4 Ways to Bring More Awareness to Leadership

Brief 

Leaders who develop “awareness intelligence” can be more present, perceptive and reflective, writes Dorothy Siminovitch, founder and president of Gestalt Coaching Works LLC. “Reflecting on what they most value, and practicing with ways to prioritize those values, offers leaders choices that have relevance, integrity and vitality,” Siminovitch writes.

Insight

Weaving Influence is a full-service digital marketing agency. Since launching 10 years ago, Weaving Influence has helped clients launch more than 150 books, carving its niche in working with authors, thought leaders, coaches, consultants, trainers, nonprofit leaders and speakers to market their services and books. This post is by Dorothy Siminovitch.

Fifty-one years ago, noted economist Herbert Simon observed that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” That is, too much information tends to scatter our attention and diminish our ability to focus on what matters.

Today, of course, access to information has grown exponentially. In response, business scholars now recognize “attention management” as a critical competence — “the art of focusing on getting things done for the right reasons, in the right places and at the right moments.” What helps us choose those right reasons, places and moments involves a set of process skills that together can be called “awareness intelligence.”

The effects of an explosion of information, market volatility, rapid change and increased uncertainty require a capacity to use one’s awareness with intention. Attention and awareness are related: If I become aware of something, I pay attention to it; if my attention is caught by something interesting or needed, I become aware of it.

What does it mean to be “aware”? At its simplest, it means consciously acknowledging “what’s happening,” in the moment, internally and/or externally. The act of awareness itself ignites the possibility for action.Awareness intelligence in leadership can lead to greater creativity, resilience and workplace satisfaction in direct proportion to leaders’ ability to manage volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.