6.5 THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BE AGREAT BOSS: Helping People Get to Know Themselves

(EXTRACTION FROM TEAM MANAGEMENT: Coaching Your Team at http://www.mindtools.com)

 

Coaching to Develop Self-Awareness

Developing self-awareness is important both in the workplace and at home for better relationships and for a more fulfilling life.  By understanding how we relate to others, we will be able to adjust our behaviour so that we can deal with others positively.  In understanding what upsets us, we can actually improve our self-control.  By understanding our weaknesses, we can learn how to manage it.

People can develop self-awareness on their own.  Coaching can be a better way of helping people view their own actions and reactions objectively.

SIX APPROACHES TO HELP OTHERS BUILD THIS SELF-AWARENESS
Using Psychometric Tests	·        useful for giving people an objective view of how they behave, and how they compare in outlook with others ·        able to categorize them by the personality traits or preferences they show ·        can point out the similarities and differences between people ·        examples: o   the Big Five or OCEAN model – looks at five main features of human personality: §  Openness, §  Conscientiousness, §  Extraversion, §  Agreeableness, and §  Neuroticism o   the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator   (or MBTI) – useful for: §  understanding our preferences for interacting with others, §  how we like to receive information, and §  how we make decisions
Sampling New Experiences	·        reactions or responses to new environments, new people, or new demands can help understand how to deal with some of the more familiar aspects of our lives ·        encourage people to explore unfamiliar roles or situations ·        the key is to help interpret the experience, and ensure that any learning from it passes back into the coachee's day-to-day life
Telling Your Life Story	·        stories can reveal whether people really understand who they are, and why their lives have turned out in the way they have ·        questions and feedback often make the difference between a story that's just told, and a story that's really heard and understood
Daily Writing	·        By writing down thoughts and feelings on a daily basis, you build fluency ·        captures the mood of the moment ·        can help the writer understand the range of emotions experienced
Defining Your Role	·        We all play many roles in life; colleagues, family or friends ·        builds a picture of how we see ourselves relative to others
Using the Coach as a Mirror	·        coaches are the perfect "mirror" for coachees to see themselves as they really are ·        coach's role here is to help the people they're coaching to be honest and straightforward when observing their own behaviors and actions

Self-awareness is important in helping us to make the right choices in life, and to understand how we relate to others.  Working with values and beliefs doesn't mean its challenging people's religious outlooks or personal philosophies.  We work hard to get the things we want and need in life.  Those needs and wants will vary greatly from person to person.  Our behaviors don't always follow the pattern of simply working hard to get what we want.