The Importance of Self-Assessment
We all have some level of self-knowledge. We know what we do and don’t like, we know who we do and don’t like and why. We know where we like to hang out. We may even have some knowledge of our skills, talents, attributes, and even how we like to use them for and in our life’s work. But is that knowledge enough? Does it go deep enough for us to be successful in business, career, and life?
Self-Assessment for Business
Self-assessment is a business tool for individuals, teams, and organizations. Further, it is the foundation for strategic thinking, leadership, and emotional quotient (EQ). What business team doesn’t want an organization staffed with strategic thinkers, excellent leaders, and people who are motivated, and possess self, and social regulation?
The importance of self-assessment is that it helps us uncover our own blind spots. Revealing blind spots leads to better critical thinking, an intellectual curiosity, clearer insight/openness, and a conscious awareness that blind spots do not allow us to see. In business, ignorance is not bliss.
Business acumen is an essential ingredient for success in any business endeavor. Business acumen is, of course, knowledge of the business or business knowledge in general. It entails problem solving, decision making, discernment and the ability to focus on priorities. Having good discernment allows you the insight to understand what projects need to be priorities. If you fail to assess your level of ability on the above competencies, how will you know where your blind spots are or what talents you need to supplement when putting together your executive team or advisory board?
Futuristic thinking is the ability to create the new and different and the ability to spot trends. Of course, all of this has to do with your ability to manage change, deal with ambiguity, innovation management, and perspective taking. These allow you to lead your company through environmental changes, market disruptions, financial frenzies, customer demands, and all the other activities that help keep business interesting, challenging, and exciting. Self-assessment is an important business tool.
Self-Assessment for Career
We spend more time at our jobs than at home. Well, maybe not so much today. Perhaps it is even appropriate to say that our jobs have invaded our home space through our virtual world. The point is, that this is a lot of time to be unhappy if your life’s work is not something you love. Therefore, it is important for you to find the work, job, and tasks that best fit your skills, talents, and attributes.
While you don’t necessarily have the position, you crave when you first begin your career, it is important to be in the right industry performing the type of work that is fulfilling for your needs. If you are a person with motivation, you will want to build your career. There are two pieces of information that are helpful to understand about motivation. You need to know:
- What motivates you. Examples are:
- Utilizing past experiences and intuition
- Opportunities for leaning
- Completing tasks with no expectation of compensation
- Desiring a return for whatever investment you make
- A drive for functionality
- A balance in your surroundings
- Collaboration
- Being in charge
- New ideas, methods, and opportunities
- Defined systems and traditional approaches
- Are you motivated? If you don’t have the drive for being an entrepreneur or handling heavy responsibilities, you need to know that ahead of jumping into a job or career that eats you alive. Not only that, but do you have the motivation to climb that ladder? Are you willing to put in the hours of learning, growing, networking, helping groom others, and so on that not only helps you move up, but that brings others with you or at least helps create opportunities for them?
Keep in mind that EQ plays a large role in your success. While you may have the self-knowledge about a blind spot, have you cultivated the self-regulation to improve that blind spot? If you constantly interrupt people in a meeting, that illustrates that you neither have the social recognition of that blind spot, nor the self-regulation to stop doing it. Constantly interrupting others may label you as a know-it-all, bully, or rude and uncaring. None of those are career builders. Self-assessment is a career building tool.
Self-Assessment for Life
Certainly, business and career are both large components of life. Uncovering, monitoring, and changing blind spots are also a necessary part of all other parts of life such as building relationships, finding the right mate, growing a family, and serving your community. The same principles apply, you must be able to apply all the above to life as well. For example, you need to make good decisions, understand what is and isn’t a priority. Life is a series of changes and if you are unable to deal with change or be resilient about change, life can be a struggle particularly at certain points in life like when your children leave home, or in the event of death or divorce. Even happy events can be traumatic if you are unprepared. Self-assessment is important in achieving the life of your dreams.
For more information about self-assessment and the tools to help you call me at 404-320-7834, or visit www.performstrat.com, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Let's get started