Why We Need More Self Aware and Less Self Centred Leaders, Who Can Self Evaluate
What is Self Evaluation? Why We Need More Self Aware and Less Self Absorbed Leaders
Self Awareness is a key trait of visionary leaders, who know their strengths and more importantly, are aware of their shortcomings, and who work on their weaknesses.
In this context, Self Evaluation is a powerful concept and a useful framework that can help anyone and especially, those who aspire to be leaders, to be more Emotional Intelligent.
Self Evaluation as a means to Self Awareness provides us with the ability to understand our locus of self control, how self esteem works, and how we choose to respond to adversarial situations.
Indeed, Self Evaluation as a personality framework is growing in popularity in recent years, as more and more psychologists and personality experts realize its usefulness to be a game changer in the way people perform in their careers and personal lives.
In addition, leadership in the present times has gravitated to being a Reality TV Show like acting and doing, not to leave out thinking, which is another reason why the world needs more leaders who can self evaluate and are not self centred to the point of being obsessed with their style over substance.
How Visionary Leaders Have High Locus of Control and are also Intrinsically Motivated
Let us take the first element of Self Evaluation, i.e. the Locus of Control. Visionary leaders are those who are intrinsically motivated and not driven by what their followers think about them or what their approval ratings are.
Of course, we do not mean to say that such leaders have to be oblivious to the world around them. Indeed, this is where Self Centred comes into play as leaders cannot be blind to criticism and act in unilateral ways.
Moreover, leadership is also about accountability and hence, leaders have to be acutely conscious about feedback and receptive to suggestions for improvement.
However, Locus of Control indicates how well they are able to lead from the front, driven by higher needs of Self Actualization and vision and not merely on the basis of how they garner “likes” on social media and “hits” to their videos in the public domain.
In addition, Locus of Control also means how strong they are in their personalities and belief systems, as well as value choices.
To put it in brief, we need leaders who are not obsessed by their “image” and instead, are driven by inner motivations of acting for the greater common good.
EQ and Mental Toughness and Why the Tough Get Going When Going Gets Tough
The next elements of Core Self Evaluations are Neuroticism and Self Efficacy. These traits refer to how we feel sad and anxious at the slightest disturbance, how we tend to view our performance on the job, and how we tend to react to negative situations.
Visionary leaders are those with High Emotional Intelligence, in the sense that they are able to “manage their emotions and the emotions of others” in an empathetic manner.
In addition, they have High Self Worth, unlike pedestrian leaders who care more about what others think and less about how well they are performing in their jobs.
Moreover, leaders with high EQ or Emotional Quotient are able to manage adversity better and indeed, triumph over it, when compared to Self Centred leaders who are only obsessed with Sycophancy and the Fandom that anyone in public activities tends to receive.
Of course, Self Aware leaders to take such perceptions seriously, just that that does not become the sole driver of their actions and thought processes.
Indeed, the ability to perform under pressure and When the Chips are Down, is the hallmark of a true leader. As the cliche goes, When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.
How Core Self Evaluation and High Emotional Intelligence Better Job Performance
In organizational settings, Self Evaluating Leadership matters a lot as researchers have found a direct correlation between the former and job performance.
Those individuals who can evaluate themselves and are Emotionally Intelligent have been found to be better at the given tasks whereas Self Centred leaders, who surround themselves with Yes Men, have been found to flounder.
It is not hard to see why modern day corporates need more Self Evaluative Leaders as we live in stressful times, where the Pandemic and other events beyond our control have resulted in a vastly different business environment and a landscape where one has to be highly matured to lead effectively.
It is for this reason that we recommend all organizations to use and apply the insights from research on Self Evaluation so that they are able to respond to the challenges of the present times.
Moreover, with Remote Work taking its toll on all professionals, it is time we groom more Self Aware and less Self Centred Leaders.
In addition, being Self Evaluative would reduce the incidence of burnout and stress that have become endemic in the Post Pandemic times where Millennials and Gen Zers are quitting and leaving in record numbers.
How Psychology and Behaviourism Can Help Corporates
Last, we also suggest that corporates hire psychologists and behavioural experts to help their employees manage themselves and manage others better.
The concepts of Self Evaluation and Emotional Intelligence are very relevant in these hyper partisan times where mindboggling competition is leading to high turnover and attrition in what has been called the Great Resignation.
Moreover, Self Evaluation also helps in identifying potentially aggressive employees that can be a boon to corporates to reduce the incidence of more and more violent behaviour, which has become the norm.
To conclude, Self Evaluation can help any professional to better job performance outcomes.
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