Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

Barriers to Self-Awareness

Unfortunately, lack of self-awareness may be an occupational hazard of managerial work. Long work hours and the fast pace of work make it difficult for managers to take time out for thoughtful self-reflection. Managers routinely face the pressures of tight deadlines, workflow interruptions, unexpected crises, and the threat of being “dejobbed” in an era of downsizing, mergers, and acquisitions. Although the ability to learn new ways of seeing, thinking, and behaving are most valuable during stressful periods, most managers' “ability to learn shuts down precisely at the moment they need it most.”^[5] Indeed, during times of stress, most people fall back on their habitual ways of thinking and acting, even though these ...