Self-Awareness In Leadership: When Ignorance Meets Arrogance

Elevate Yourself Beyond Vanity

Self-Awareness In Leadership : One of the most profound aspects of self-awareness is to know your strengths and weaknesses. Objectively evaluating your abilities and skills, facing your shortcomings, and embracing your gaps is crucial. This step of awareness is pivotal in numerous ways. It not only saves you from disappointments and failures along your journey but also grounds you in the reality of the moment, enabling realistic assessment and action-taking. For instance, consider a project manager adept at organizing resources but who shies away from public speaking. Recognizing this limitation, they could pursue public speaking courses, showcasing the tangible benefits of self-awareness in professional development.

Being aware of what we are good at and what we are not, including our likes and dislikes—and I’m not just referring to personal aspects but organizational ones as well—provides a relevant point of origin. From here, we can build our assessments and, therefore, define our actions. The biggest trap in this is the threat of believing you are something that you are not. Imagine an entrepreneur who overestimates their market knowledge, leading to a failed product launch. A grounded assessment might have prompted them to conduct thorough market research, averting potential failure.

Nowadays, almost anyone is capable of performing any task. We all carry our past experiences and achievements and are exposed to various sources of knowledge. These experiences provide us backgrounds and maybe some practical engagement with a subject or domain. Meanwhile, exposure to knowledge sources, either institutional or open sources, lays the foundational grounds for advancing our knowledge in a specific domain. Only by combining experiences and knowledge can we truly claim professionalism in something. A software developer who continuously learns new programming languages to complement their coding experience exemplifies staying competitive through blending experience with ongoing education.

Even then, this does not guarantee that we are good at it or that it’s in “our blood,” so to speak. Hovering above the foundational grounds of this knowledge are two important factors that, unfortunately, are not empirical: our results and achievements and our relative resources allocations. These factors are not empirical because without proper awareness of all aspects of our activity, they can be clouded by subjective evaluation. This is akin to two startup founders: one pushes forward without heeding market feedback, believing they know the best and are the best of what they do, leading to failure; the other, recognizing their limitations, seeks advice, pivots their strategy, and achieves success, illustrating the stark contrasts between Arrogance and Modesty

Ignorance, when combined with Arrogance, leads to a belief that our superficial knowledge, combined with some unmeasured past “positive results,” crowns us as professionals. This ignorance, if fused with arrogance, has destructive impacts on our actions. Only unbiased awareness, rooted in knowledge, can highlight Ignorance in its “contributing” state to our growth.

Painting a wall, for example, is not just about applying paint. It’s about understanding the fundamentals of the painting profession, evaluating the damage to the surface, matching the right base materials and fixes for preparing the surface, and only then, applying the paint. A professional painter considers factors like humidity, light exposure, and paint type for durability and aesthetics, demonstrating the depth of expertise versus a layperson’s approach.

This may seem complex, but in fact, it’s quite simple. There are four main elements in play: Ignorance, Arrogance and vanity, Modesty , and Knowledge. Ignorance and knowledge are on the same level, propelling your results. Arrogance and Modesty  act as mediators and dynamic escalators. If Ignorance is accompanied by arrogance, the person will likely be caught in a cycle of ignorance, and their results will reflect their lack of knowledge. However, if Ignorance is fused with Modesty ‘s power, a learning process is likely ignited, leading to more knowledge aimed at bridging the initial ignorance.

Acknowledge what you are good at and what you are not, what your business can do and cannot, what your resources can provide and cannot. Be true to yourself and evaluate those abilities in a self-aware manner without vanity and pride. Mark out what your weaknesses are and give them resolution.

Even though all this may sound philosophical, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Our results depend on our efforts and resource allocations, driven by suggestions and decisions. If the base of our suggestions and decisions is laid on the foundation of Ignorance and Arrogance, then surely we will have to expect negative results and not-so-bright achievements. On the other hand, an aware assessment of the situation at hand, a realistic and somehow modest approach in analyzing our abilities or our business boundaries, will reveal a much clearer picture of those gaps we need to fill in order to accomplish extraordinary results.

Here, we can resort to several techniques and activities, either separately or combined, such as outsourcing certain areas of our business activities to an external provider, delegating responsibilities within our own business—or even within our personal relationships when it comes to our personal lives—to those who are more knowledgeable or feel more comfortable with that sort of activity, hiring freelance experts under various kinds of contracts, either per project or as consultants, seeking knowledge ourselves, and expanding our knowledge and skills to aim for professional and personal growth. The cultivation of a growth mindset encourages continuous learning and adaptability. This could mean setting aside time each week for professional development activities, such as online courses, webinars, or reading industry-related literature. It’s also about fostering an environment that values feedback, where constructive criticism is viewed as an opportunity for growth rather than a personal affront. Moreover, embracing diversity in problem-solving approaches can significantly enhance creativity and innovation. Encouraging team members to contribute ideas from their diverse perspectives can lead to more holistic solutions and drive innovation. This diversity extends beyond just the workforce; it involves seeking out diverse sources of information, inspiration, and collaboration, which can challenge our assumptions and lead to breakthroughs in thinking.

These actions, whether made separately or combined, depend on the nature and complexity of the matter, as well as the urgency and impact of it on our other activities in terms of resource allocations and time management. Ultimately, the path to extraordinary results is multifaceted, involving a combination of self-awareness, strategic action, and continuous improvement. By acknowledging our current limitations and actively seeking ways to expand our capabilities, we position ourselves—and our organizations—for sustained success and growth. It is through this awareness and realistic assessment of our abilities, the diligent pursuit of knowledge, coupled with the humility to recognize and address our areas of ignorance, that we can truly achieve excellence in our personal and professional lives.

SLAM empowers leaders to cultivate self-awareness, fostering clarity and intentional action. This alignment builds trust, enhances influence, and drives impactful leadership.

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