How Well Do You Know Yourself?

How well do you know yourself?

This may sound like a self-centered question, but it has implications far beyond you. Your level of self-awareness affects your relationships, your productivity, and your workplace. The problem is that most of us don’t really know ourselves.

For example, let’s look at emotional intelligence (EQ). In a study of 500,000 people, only 36 percent were able to identify what they were feeling (Travis Bradbury and Jean Graves, Emotional Intelligence, 2.0). Even less would be able to identify why they were feeling that way, and even less how they should respond to it.

While many experts would put EQ at the top of critical life and business skills, EQ is just one part of self-awareness. Let’s not forget other vital areas like strengths and weaknesses, motivations, values, purpose, ideal working conditions, wellness keys, relationship roles, etc. In other words, EQ is just one part of your SQ (self-awareness quotient).

So, how's your SQ? In other words, how well do you know yourself?

It’s time we stop thinking that knowing yourself is all about you. Because it’s not.

Healthy Teams

When you become more self-aware, you become a more effective team member. And that’s important because healthy teams don’t just happen—they take design and effort. Just like individuals have personalities, so do teams. Looking at how your team is made up will help you maximize team partnerships and effectiveness.

Engaged Organizations

That’s important because just like healthy teams, engaged organizations don’t happen by chance either. In an engaged organization, employees feel dedicated, purposeful, and emotionally connected so they’re willing to give their best, discretionary effort. That’s the extra effort they can either put forth or hold back.

Engaged organizations report higher:

• Productivity
• Profitability
• Quality of product/service
• Employee and customer retention
• Creativity
• Customer service
• Quality of life

So, it’s better for everyone when employees are engaged. But it’s not a guarantee.

Starting Place

A good starting place for building a healthy team and engaged organization is at self-awareness, one person at a time. They’re the critical building blocks.

How well do you know yourself?