Self-awareness: Why it matters, and how to tell who’s got it

Some people are in close touch with their emotions, abilities and limitations. We call them self-aware. Others aren’t.

Does it matter to you whether your people have self-awareness?

It should. People who can assess their own strengths and weaknesses objectively are better able to identify and maximize your organization’s strengths.

Detecting it
So how can you tell if somebody is self-aware? Emotional intelligence guru Daniel Goleman supplies these clues:

• Ask job applicants to describe a time they got carried away by their feelings and later regretted it. Self-aware people will do so frankly, sometimes with a wry smile.
• In performance reviews, watch whether employees are comfortable discussing their limitations, as well as their strengths. People with low self-awareness will often shy away from talking about the former.