Why Great Leadership Begins with Self Understanding - #412

All too often, we've seen that there can be a gap between leadership knowledge and leadership behavior in real time. Margaret Andrews, speaker, author, and educator, joins us to discuss how this gap can happen, and why great leadership begins with self-understanding. We talk about why closing the gap between intention and behavior is essential for building trust, increasing effectiveness, and continuing to grow as a leader. Margaret Andrews is a speaker, author, and educator. She has over 30 years of experience at the highest echelons of business and higher education. Margaret has taught on four continents and held multiple key leadership roles at Harvard and MIT. She is also the founder of The MYLO Center (“Managing Yourself and Leading Others”), a leadership education and professional development firm. Margaret is the author of the book “Manage Yourself to Lead Others: Why Great Leadership Begins with Self-Understanding." She also writes for many publications, including Fast Company, Leader to Leader, and Psychology Today. Margaret shares how her own experiences as a leader led her to write her book, and why it's important at this time in the world. She shares why the knowing-doing gap can be so persistent, even when we all know better. We discuss how even unpleasant feedback on your leadership can be a gift, and the courage it takes to listen and use it as a starting point for continuing development. Margaret brings her points to life through a story of a leadership "star" who was able to gain promotions once he gained self-understanding about managing himself to lead others. As a starting point, she shares 6 questions about managing yourself to lead others (a downloadable resource under Resources). We also discuss 3 immediately useful ideas for understanding who you are as a leader, who you want to be as a leader, and closing the gap between them. This week on Growth Igniters® Radio, we discuss: The personal experience that drove Margaret to write her book, and why it's important at this time in the world Why the "knowing-doing" gap can be so persistent, even when we all know better Why high performers can become leadership liabilities without self-management The gift behind unpleasant feedback and 6 management questions to ask (see Resources) Three immediately useful ideas for understanding who you are as a leader, who you want to be as a leader, and closing the gap between them.