Emotional self-awareness is the most important skill for leadership effectiveness.
As a leader you are measured by your leadership impact, not by your individual output. As your career grows, so does your leadership impact. At some point as you rise into the ranks of leadership, doing excellent work is no longer enough. Not because the work isn’t good—but because leadership is no longer measured by individual output. It’s measured by impact. At senior levels, leadership stops being about what you deliver and becomes about what others are able to do…
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The most dangerous phase of leadership is often not early struggle, but sustained success when assumptions become leadership blind spots. Leadership blind spots arise because success is reassuring. It tells leaders that their judgment is sound, their instincts are reliable, and their approach works. But at senior levels, past success can quietly become a liability. Many of the leaders I work with are accomplished, capable, and respected. They have succeeded beyond what they once imagined. Yet they find themselves surprised…
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The hidden career costs of leadership gaps don’t usually appear as a single failure or dramatic moment. The hidden career costs of leadership gaps show up gradually—missed opportunities, stalled momentum, rising frustration, and teams that never quite perform at their potential. Most leaders don’t ignore growth on purpose. They work hard, care deeply about results, and genuinely want their teams to succeed. But leadership gaps create visible outcomes long before leaders recognize what’s happening—and those outcomes often shape how careers…
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If experience automatically produced self-awareness in leadership, leading would get easier every year. But many capable, experienced leaders find the opposite happens. They work harder. They carry more responsibility. And yet certain problems keep resurfacing—miscommunication, friction, disengagement, decisions that don’t land as intended. This isn’t a lack of intelligence or effort.It’s a misunderstanding of how self-awareness in leadership actually works. Key Takeaways: Why Even Smart, Experienced Leaders Still Miss Things The Two Types of Self-Awareness Leaders Need Self-awareness in leadership…
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Why self-awareness in leadership matters more as responsibility increases Self-awareness in leadership becomes increasingly important as roles get bigger, more complex, and more visible. Early in your career, experience does most of the teaching. You try things. You learn what works. You adjust. Progress feels fairly linear. But at some point — often without warning — experience alone stops delivering the same returns. The problems get more complex. The stakes get higher. And despite working harder, leaders often find themselves…
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Career Moves Leaders Regret Rarely Look Dramatic in the Moment This quiet stretch as the new year starts to ramp up is when many people start thinking differently about their careers. Not in a goal-setting way.More in a looking back way. It’s when questions surface gently: When leaders reflect honestly, the career moves they regret aren’t usually bold risks they didn’t take. They’re quieter choices—moments they let pass because it felt easier to stay put. Key Takeaways: What people most…
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