Noble leaders lead with a sense of vision and purpose in a
manner that inspires and elevates those who work with them. In particular, they
possess three key qualities which they keep in balance in order to allow them
to excel: awareness, connection, and skillfulness. In this post, we discuss awareness. Awareness
Awareness is the quality of seeing and knowing what is
happening at three levels. Noble leaders are aware first of themselves.
They are conscious of their own habits, emotions, skills and abilities, as well
as their own shortcomings. This self-awareness allows them to take advantage of
their strengths and locate and utilize resources that will compensate for their
weaknesses. When a weakness displays itself as a mistake in judgment, a burst
of uncontrolled emotion, or hubris, a leader’s developed self-awareness will
sound an alarm, allowing for the opportunity to self-correct or seek some form
of recovery or re-setting. Sometimes it results in regret and apology. This is
only made possible through the power of awareness, honesty, and humility.
A second level of awareness is that of others. This means, being
aware that there are other huma
n beings in one’s environment who, just like
them, have thoughts, feelings, desires, and needs. When a leader doesn’t pay
attention at some level to the humanity of those with whom she works, others
feel she doesn’t care and the commitment to the common mission is weakened. When
people feel treated like equipment rather than like thinking, feeling human
beings, no one feels “ennobled”, and thus, the leader cannot be considered
“noble.” Conversely, when a leader demonstrates that she is aware of what’s
happening among those around her, she becomes worthy of respect and admiration.
The humanity of simple awareness of another’s humanity is powerful.
Finally, noble leaders are aware of the world around them;
that is, the energetics of the
environment in which they operate. This ranges from knowing the current
mood of one’s office staff, to feeling the tension or elation of the whole
organization. It can also extend wider to include an awareness of society and
where it stands vis-à-vis the organization’s mission at any given time. Such
global awareness allows a leader to gain valuable perspective that can not only help guide the organization’s direction, but also see how the organization
can make contributions that are not only needed but welcomed.
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