Self-awareness is about understanding the emotions, personality, and skills of oneself. Being aware of the capabilities and emotions of others is vital for personality development. The weaknesses and strengths of an individual could be best evaluated through self-assessment of our personalities and the skills we need to succeed in our careers. Considering a management role, an individual must assess their own emotions and understand the thought process of individuals reporting to them so that he or she can build positive professional relationships with colleagues. One of the major traits of a manager or leader is emotional intelligence, which is developed primarily by self-awareness. It is one of the most prominent traits of leadership, which is defined as the ability to understand, use, and manage one’s own emotions, which could aid in managing stress, acting empathetically towards others, and diffusing conflicts whenever they arise.

Self-awareness and emotional intelligence, although interrelated, are still different in terms of a trait within an individual’s personality. This is because someone who is self-aware of their own emotions may not understand other’s emotions. Likewise, someone with a clear emotional intelligence trait may fail to be aware of themselves, as they may be buried at work or always engaged in justification of their job position, which may deviate from understanding their own emotions. Such instances often lead to a stressful work environment and conflicts that could hamper professional relationships. Henceforth, self-awareness and emotional intelligence should be practiced equally regularly through various means that could help an employee develop these as proficient skills.

Self-awareness is key to emotional intelligence because when an employee, especially in a managerial or leadership role, knows their inner self well, it could have an impact on others, ultimately becoming a role model for others. In other words, when one knows oneself, they can connect well with their colleagues, thereby improving communication, rapport-building efforts, and even soft skills. Developing self-awareness helps in influencing others as a role model within the organization with effective conflict management and decision-making skills. When we are emotionally intelligent and clearly aware of our being, we will know how to act promptly during challenging situations that can lead to positive outcomes.

Considering an example of a manager’s situation who is self-aware of his emotions and knows his skills well to handle a conflict while managing a team of ten people, he can establish a good work environment for his team through his emotional intelligence skills. A leader or manager often engages in providing feedback to subordinates, and this activity largely requires emotional intelligence to ensure the feedback seeker is not offended in any way. In the case of a conflict, one would be able to successfully manage the conflict with an effective solution to the challenge faced. Hence, self-awareness is the core of everything. A manager or leader should be self-aware of their technical skills to evaluate process improvement ideas for the team and provide scope for understanding one’s own weaknesses and strengths. Additionally, it is important for leaders to understand that their emotions have a direct impact on their teammates and the overall performance of the team.

To bring out the best in others, one should bring out the best in themselves. This is because when we are aware of the right skills and strengths we possess while working continuously on our weaknesses, we can be at our best over time. When we can be our own best selves and have controlled emotions in any situation, we are able to guide others to be at their best. When we know the right tactics to create self-awareness, as leaders or managers, we can help others develop tactics to become self-aware. The way we conduct ourselves in any situation while at work says a lot about our own personalities. When we are aware of our own negatives, we work to improve on them, thereby turning our negative traits into positive ones. During this process, feedback mechanisms play a crucial role, and the way we handle ourselves while receiving feedback could help us advance further as individuals while working on our personalities. A positive personality for a manager or a leader is very important, as our personality could have positive feedback on others within the organization. It also encourages subordinates and other colleagues to see one as a role model. It is a true saying that an individual’s productivity percentage will not be remembered, but their conduct throughout their journey is of the utmost importance.

Self-awareness also includes an evaluation of one’s own performance and behavior in varied situations at work. Thoughts about the conduct, words spoken, body language, conflicts tackled, behavior shown, etc. also come under self-awareness assessment. These alongside help in acquiring experiences of life that can invoke real-life examples to be shared with subordinates who may end up in the same situation in the future. Being self-aware helps guide teammates in the right direction, guided by the experiences they have faced over time. It is at this point that emotional intelligence as a manager or leader comes into play, where a difficult situation or a colleague expressing their thoughts is respected and understood from their point of view.

It is often difficult to understand how one can process somebody else’s emotions, but it could be an easier approach if we are aware of our own similar emotions evoked through self-awareness, and emotional intelligence comes into play at this stage. Hence, self-awareness helps in the development of emotional intelligence, which could help one become a true leader, positively impacting the team in terms of performance and behavioral outcomes. Self-awareness relieves one from self-doubts and can help develop better work relationships with colleagues as they develop emotional intelligence over time. Such individuals are likely to become better leaders with happy employees working under them, as he or she can understand the needs of employees as they work towards the mission and vision of the organization they work for.

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