{"id":13737,"date":"2014-03-18T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=13737"},"modified":"2014-03-17T01:22:04","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T06:22:04","slug":"soft-skills-success-self-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=13737","title":{"rendered":"Soft Skills = Success: Self Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Julie Watson, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Pennsylvania<\/i><\/a><\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n

Soft Skills = Success<\/span>: Self-Awareness<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>This is the second in a series of articles on soft skills.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"julie_watson\"<\/a>Employers are looking for soft skills in their in prospective employees and having these skills often makes the difference between who can do a job and who gets a job. Since soft skills are usually not taught in the classroom, we all must work to develop them on our own. Self-awareness (you may recall from part one<\/a> of this series) is the foundation of all the soft skills and the perfect place to begin. By developing self-awareness, you will be able to effectively guide your own behaviors and take control of your life.<\/p>\n

Self-awareness is knowing and accepting the various aspects of yourself, including your strengths and weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivations, and emotions. Author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 <\/i>Travis Bradberry says that \u201cself-awareness is not about discovering deep, dark secrets or unconscious motivations, but, rather, it comes from developing a straightforward and honest understanding of what makes you tick. People high in self-awareness are remarkably clear in their understanding of what they do well, what motivates and satisfies them, and which people and situations push their buttons.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations developed a framework for understanding self-awareness<\/a>. They break it down into three competencies: emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence. [2]<\/a> You should work on these one at a time, and in order.<\/p>\n

Emotional awareness<\/b> is the ability to recognize your emotions and their effects. Sometimes you really don\u2019t realize when you are stressed, anxious, or even happy. In order to know how you\u2019re feeling, practice being present. Being present is stopping to ask yourself in the moment<\/i>:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2714 How am I feeling right now? Am I happy, sad, angry, stressed, frustrated, relaxed, excited, anxious…? (Remember that feelings are complex, so you might feel more than one emotion simultaneously: loving AND irritated…joyful AND worried. )<\/p>\n

\u2714 Why I am I feeling this way? Did something or someone trigger me?<\/p>\n

\u2714 How is my current emotional state affecting how I am thinking and\/or what I am saying and doing? Is my irritation making me critical of my co-workers? Is my happiness making me want to help others? Is my nervousness making me think of all the things that could go wrong?<\/p>\n

\u2714 How is this emotional state affecting my performance? Do I forget tasks when I am stressed? Am I more productive when I am relaxed?<\/p>\n

\u2714 How do my feelings affect my ability to live according to my values and achieve my goals? (This is a tough question!)<\/p>\n

Self-assessment<\/b> is the ability to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and limits. In order to evaluate yourself, you must be open to candid feedback and continuous learning and self-development. You should be open to new perspectives. Self-assessment can happen in the moment (you can think, \u201cHey, I\u2019m good at this!\u201d or, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve reached my limit of that!), but it\u2019s best done when you set aside a time and place for self-reflection<\/a>. While reflecting is often a solitary exercise, the more extroverted among us often gain insight when talking to a friend or mentor. Many times those close to us know us better than ourselves and asking them for insights can be quite illuminating. Both styles of reflection are equally useful and everyone should practice both. The payoff is perspective and ability to laugh at yourself, which is quite liberating!<\/p>\n

Self-confidence<\/b> is a by-product of emotional awareness and accurate self-reflection. Many people project a false confidence that enables them to get certain things done, but this has its limits. True self-confidence reveals itself as sureness of self-worth and capabilities. Self-confident people have the power to try new things, accept challenges, and voice unpopular\/unique views. They are decisive despite uncertainties and pressures. Self-confidence comes naturally when you are aware of the impact of your emotional\u00a0 landscape and own your strengths and weaknesses. For example, confidence allows you to say, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m not an expert in that, perhaps you should ask someone else\u2019s advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully you can see how even within the foundation of self-awareness, the three competencies build on each other. Once you have this solid foundation, it will be easy to master the rest of the soft skills<\/a>. In the next post I\u2019ll discuss how you can demonstrate your soft skills in your resume and cover letter. In the meantime, check out these great resources on self-awareness:<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Dr. Susan Albers. \u201cEmotional Intelligence 2.0<\/i>: Learning the Art of Self-Awareness.\u201d Accessed 11 March 2013. http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/dr-susan-albers\/emotional-intelligence_b_1377591.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[2]<\/a> The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. \u201cEmotional Competence Framework.\u201d Accessed 11 March 2013. http:\/\/www.eiconsortium.org\/reports\/emotional_competence_framework.html<\/a><\/p>\n

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Developing Emotional Awareness<\/a> \u2013 Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., Melinda Smith, M.A., and Lawrence Robinson<\/p>\n

Self-awareness<\/a>, Emotional awareness<\/a>, Self-Assessment<\/a>, and Personal Power<\/a> (self-confidence) \u2013 Susan Carstens, certified professional coach<\/p>\n

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formerly published on 3\/21\/13<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Julie Watson, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Pennsylvania Soft Skills = Success: Self-Awareness \u00a0This is the second in a series of articles on soft skills. Employers are looking for soft skills in their in prospective employees and having these skills often makes the difference between who can do a job and who gets a job. Since…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[233,3592,3654,218,3845,3846],"class_list":["post-13737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-articles-2","tag-blog","tag-inalj-pennsylvania","tag-julie-watson","tag-soft-skills","tag-soft-skills-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/julie_watson.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-3zz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}