Being Self-Aware and Motivated
The way in which you perform at work is influenced by many factors, not just your skills and knowledge. How you conduct yourself, the way you interact with others and your needs around rewards, all play a significant part in your overall effectiveness. Knowing and understanding these aspects of your personality can be highly beneficial to yourself and others.
Definitions
self-aware [adjective] having a good understanding of oneself; maintaining a balanced and honest view of your own personality, and an ability to interact with others frankly and confidently
motivated [adjective] 1. interested or enthusiastic; having enough interest or incentive to do something 2. having something, such as an emotion or belief as a motive
Me, myself and I
The way you behave, make decisions and communicate with others is driven by preferred styles, i.e. we all have favoured ways of doing things. Knowing what these are can give you a significant advantage in the pursuit of high performance. The purpose, however, of identifying your preferred styles, is to develop an awareness of the pros and cons of other ways of doing things in order to work more effectively with others and adapt your style to improve your overall effectiveness. For example, if you a very analytical person, who takes a logical approach to problem solving, you might find very creative environments quite challenging. Creative activities and creative people tend to be very unstructured and often look at concepts and ideas rather than tangible outputs.
Working outside your comfort zone can often impair your performance. So, by developing an understanding of the make-up of other personalities you are more likely to be able to accommodate others’ needs around the way they assimilate information and consider issues.
What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
We often wonder why we do certain things, especially when we’re not enjoying them. Motivation is built on the premise of satisfying needs. Therefore, if a certain action will result in us being able to satisfy a need we will do it. However, over a period of time our needs change and become more refined. Aspects of our job also become factors that affect our motivation, especially if they influence how important we feel and how far our efforts are valued and recognised.
Appreciating your needs, therefore, will not only help you understand yourself better but will help you make more informed career decisions. It can also help you balance your personal work ethic against the way others work – not everyone sees success as climbing the management ladder.
The indicators
A self-aware person …
knows their own strengths and weaknesses, and appreciates where their talents can be best utilised to deliver results.
is enthusiastic and positive. They take responsibility for their own motivation and can be inspirational to others.
understands that others have talents, and appreciates the benefits these bring. They delegate effectively to promote collaborative working, which helps others remain motivated and positive.
is able to adapt more easily to changes in their working environment. They understand the need to behave in different ways according to the situation, and are aware of the impact their behaviour/methods has on others.
A demotivated person ... is unclear about their goals and objectives. They are dismissive about others' input and feelings. They tend to need direction and supervision, and lack the ability to motivate themselves during more difficult times. They can be moody, which has a negative impact on those they work with. This, in turn, can lead to isolation.
Next steps …
So, where to start? The benefits to knowing yourself and your personal drivers far outweigh the time it takes to understand them. Use the resources in this section to diagnose:
your preferred learning, personality and management styles;
your motivators; and
how the way you do things impacts on other people.
The results will enable you to develop:
a focus on maximising your personal performance
a more achievements-based drive to your work
more mutually beneficial interpersonal relationships
your ability to add value under any circumstances
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