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Self-Awareness in Work and Study

Article Date | 15 January, 2025

By Matt Garvey, Head of Further Education 

 

Reflecting on my journey in leadership and management within Further Education, I am mindful of the importance of Self Awareness. I would go so far to say that it was only after I had a business mentor and was introduced to self-awareness that I became an effective leader. During our Management & Finance Skills Bootcamps (funded by the Greater London Authority), our learners are taught about self-awareness as an important part of successful interviews as well as a career leadership tool.  

 

The LSST Bootcamp Management & Finance programme introduces learners into leadership skills such as self-awareness as they prepare for their interviews and potential job offers. I would define self-awareness as an understanding of our own attitudes and behaviours and how they impact upon others. I would go further to say that self-awareness is understanding those attitudes and behaviours when we are under pressure.  

 

‘Anyone can manage when things are easy’ is a phrase my previous manager used. She was right. When colleagues are happy, when lessons are easy and deadlines manageable, then we can all manage. However, it is when we are up against a target, a deadline or a difficult situation that self-awareness becomes crucial. So, before we talk about self-awareness further ask yourself ‘How do you behave under pressure?’ That pressure could be from: 

 

✓ An assignment deadline in your studies 

✓ Being behind target at work 

✓ A personal change such as moving home or planning a family event 

Are you cool under pressure? Are you best working alone? When things go wrong do you find yourself getting irritable or perhaps do you withdraw into yourself?  

 

Know yourself 

Before we can be certain of ‘who we are’ it is worth taking the time to complete a personality profile which will take an objective look at our behaviour. During our Skills Bootcamps (funded by the Greater London Authority) we used Buzz Quiz with our management and finance learners. Buzz Quiz is an abbreviated personality profile loosely based on Myers Briggs. Your answers provide the basis of one of sixteen different personality types, each represented by an animal from four different groups Bears, Birds, Aquatics and Cats. Have a go and search Buzz Quiz hosted by Careers Wales.  

 

Which animal are you?  

Any effective personality profile outcome will give a broadly accurate summary of you as a person. Naturally it will help you understand what you enjoy and the types of careers similar personalities are attracted to. More usefully it will help you understand what you don’t like, situations you find difficult and how you may behave in ways that others don’t appreciate.  

If we take the Polar Bear profile as one example. The positive traits include: 

✓ Polar Bears enjoy working alone 

✓ They are good at following rules 

✓ Polar bears are natural decision makers 

At the same time the areas for improvement include: 

✓ They can become overly immersed in work 

✓ Polar bears struggle to praise others 

✓ They prefer using existing skills rather than learning new things 

 

To put this into context of knowing someone who is Polar Bear – Imagine being with a partner who struggles to switch off from their work or study. What would it be like to have a manager who doesn’t offer praise or positive feedback? How might a Polar Bear’s career be impacted by a failure to learn new skills? 

Self-awareness can help you identify areas for improvement and ways in which you can adapt. For example, one tip for a Polar Bear profile would be to switch off from work or study and spend more leisure time with friends and family. Another would be to listen to others’ ideas and praise good work more often. 

 

Adapting communication styles 

Myers Briggs personality profiles are as much about how we all see the world differently. Some of us love bullet points and lists as a way of communicating, whereas others prefer a more conversational style of communication. Through self-awareness we understand our preferred way of communicating alongside an insight into how we can adapt our style to better connect with others.  

This can be hard for us when we are under pressure. When we just need something done, we revert to our default communication style. Some people stop communicating when under pressure, they want to be alone to get the job done. Others may find it difficult to concentrate and need the support of others.  With so many different personality styles around us, self-awareness tells us that our default communication style may only match two or three of the other fifteen personality types. Therefore, during pressured or stressful times, take a step back and think about how you could change your communication style to get the best out of others. Depending on the personalities in your team, family or friendship group this might include: 

✓ Moving from email to telephone to offer a more human mode of communication 

✓ Condensing your emails into a shorter, clearer lists of actions 

✓ Involving others in decision making before contributing your ideas 

 

Difference is good 

One of the criticisms of the financial crash in 2008 was that senior decision makers surrounded themselves with people who all saw the world in the same way. We refer to this as ‘group thinking’. I would advise surrounding yourself with people who see the world differently. While it can be very comforting to be with a group of people who always agree with each other, in task orientated teams for study or work, the benefits of diversity are much greater. Taking the animal personality profiles, a polar bear, an eagle, a dolphin and a tiger will all bring very different perspectives to a task. If you’re in a team project for your degree for example, this difference will lead to a richer contribution of ideas, a better understanding of risks and more viable solutions. Through exposure to different personality types, you’ll find yourself remarking ‘I never thought of that before’ giving you an opportunity for personal growth.  

 

To conclude 

Take time to understand yourself and gain self-awareness of how you behave at work, in study and in life. The Buzz Quiz takes 5 minutes to complete and will give you a perspective on yourself and others that you may never have appreciated. Understand those situations in life that make you react in ways others don’t appreciate and then use self-awareness to control your reaction in a more constructive manner. Once you understand yourself, adapt your communication and actively involve different personality types in your life; you’ll find you make better decisions and rise to challenges in a more productive and fulfilling way.  

 

To find out more about our impactful LSST Boot Camps visit: https://www.lsst.ac/skills_bootcamps/  

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