An essential path to becoming a better leader is the ability to develop self-awareness.

But what does it mean?

Most probably something different for everyone. That is in terms of what one needs to become aware of and how one can become aware of it.

A way to look at it can be to look at meaning. What is the meaning one attributes to other people’s behavior, to situations, and one’s own thoughts and emotions.

Another way may be to gain more insight into one’s values and how they contribute to one’s behavior, how one interacts with others, and what one expects of others.

Maybe it can also be developed by noticing what our ideal self is, how much of it is seen by others, and how one reacts to gaps one notices oneself in a variety of situations.

Meditation might also be a way to become accustomed to our reaction to thoughts, and emotions that emerge in reaction to events, relationships, or situations one finds oneself in.

Whatever the doorway to self-awareness one chooses, it seems that it is only through the different relationships we encounter that it can be explored. The one with oneself, with others, and with the situation one finds oneself in.

And while we have to reflect on events to develop our self-awareness, the reflection itself can only be triggered by events within a relationship. That is something or someone that helps us become aware of a difference or a similarity. This also means that it is an exploration that will never stop and that there is a process triggered by others or events one needs to become used to, hopefully, comfortable with, and even more so aware of.