Are you ok with being mediocre? Or are you targeting for greatness?

"Good enough is the enemy of Greatness!" These were the exact words I heard some months ago in India. We were working with a team of managers defining their strategic purpose and ambition when some of them noticed that the easy way would not take them to enjoy their full potential. The right way required another type of attitude, and by just developing their skills or competencies wouldn't help them reach their ambitious vision.

The importance of the Self-awareness

There is no shortcut to greatness; there is no easy way to create great teams. Now and then I get asked if it's not good enough to train the "outside skills" and forget about the inner-dimension. I wonder what would happen to a tree if this would focus only on growing fast without grounding itself first with deep and strong roots. It is tough a tempting thought to skip that step as it seems to save time and avoid awkward questions to answer. The problem arises when wisdom, facts, and research shows that there is no path to greatness without working with that inner part as well. Some experts even claim that up to 80% of our success comes from that internal development. So if you are willing to let your ego aside for a while and explore the path to greatness, be my guest to continue reading this article. 

One of the essential dimensions when developing our inner-dimension is our self-awareness. Among all the studies I have read during the last year, the one I liked the most was published in the Harvard Business Review magazine. This research that suggests that when we have a high level of self-awareness, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively. There are two main dimensions of self-awareness. The first, which the study calls internal self-awareness, represents how we see our values, passions, and aspirations fit with our environment, reactions (including thoughts, feelings, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses), and impact on others. The study found that internal self-awareness is associated with higher job and relationship satisfaction, personal and social control, as well as happiness; and it is negatively related to anxiety, stress, and depression when the level is low.

The second category, external self-awareness, means understanding how other people view us, regarding those same factors listed above. The mentioned research shows that people who know how others see them are more skilled at showing empathy and taking others’ perspectives. By using this, we tend to have a better relationship with others, feel more satisfied with our context, and see others as more useful in general.

It is easy to assume that being high on one type of awareness would mean being high on the other. However, the research has found virtually no relationship between them, so those are two dimensions to work in parallel. 

I would summarize this research by saying that first understand yourself, then understand others before you are understood. 

The inside-out journey

Steven Covey mentions in his book "The 7 habits of highly effective people" that "Change--real change-- comes from the inside out. It doesn't come from hacking at the leaves of attitude and behavior with quick fix personality ethic techniques. It comes from striking at the root--the fabric of our thought, the fundamental, essential paradigms, which give definition to our character and create the lens through which we see the world.

[] Achieving unity--oneness--with ourselves, with our loved ones, with our friends and working associates, is the highest and best and most delicious fruit[]. Most of us have tasted this fruit of true unity from time to time in the past, as we have also tasted the bitter, lonely fruit of disunity[]. Principles are not practices. A practice is a specific activity or action. A practice that works in one circumstance will not necessarily work in another, as parents who have tried to raise a second child exactly like they did the first can readily attest. While practices are situationally specific, principles are deep, fundamental truths that have universal application.[] They are self-evident [] They empower people."

The principles are not rules to follow or a strategy to implement. They are a profound fundamental truth that we need to understand from the "Inside-Out Again," beyond our intellectual mind. I always find comfort in Steven Covey's text, especially during the struggling moments when going through difficult times. 

What can I do to continue my journey to greatness?

1- Develop your Self-awareness. This is a critical part of the process and it never ends. Grounding yourself and developing your roots will allow you to extend the strength needed for the struggling times to come. The mentioned HBR article gives lots of valuable pieces of advice on how to improve that dimension. You can also get some more ideas from this article written some time ago and from this video recorded during my last visit to Japan. 

2- Get yourself to a Retreat. The magazine Scientific American Mind also noticed in its issue from spring 2018 that "a wealth of psychological research shows that a mental downtime is vital for productivity and health." Mental downtime is directly linked to the ability to take breaks, detach and calm our minds. It was also noted that "the power of reflection gives the insight into our thoughts, metacognition, as key to high achievements it all domains. Self-control is not just a puritanical virtue. It is a key psychological trait that breeds success at work and play -and in overcoming life's hardships." There are retreats specially designed for executives, like The7SecretKeys.com where you can find calmness and quiet space for reflection immersed in the Finnish mystic nature. 

3- Our mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's fully open. At the end of the day is up to you to decide to open your mind. Nobody will be able to do it for you. Are you going to wait for that miracle to take place or will you take responsibility to own your future and start your development today? Follow our Coaching Talks Podcast to get some guidance on your journey.

The nature of growth and progress

The empowered executive observes the fluctuating cycles in nature, and concludes that maintaining progress requires identifying and working with the rhythms of life. Observes how a small seedling erupts out of the earth, and learns a lesson about the nature of growth and progress.

We can try to play the game to guess the future. However, the only thing we know for sure is that it will be different. Therefore change is the only constant thing in this life. So when we don’t integrate the change in our essence, we can’t reach the full potential available for us. Keep your core, stimulate your growth mindset.