Chapter 10, Problem 1DQ

Summary Introduction

To determine:

What is the Importance of Self-awareness for a Manager and what are the impacts of not having self-awareness?

Introduction:

Self-awareness is the quality that has to be inherited for any individual to grow in a professional environment. Being a manager this is one of the prerequisites to understand your strengths and weaknesses to focus more on business requirements.

Answer to Problem 1DQ

Solution:

Self-awareness will give a clear insight of yourself and make you take decisions based on your strengths and weaknesses. The advantage of knowing yourself will give you the chance to focus on the areas of expertise and gain fame based on it at the same time working on the areas of improvement to gain knowledge on them.

Explanation of Solution

Given information:

Being a Manager, how important is self-awareness? What are the impacts for managers if they have low self-awareness?

Self-Awareness: Knowing about oneself is the best quality that every individual have to possess both in the personal and professional environment. If it is done for organizations called as SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats). This is strongly advised even for the individual especially for managers to understand themselves to be competitive and be ready to take up opportunities to grow.

Importance of Self-awareness for Managers:

1. Strengths: To understand your strengths and to utilize them for the best of your ability. Being a manager there will be so many decisions that are to be taken based on requirement. So you should know your strengths well in analyzing the situation and making decisions based on them.
2. Weaknesses: This is a most important aspect for a manager to understand his / her weaknesses. Any individual for that matter has weaknesses. So it is better to know them and deal with them in decision making. There are a few weaknesses that can be if so operated effectively can be turned into strengths. So having self-awareness will lead them to handle effectively and efficiently. As a manager, if you are not aware of your weaknesses then it is like giving chance for others to overtake you.
3. Opportunities: It is about external factors around you, so what kind of opportunities can be cashed by you and how can they be turned into success with your self-awareness. Do not take anything for granted or easily around. There are so many factors that will influence the decision on opportunities. So have a clear self-awareness in understanding them and be careful before putting them into practice as a Manager because it is not only you, there are others also that will be affected because of your decisions.
4. Threats: These are also from external factors, so if you are to completely aware of yourself then this will also lead to your downfall. So have to be very sensitive and proactive in understanding threats. Never take them easily because the impact can always cost you huge if so delayed or neglected. Being a manager you should always be cautious and careful be ready to take over threats and this can be possible if you are aware of yourself.