The Leader’s Self-Awareness Toolbox

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(bouncy music) Welcome to the Leader's Self-Awareness Toolbox. Here, we'll explore the Leader's Self-Awareness Toolbox and how you can use these tools to improve your self-awareness and leadership skills. Let's start with an understanding of two particularly useful concepts in leadership, the Pygmalion and Galatea effects. The namesake comes from the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. The main theme in this myth is the artist's infatuation with his own work. The Pygmalion effect or the power of expectations is a phenomenon in which a leader influences his or her employees by the mere possession of expectations about their abilities. How does this happen? Every leader will have expectations about their subordinates' capabilities. When these leaders interact with their subordinates, they convey their expectations. This can be explicit or implicit and may even be done subconsciously. Subordinates will consciously or subconsciously notice these expectations. These subordinates will then try to fit their behaviors and actions to align with these expectations. In other words, like Pygmalion, a leader can sculpt his or her workforce into more than just a sum of its parts. If a leader has and communicates high expectations for their employees, it can work to the fullest of their abilities and raise their overall performance. Leaders who hold high esteem for their workforce can also cause their employees to have better self-esteem. But leaders who fail to positively reinforce your workforce or fail to communicate their expectations may bring down the morale of the group and negatively affect their performance, productivity, and self-esteem. These failures can be quite innocuous and subtle. For instance, consider a manager that has five groups of employees working for her. If she consistently praises the work of four of the five groups, the members of the remaining group may take this action as a lack of confidence and appreciation in their abilities. To avoid this, try to genuinely believe in your employees. Communicate your confidence in and appreciation for your subordinates and be vigilant in the expectations you convey. Now, let's explore the compliment to the Pygmalion effect, the Galatea effect. If the Pygmalion effect is the power of expectations and the Galatea effect is the power of self-expectation, one factor that can determine an employee's performance is their own sense of self-worth and confidence. So, according to the Galatea effect, if an employee believes they can achieve something, they may be more likely to actually achieve it. Knowing this, a leader may want to foster a sense of self-worth and confidence in their employees. of the leader/subordinate relationship that a leader has direct control over. One way that leaders can do this is to take a direct role in helping employees develop their strengths. A best practice is for leaders to coach their employees in the areas they already excel at because it can be a more efficient use of time. This positive reinforcement can build confidence in employees. A good practice is to provide training for employees. Pay attention to the areas your employees need to improve and what the employees themselves wish to develop. You may also want to frequently communicate your positive views on the employee's performance when appropriate. Even greater self-confidence can be built when an employee hears these positive reinforcements from superiors and coworkers, and because others will tend to be influenced by what a leader says, you may want to be vigilant in how you talk about your employees to every member of the workforce. So, what do the Pygmalion and Galatea effects have in common? They are both controllable by a self-aware leader. As a leader, think about how you feel about your subordinates and raise expectations if they're artificially low. You can also use self-awareness to understand how others are being affected by your expectations of them.