professional Development

Welcome to September!

There is something about the crispness in the autumn air that always feels like a fresh start. The sun is still radiant, yet has a gentler warmth - a reminder that we’re transitioning into a new season of learning, growth, and development. After a summer full of work, writing, and play, we’re back and more inspired than ever!

We’ve been working for wonderful clients on leadership development, and helping them cultivate healthy, vibrant organizational cultures. While there are several important ingredients to leadership and culture, in our newsletter this month, we’re focusing on one foundational aspect: self-awareness.

Today and always, our hope is to inspire, enlighten, and encourage you to step into your truest, most authentic self.

Read on for:

• A powerful story of self and leadership development.
• Research on how self-awareness elevates leadership.
• Simple and impactful practices to enhance your self-awareness everyday.
• Philosophical thoughts on self awareness.

A Moment of Clarity: The Story of Emily

Meet Emily, a rising star in her company—driven, ambitious, and laser-focused on success. Yet, despite her career achievements, she felt something was off. Her relationships with colleagues were tense, and no matter how hard she worked, there seemed to be a disconnect between her efforts and the outcomes.

One day, after yet another exhausting meeting where she clashed with a co-worker, Emily’s mentor asked her a simple question: “Have you ever stopped to reflect on how your actions impact others?”

That question became a turning point.

Realizing she had been so caught up in her goals that she rarely considered how she was being perceived, or how her emotional reactions were affecting those around her. With purposeful coaching and guidance, she began to build self-awareness.

As she practiced observing her interactions through a new lens, Emily started recognizing her emotional triggers. This shift helped her become more responsive than reactive. Over time, her relationships improved, her leadership style transformed, and she began experiencing newfound successes within her organization. Most importantly, she found deeper satisfaction both in her professional and personal life.

Emily’s story shows how, for her and leaders around the world, self-awareness has a profound impact—not just on ourselves, but on leading teams and beyond.

Business Research: The Value of Self-Awareness in Leadership

Recent research increasingly highlights that self-awareness is one of the most critical traits for effective leadership. A study by Harvard Business Review found that highly self-aware leaders are not only more successful but also foster teams with stronger collaboration, trust, and overall performance.

Leaders with strong self-awareness have a clear understanding of their strengths and workons. This insight enables them to delegate more effectively, build diverse teams that complement their abilities, and make better use of their talents and the talents of those around them. Organizations led by self-aware leadership teams experience higher retention rates, as employees feel valued, heard, and respected. This, in turn, creates a positive workplace culture - one that leads to more success and less stress.

Additionally, self-awareness plays a key role in decision-making. Leaders who are aware of their own cognitive biases are less likely to fall into traps such as ?overconfidence or confirmation bias. Instead, they make more thoughtful, strategic decisions that align with their long-term goals.

So, how can you start building your own self-awareness?

Practical Practices: Building Self-Awareness Daily

Self-awareness isn’t an innate trait—it’s a skill that can be cultivated over time. To help you develop self-awareness in your day-to-day life, we invite you to experiment with the following four powerful habits:

• Daily Reflection: At the end of each day, take five minutes to reflect on your actions, decisions, and interactions. What went well? What could have been handled better? This simple practice encourages self-awareness and allows you to continuously learn from your experiences.

• Mindfulness Meditation: Mindfulness teaches you to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment. By practicing mindfulness, you can gain insight into your emotional triggers and patterns, empowering you to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. Mindfulness can be as simple as taking a pause before entering a meeting to extended times in stillness. Here is an example Mindfulness Practice for before meetings

• Feedback Loops: Actively seek feedback from trusted colleagues, friends, or mentors. Sometimes, our blind spots are more visible to others. Constructive feedback gives you valuable insights into behaviours or tendencies you might not be aware of on your own.

• Journaling: Putting your thoughts on paper helps you process complex emotions and recognize patterns in your thinking or behaviour that might otherwise go unnoticed. Regular journaling can deepen your self-awareness and provide clarity.

By cultivating self awareness, you can unlock deeper personal and professional growth.

Wisdom Traditions: Insights from Ancient Practices

Throughout history, self-awareness has been a cornerstone of many wisdom traditions, regarded as a path to both personal fulfillment and enlightenment. Here are four ancient traditions that place self-awareness at the heart of their teachings:

• Stoicism (inspired by my youngest son Michael): The Stoic philosophers believed that knowing oneself was key to mastering the mind and emotions. Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, encouraged daily reflection on our actions to cultivate a sense of purpose and integrity. Stoicism teaches us to recognize and focus on what we can control and to let go of what we cannot—an essential aspect of self-awareness.

• Buddhism: Central to Buddhist teachings is the practice of mindfulness. Through mindfulness, individuals learn to observe their thoughts and emotions as passing phenomena, rather than identifying with them; clouds in the sky, not the sky itself! This creates a space between stimulus and response, allowing for more conscious and compassionate actions.

• Indigenous Wisdom: Many indigenous cultures emphasize the interconnectedness of all life. Self-awareness, in this context, means recognizing how one’s actions impact not only oneself but also the community and environment. This holistic perspective encourages a deeper understanding of our roles and responsibilities in the world.

• Enneagram: The Enneagram offers a powerful framework for understanding yourself and others. By exploring the different Enneagram Types, you can better understand what motivates you, your team members, what triggers or shuts them down, and how to create an environment where they can thrive. You can learn more about the Enneagram for free on our YouTube Channel , or dive deeper into the Enneagram and Self Awareness with Catherine Bell and Russ Hudson on our video on demand.

By learning from these timeless traditions and practicing self-awareness, you can unlock deeper insight into your unique path and awaken your truest self.

The Path Forward

Like Emily, many of us are so focused on external goals that we overlook the inner work of cultivating self-awareness. Yet self-awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence, effective leadership, and personal fulfillment.

Whether through daily reflection, mindfulness practices, or drawing wisdom from ?ancient traditions, developing self-awareness can profoundly transform both your personal and professional life.

At The Awakened Company, we offer Enneagram Team Sessions to help you and your team gain deeper insights into yourselves and improve collaboration, communication, understanding, and leadership. Reach out to us if you’d like to explore how we can work together to bring more self-awareness into your organization.

Start your journey now - pause, reflect, and observe yourself from a new perspective. Set aside time for personal reflection. The pause has power in it and we invite you to become more self-aware by using the Enneagram.

What will you discover?

We’d love to hear about your insights and growth! Reach out and share your journey with us.

Warm regards,

Catherine R Bell, MBA

Founder?