Leadership Skills: Self Awareness

A good leader is considered as a person who is sensible to others. This in turn calls for a sensibility within himself in order for him to become sensible to others. Sensibility is a nature of awareness: Awareness of the sensations. Bodily sensation is nothing but the language of the feeling. The feelings are the outcome of our own emotions.

So, a self-awareness of your own internal world is a prerequisite of a good leader. A person cannot manage himself when he does not have the ability of what is happening within himself. So, self-management calls for the self-awareness. For any given experience/event, one should have the ability to capture in real time the associated emotions that run beneath. A person, who has the higher sensitivity, captures the bodily sensations in finer details. A person cannot manage others when he can’t self-mange.

So, here is the flow. Self Awareness -->Self management-->Awareness of others -->Management of others.

Mirror: External reality is majorly determined by our own internal mental & emotional state. Others, they simply act as a mirror/reflection of you. When you are calm, you radiate calmness and generate calmness in others. In this case.calmness is the reflection that you see in others. A good leader is completely aware of this process & he naturally performs his behaviour in tune with the process.

Bodily sensations: Bodily sensations and the feelings are the outcomes of your emotions. There is an entire gamut of level to this sensory perception that varies from gross to the subtle levels. Your emotion appears in the form of bodily sensation. Your ability to perceive this sensation gives full access to your internal world. Good leader enhances his sensory perception to an extent of even picking up the subtlest bodily sensations so that he is well self-centred. He somehow knows the means to connect to himself in finder details.

There are techniques available in most of the mind-body practices such as Yoga, taichi etc. One needs to invest considerable effort to master these techniques. It is a learnable skill.

Summary: You can’t manage others when you don’t have the ability to manage yourself. Self-awareness & self-management are the key leadership skills. Your emotion appears in the form of bodily sensation. Your ability to perceive this sensation gives full access to your internal world. Enhance your sensory perception to an extent of even picking up the subtlest bodily sensations.

“Higher the sensory perception better the level of self-awareness "

Learn to unlearn

Growth: Out growth in life is directly proportional to our new learning’s. The time when we stop learning, we cease to nurture. Learning gives an opportunity to expand. It broadens our perception. It has the ability to change our viewpoint. It allows us to transform to the greater goodness.

New Learning: Definitely, new learning involves new ideas, new concepts that were not identified to us earlier. But, there is also another dimension to the learning i.e. learning to unlearn. Whatever that we have learned earlier may not be perfect existential model and may not be serving the purpose. We should know how to unlearn the already learned clutters in our possessions.

Database: You are a collection of a huge mass of database forced and stored upon you by others. The programming of the database happens at the earliest stage of our life when we don’t have any control of life and our life is dictated by various sources such as the elders, parents, school & society. This program is strongly hardwired even as grownup adult in the present day. Subconsciously, these habits, database are highly engrained that we behave and live in an autopilot mode governed by the ideas, beliefs of others. This is a real problem for every one of us.

But, now as a grownup adult, you have the freedom and control to make conscious choices to create your own new set of database that serves the purpose. Creating a new database includes eliminating the old database not serving the life purpose. This is what I call it as ‘Learn to Unlearn’.

Learn to Unlearn: It is consciously eliminating the old stored data that do not serve the purpose. There are proven techniques to perform this sort of the exercise. Once you are into the practice of this exercise, you will come to know how much more you have to unlearn on day-to-day basis. This is a fresh realisation that puts you in the success path.

Summary: We have been programmed by our experiences & surroundings since childhood. Some of these databases do not serve the purpose now. As a mature adult, you have the conscious choice of discarding such kinds that were learned in the past. As we go on and on, we come to know how much more we have to unlearn.

“You are definitely in the path of success, when you learn to know how much more you have to unlearn on day-to-day basis”

Breath: Fibre of Life

Life Force: Let us recollect the 9/11 incident at pentagon. Certain wings of the pentagon building were hit by the aircraft & the building was raging with flames & fumes everywhere. One of the trapped officers managed to come out the building just to hear the shocking news that there was another flight targeting pentagon to hit in few more minutes. He was emotionally drained and in utter shock when he heard the rumbling sound of the approaching flight. I was in complete disbelief that his life was coming to an end & the pictures of his family loved ones were flashing in his mind while the sound of the approaching flight became louder and louder. In the neck of this moment and at the brink of his death, all of a sudden he heard the sound of the flight fading away. The next thing that he noticed was the sound of his breath & yes, he was delighted to know that he was still alive. This incident narrates the significance of the breath. Breath is a reminder that we are alive right now, in this moment. But, the question is how much are you aware of your breath in your day today life?

Foundation: Any form of physical exercises such aerobics, swimming, gym workouts, yoga involve the systematic movement of the body. But, the very basic fundamental movement for all of the above starts from the respiratory system. Every breath involves the rhythmic movement of the thoracic muscle & diaphragm. So, it is essential to optimise this engine in order to supply the optimal energy inflow into the body.

Flow: Life is a cyclic pattern of stimulation and relaxation. It is our natural desire to stay relaxed in every possible life conditions. The basic fibre of life is breathing that follows exactly the same cyclic pattern. Each breath alternates with inhalation (stimulation) and exhalation (relaxation). Breathing pattern gets effected by the emotional state. Also, the pattern of breathing varies from person to person.

If one consciously practice breathing sequence that involves prolonging the duration of the exhalation in comparison to that of the inhalation then over a period of time, there is a very good probability that his auto piloted automatic rhythm of the breathing follows the practiced pattern. This style of breathing keeps him more relaxed. So, it makes sense to prolong the duration of exhalation than that of the inhalation.

Personally, the above breathing technique brought down my resting heart rate from 90s to 48. I have noticed such distinguished effect with many of my clients too.

Summary: To move to a state of relaxation, practice the above breathing technique consciously for at least five minutes/day to see the profound effect on your psychic as well as your physiology.

Real Good Morning

Getting up early in the morning!! It is a harsh call for majority of us. I was part of this tribe few years before. Then, my modest reason for not getting up early in the morning was I had gone to bed very late in the night previous day. I was busy for the whole day and hence, I spent more time late night completing my task. But, in spite of such busy schedule day in and day out, still my end result was not as I expected. Also, I did not know the value of this powerful empowering habit of early rising. I am sure the above reasons resonate in your day today life too!

Now, after years of developing this habit, I knew exactly why I was busy the whole day. The reason being I was not having the focussed sharp mind to see the clarity of the tasks that I was trying to execute. Because of this ambiguity, I ended up spending more time and sub optimal in my performance. I do not want to describe in detail the emotional commotion associated with the execution & the subsequent effect of my sleep pattern.

Solution: If you are in similar situation (as how I was few years before) then here is the solution. Solution is simple!! Getup early in the morning. This is one of the secret habits of the successful people such as Obama, Modi, Sachin and many others.

Distraction: We live in the information age. We are bombarded with billions of information from many different sources during the day. Most of the information acts as distraction and causing to stay unfocussed. The finest time to avoid distraction is the early morning time. Majority of people are still in the bed in sound sleep. So, you are already out from the man made noises such as the shout of your neighbour, honking of the car etc. Early morning sets the ambience that has minimum distraction than the rest of the daytime.

Universe influence: The universal energy has its own influence on you during the period of 4-6am in the morning. If you go for an early morning walking at 4AM then you will appreciate the effect of the cosmic energy that influences you. It is pure source of energy that keeps you centred the rest of the day.

ME time: You need to self-introspect yourself to see the journey & direction of your life. Every day, one needs to revive his own situation in certain predefined period of the day as his ME time. Morning time is an ideal ME time.

This simple habit, if it is inculcated in your daily life then you will see the change in the pattern of your own perception of yourself & the world around you.

Summary: The universal energy is at its peak in the earlier phase (4- 6AM) of the morning. You become part of this energy during this time. Develop a habit of getting up early in the morning without any external support to build the right kind of energy to start a day fresh. To create this habit, one may use the aided means such as setting up the alarm to get up at early. Once your biorhythm is set, you will get up automatically without any support.

“As an unaided early morning raiser, you setup a platform that stages the universal cosmic dance”