WHAT SELF‐UNDERSTANDING IS AND WHY IT’S ESSENTIAL FOR LEADERS

Abstract The author teaches a popular graduate‐level class at Harvard University, Managing Yourself and Leading Others , and a two‐day executive program with the same name. She writes of the importance and longstanding tradition of self‐awareness, and the ancient phrase “know thyself.” She relates its relevance to leadership, and how it can lead to a meaningful, successful life. It thus becomes a form of kindness, to ourselves and ultimately others. She poses and describes six questions for self‐understanding: (1) Who, and whose thinking, has shaped you as an individual? (2) What situations and events have helped shape your perspective? (3) What does success look like for you? (4) What are your core values and how have these values changed throughout your life? (5) To what extent are you aware of—and do you feel—your emotions? (6) What feedback have you received over the years about how your actions and behaviors impact others? “The best way for each of us to lead,” she writes, “is from our clarity about who we are and what we want to do with our time on Earth.”