Build self-awareness and social awareness

- How can we expect our workplaces to transform if we don't transform ourselves? Change begins with me and it begins with you, us as individuals. This is why I'd like to offer some perspective on actions we can take toward personal transformation that is investing our own development, integrating our new knowledge, and improving ourselves for the better. Personal transformation is where we are most empowered and what's most accessible to us. We begin with the growth mindset, one that's open to learning and therefore change. Without that, we might derail the hard work that goes into transforming ourselves. Warner Burke from Columbia University describes it as what we do when we don't know what to do. He and David Hoff, his co-author, identified these nine dimensions of learning agility that can be practiced and demonstrated in behavior. Take a pause here and review each dimension for yourself. How might you practice learning agility? Where are you stronger and where do you need more development, especially as it relates to driving DEIB? Next, let's focus on developing our emotional intelligence, also referred to as EQ. According to the book, "Emotional Intelligence 2.0", it's our ability to recognize and understand emotions in ourselves and others and use this awareness to manage our behavior and relationships. Now, there are four key skills to develop EQ, self-awareness, social awareness, self, and relationship management. We'll cover the management skills in the next video, but let's talk about awareness first. Self-awareness refers to the degree you know and understand yourself and your emotions accurately at any given moment. What are your needs and motivations, identities, values, strengths and challenges. What are your triggers and tendencies in various situations? What energy do you have to give to others and to be resilient? Examine your experiences and assumptions. How have they shaped your perspective? If you need a starting point or more data, look into assessments. I've shared some of my favorites in the resource list. As a thought exercise, think of someone you believe to be self-aware. What makes you think that they are? What can you do to demonstrate your self-awareness? Low self-awareness has been the source of many interpersonal conflicts, compromising DEIB. Working on our own self-awareness is a commitment to preventing unnecessary conflicts and the anxiety that comes with them. Let's move on to social awareness, in particular, empathy. Teresa Wiseman, a scholar in the field of nursing, defines empathy as the ability to see the world as others see it, to be non-judgmental, to understand another's feelings, and to communicate that understanding. All four conditions, actions we can all take, must be met to have empathy. It's not enough to know how others might be doing. We have to show it. So why is this important when it comes to DEIB? We need empathy to create psychological safety and trust, leaving room for people to be authentic, to learn, and to change. None of these will happen unless a sense of safety is greater than threat. We must create that for ourselves and for others to sustain progress. Before we move on, take a moment to write what stood out to you here, your own reflections, and what you'll do to cultivate your self-awareness and social awareness.