Is Low Self-Awareness Destroying Your Team?

Is there someone on your team who’s clueless about how they’re negatively impacting you and everyone else? If so, then keep reading.  Low self-awareness could show up as a micromanaging boss, a frustrating co-worker, or an underachieving employee, just to name a few.

When people are not aware of their blind spots, it can create all sorts of team dysfunction. This is especially so when everyone sees the problem but them! In this article, I want to share two simple things you can implement today to improve self-awareness on your team and eliminate the frustration caused by blind spots.

My Story

Years ago, I was asked to join the leadership team of an organization and help them with their strategic planning. At this point, I had only communicated with the founder, and when he brought me into the first meeting with the other leaders to present my plan, I flopped.  

I was so excited about my grand plan I forgot to get buy-in from the other leaders. As I blazed ahead, I eventually encountered discord and division on the team.  

You see, my personality tends to focus on moving fast, getting results, and taking action. In my early years, I assumed everyone thought this way and I could easily bulldoze over people who thought differently or moved too slowly. This way of thinking was one of my blindspots.  

Fortunately, after lots of work on improving my self-awareness, I’ve come to realize that not everyone moves at the same speed, and getting buy-in before moving ahead with a plan is essential. I’ve also learned to check my enthusiasm and drive so that I’m not blowing up relationships in the name of productivity.

Low Self-Awareness Comes In Many Forms

That’s my story, but low-self-awareness can show up on your team in a variety of ways. 

• Being constantly late
• Producing sloppy or incorrect work
• Cutting corners
• Lazy work ethic
• Offensive comments or jokes
• Being overly sensitive
• Rambling in meetings
• Not coming prepared for meetings
• Being too direct
• Not being direct enough
• Micromanaging
• Being too analytical
• Being too driven
• Lack of attention to detail
• Not being detailed enough
• Being rude to customers

We all have blind spots, and they can come from a variety of sources.  Some are based on personality type, and others might come from a lack of training or knowledge. Regardless of how they happen, the solutions people try are usually predictable.  

Common Responses

Avoidance: A typical response is to avoid uncomfortable confrontation altogether. This usually results in more of the same problem-causing behavior and a team with growing frustrations.

Combative: Another response is to be overly direct and “bring the hammer down.” This rarely works. While it might solve the problem temporarily, being too direct with aggressive undertones can permanently damage the relationship.

Passive/Aggressive: Yet another response people typically have is to tiptoe around the issues with some passive/aggressive comments or gossip. This weak attempt to voice concern is usually ineffective and only breeds division and more frustration.

Assertive: Finally, some people handle things well. They are assertive and direct yet also kind. They manage to salvage the relationship as they help the person become more self-aware.  Having these difficult conversations can be tough at first but if you know how to navigate them you can have successful confrontation.

The commonality between all of these responses is that they are all reactive. And while our successful person who handled things well was great, it would have been better not to have had the conversation in the first place.   

So What’s The Solution? 

Becoming self-aware is all about being proactive and inviting other people into our world to help us become our best. Because… 

When working with clients to help them create thriving teams, I encourage them to use two simple things to proactively grow in self-awareness; assessments and check-ins.  

Assessments

We were all created with different personalities and strengths. Unfortunately, each strength has a shadow side. It’s these areas of weakness that many times become blindspots and cause friction within a team. 

I enjoy using assessments like DISC and Enneagram, but there are many powerful tools you can use to uncover your unique design. Personality tests are an excellent way for experts to “speak” into your life, especially if you’re on this journey alone. Once you have an assessment shine a light on your blind spots, the more you will start to see them and can begin addressing them.

Check-ins

While assessments can help you identify your strengths and shadow sides, feedback from those on your team can help you figure out how your blind spots are directly affecting others. I encourage my clients to develop regular check-ins as part of their culture to grow in self-awareness.  

I have a specific approach I like to use to make these conversations effective, easy, and remove any awkwardness. But whatever your method is when giving feedback, be sure you are both assertive and relational. You want to avoid damaging a key relationship with someone on your team just for the sake of being right. At the same time, you don’t want to let the blindspot go unchecked in order to keep the peace.

When receiving feedback, be sure to listen instead of trying to defend yourself. It’s tempting to ignore the input someone has because let’s face it; it’s never fun to find out that we’ve been doing something that’s been causing issues. But trust me, in the end, it’s worth it.

Conclusion

Blindspots can lead to all sorts of team dysfunction. If ignored or handled poorly, your team might never reach it’s fullest potential. This lack of cohesion could cost you time and money and create unneeded stress at work. 

The problem is, while everyone has experienced the pain of someone oblivious to their blindspots, most people only react. However, successful firms create a culture where they proactively become self-aware through assessments and regular check-ins. Once this culture is established, that team will be well on their way to becoming high functioning, healthy, and productive.

I hope this article was helpful.  If you’d like to be notified when the next one is released subscribe here.

Charles

CharlesKown.com

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