Self-Awareness Is an Accelerator - If You Understand it and Act on It

Lesson 1 of 10: Reflections from a decade of executive coaching by Arlene Pace Green, Ph.D., A.C.C.

Increasing self-awareness is one of the most important skills a leader can develop. Self-aware leaders are more confident, more creative, make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, communicate more effectively, advance faster, and drive greater business growth (Eurich, 2018).

The catch? Most of us think we are more self-aware than we really are. While the vast majority of people believe they are self-aware, only 10–15% actually meet the criteria. That gap may exist because we misunderstand what self-awareness really is and how it shows up in our leadership (Eurich, 2018).

What is Self-Awareness?

There are two types of self-awareness: Internal and External. Internal self-awareness is how well we know our own motives, thoughts, desires, and values. External self-awareness is how well we understand the impact we have on others. And importantly, we can have one without the other (Eurich, 2018).

A leader can be deeply introspective and clear on their own goals, desires, and values, while remaining largely unaware of the impact their leadership has on the people around them. As it turns out, the more senior and experienced we are, the less externally self-aware we are likely to be. Two factors seem to be at play. First, as we gain experience and seniority, we tend to overestimate the value we add to those around us. Second, as we move to higher levels, that seniority can create a bubble as others become less likely to give us candid and direct feedback. Both can be overcome, but it takes humility and a deliberate effort to build a feedback-rich environments around us. 

What Do I Do With Self-Awareness Once I Have It?

A couple of months into a coaching engagement, a client shared that, "This is the most clarity I've ever had about how I show up."  It is a moment we have seen many times. The 360 feedback, the personality assessments, the stakeholder interviews — they create a mirror that leaders rarely get to look into. The clarity is real and it’s a gift.

But what happens next determines whether that clarity becomes a career and business accelerator or just another insight lost in the day-to-day whirlwind of organizational life. 

The leaders who translate insight into growth are the ones who make a small number of clear, specific behavioral commitments, share them transparently with the people around them, and follow through consistently enough that the change becomes visible. That visibility matters. Gradual, consistent change is perceived as more genuine and trustworthy than rapid shifts. It’s also easier to sustain. As a result, leaders who pace their growth thoughtfully are also the ones whose teams are most likely to see it as genuine and authentic (Stern & Flynn, 2025).

In his article "Leadership is a Contact Sport," Marshall Goldsmith tracked over 86,000 respondents and found that leaders who followed up consistently with colleagues after receiving feedback were rated as significantly more improved than those who did not. Perhaps most striking was the finding that the act of following up itself, independent of any other change, was the primary driver of that improvement. Visibility and consistency matter as much as the insight that prompted the change (Goldsmith & Morgan, 2004).

Self-awareness and disciplined follow-through are a powerful combination, but they do not happen by accident. The leaders who grow most consistently are the ones who treat awareness as a starting point, build accountability into their development, and stay visible in their commitment to change. The insight is the gift. What you do with it is the differentiator.

An Action For leaders: Ask your team for feedback on a consistent and regular basis. Take one piece of feedback you have heard more than once and identify one specific behavior you will do differently over the next 30 days, revisiting it at the end of each day. Share it with people you trust so there is accountability and awareness in the open. Focus on small, consistent, and visible behavior changes.

An Action For HR & Talent leaders: Make sure your assessments and development programs build both internal and external self-awareness, and ensure they continue well beyond the point of insight delivery. Build in clear expectations for what comes next: ownership, action planning, and structured follow-through. Applied, measurable change should be the desired and tracked outcome.

Ready to turn awareness into measurable growth? Schedule a complimentary discovery call at enelratalent.com/contact-us or reach out at letsgo@enelratalent.com.

References

Eurich, T. (2018). What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review.hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it

Goldsmith, M., & Morgan, H. (2004). Leadership is a contact sport: The follow-up factor in management development. Strategy+Business, 36, 71–79.

Stern, D., & Flynn, F. J. (2025). Employees want their bosses to respond to feedback — but not too quickly. Stanford Report. news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/08/employees-employers-leadership-feedback-authenticity-research

About the Author

Arlene Pace Green, Ph.D. is the CEO and Founder of Enelra Talent Solutions, LLC, an executive coaching firm celebrating its 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, Enelra has coached hundreds of leaders across industries, helping them grow with intention, lead with clarity, and build careers and organizations they are proud of. Arlene is also the host of the Work Well, Live Well podcast.