Indeed, one of the questions I ask when I take on a new executive client is around whether you think you are one person at work and another at home. 

We started with self awareness in my updates because the Institute for Leadership and Management has identified this as one of the first factors in Authenticity, which in turn is one of the five dimensions of leadership and management. 

So self awareness is one of the first components of authenticity, and very important if you want to be a credible leader or manager. It means that basically you know what you're like - you know your strengths, the things that tend to knock you off your perch, what motivates you (and just as importantly, what doesn't). You'll have an idea of your basic personality type, and this can give you an edge when you're facing situations that you know in advance can be difficult for you. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. There are many ways to categorise and describe personality types, and so here's a free test to get you started.

 

Self awareness feeds into your preferred leadership style and your emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman, one of the first pioneers of emotional intelligence, suggests six leadership styles - coercive, authoritative/visionary, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. Your self awareness will help guide you to the most appropriate style for you and the situation. 

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