The Impact of Self-Awareness on Effective Leadership Behaviour
The Impact of Self-Awareness on EffectThe Impact of Self-Awareness on Effective Leadership Behaviourive Leadership Behaviour
In this study, German researcher Peter Hartung investigated whether a strong link exists between self-awareness and effective leadership. He assessed leadership effectiveness in three key areas: employee motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity.
Hartung reviewed 127 studies as the foundation of his literature review and also incorporated data from an online survey of 255 managers.
According to Hartung’s literature review, self-awareness involves recognizing and understanding one’s emotions, values, and personal goals. Developing strong self-awareness leads to honest self-assessment and increased self-confidence. It serves as the basis for self-regulation, which includes the deliberate control of emotions and impulses, thereby fostering integrity, credibility, and openness to change.
The study found a strong positive relationship between high self-awareness and managerial effectiveness, as well as employee motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity. These results reinforce previous research showing a positive link between self-awareness and effective management.
Additionally, significant correlations were identified between traits associated with self-awareness, such as self-transparency and effective task performance.
Other key personality traits vital for effective leadership include high energy, stress resilience, self-confidence, emotional maturity, a drive for achievement, and personal integrity.
Managers can enhance their self-awareness through several essential strategies:
- Mindfulness and reflective practice: Regular mindfulness practice and self-reflection can help managers become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and reactions in different situations.
- Seeking feedback: Actively asking for honest input from peers, subordinates, and senior managers, which can offer valuable insights into one’s behavior and its effects on others. This 360-degree feedback method helps identify blind spots in self-awareness.
- Journaling: Involves keeping a diary to track daily experiences, challenges, and emotional responses, which can help identify patterns and triggers as time progresses.
- Coaching or mentoring: Working with a professional coach or mentor offers an external viewpoint and support in enhancing self-awareness.
- Engaging in diverse experiences: Confronting new and challenging situations can reveal hidden aspects of personality and emotional responses that might not emerge in familiar settings.
- Examining personal values and motivations: Regularly reflecting on your core beliefs and true motivations can help you align your actions with them.
- Practicing compassion within mindfulness training: Cultivating empathy towards others can ironically enhance self-awareness by increasing awareness of one’s own emotional responses in relation to others.
[1] self-transparency – A concept in modern research describing a state where a person acts authentically, without concealing their strengths or weaknesses from themselves or others. They do not hide their true self behind a facade or insincere behaviors.
The impact of self-awareness on leadership behaviour, Hartung, Peter
Journal of Applied Leadership and Management
Hartung, Peter (2020) : The impact of self-awareness on leadership behavior, Journal of Applied Leadership and Management, ISSN 2194-9522, Hochschule Kempten – University of Applied Sciences, Professional School of Business & Technology, Kempten, Vol. 8, pp. 1-21,
Link to the full article: