The higher up you go in companies, the more you're dealing with psychological and relational issues, as Dr. Douglas LaBier writes in Psychology Today. Leadership requires astuteness about others: their emotional and strategic personal drivers; their self-interest, overt and covert. These relationship competencies rest on a foundation of self-knowledge, self-awareness. And you can't know the truth about another without knowing it about yourself, states Dr. LaBier.
As I wrote earlier, organizations and individuals underestimate the importance of self-awareness, seeing it as a nice to have and solely as a "soft" skill, whereas this "soft" skill directly influences organizational and individual success and impacts a higher return on investment (ROI). A research from the Korn Ferry Institute "A Better Return On Self-Awareness" shows that self-awareness correlates with corporate performance.
But it is important not only for leaders and businesses. It's needed by students choosing their future career, by individuals searching for improvement in their relationships, by those who are undergoing transformation or just want to better understand themselves and those around them. I liked the definition of self-awareness by the University of Warwick, which also mentions an interesting exercise of the Johari Window to look at your Self from different angles (the Known, Hidden, Blind, and Unknown Self): Self-awareness is about learning to better understand why you feel what you feel and why you behave in a particular way. Once you begin to understand this concept you then have the opportunity and freedom to change things about yourself enabling you to create a life that you want. It’s almost impossible to change and become self-accepting if you are unsure as to who you are. Having clarity about who you are and what you want can be empowering, giving you the confidence to make changes.
Developing self-awareness is a hard work and an exciting journey. It needs silence and a mirror. A coach can become your thinking partner and a mirror on that journey. Gestalt-oriented coaching is extremely powerful in enhancing self-awareness in order to achieve sustainable change, as development of awareness is one of the core principles of Gestalt.
I provide coaching with creative interventions for your personal and professional discovery and transformation in cooperation with talented partners from the worlds of nature, art and embodiment. Holistic coaching might be the right thing for you,
if you want to become more self-aware of your drivers, blind spots and potential,
if you want to re-discover your authentic self ,
if you are going through a significant personal or professional transformation,
if you just want to take a creative, inspiring and energizing time-out.
If you want to lift the clouds around your highest potential with one of the creative sequences, “Coaching in the Mountains”, you may combine professional coaching with retreat, skiing & walking in the majestic mountains of Simplon (Sempione) on a high Swiss edge at the gates to Italy in a historic hotel Stockalperturm.
If you are not going to climb so high yet and prefer to stay in the urban environment, I coach you in a city of your choice, and you decide upon a creative sequence in the next step.
Actively and creatively involving your whole self with your heart, mind and body, you intensively unfold your hidden potential, gain new insights and a deeper self-awareness.