Complex thinking
Imagine yourself driving a car. A warning signal lights up on the dashboard saying, "cold temperature, roads might be slippery." It's also quite foggy, so your sight is limited. So you turn on the fog lights, adjust your speed, and drive carefully.
You would not drive in cruise control mode in these conditions. At least, I hope not!
Modern-day cars have many measurement systems built in. Several gauges on our dashboards give us the information we need. We're constantly aware of the vehicle's state and the weather, so that we can adjust our driving style to that.
What if we had this level of awareness of ourselves?
Instead of reacting to situations automatically (cruise control), we would be fully aware of our automatic thinking preferences. Instead of accepting situations as they're presented, we would understand what these situations mean to us. Instead of "knowing" who we are and how we react, we would be open-minded and constantly explore different ways of responding to situations.
Awareness levels
Having a high level of awareness means you're complex in your thinking. Meaning you have a wide range of thinking patterns that you can choose from, depending on what a situation needs.
The illustration below shows the difference between the levels of awareness of two different people. Person 5 has a lower level of awareness than person 7. You can see that person 7 has many more optional thinking patterns to choose from.
Examples of thinking patterns are:
Thinking globally versus thinking in details
Task-oriented thinking versus relationship-oriented thinking
Being focused on yourself versus being focused on others
Let's return to the car lights. In case of heavy fog, you turn on the fog lights. It is because you know about the existence of fog lights and how to switch them on. Plus, you're aware of the weather, so you turn on these lights in order to minimize risk.
When we compare the example above to the thinking patterns of a manager, we can agree that it's essential for a leader to have a thinking preference for thinking globally. They should see the big picture to lead the team in a specific direction. When this same manager has to check a client contract, thinking globally would be risky, and they would therefore need to choose to think in detail.
The more options in thinking patterns you have, the more choices you have to react to situations, so the more control you have over what's happening in your life.
Measuring awareness
There are several ways to build more self-awareness. In last week's Leadership Guide, I shared four of them; journalling, asking others how they experience you, asking for feedback at work, and mindfulness.
And, of course, hiring a coach is very effective.
The most effective way, however, is to have your thinking preferences measured. This can be done via personal assessments together with a coach. I apply such assessments myself at the start of a long-term coaching trajectory. It gives clients insight into their thinking patterns and how they see the world. At the same time, it clarifies the possibilities of how we can think.
This clarity enables my clients to reconstruct their thinking and build more awareness. And as a result of that, they have more options to choose from in how to react to a situation. It makes all the difference to recognize an automatic tendency that isn't effective and having the ability to transform that into an effective reaction just by choosing to do so.
Do you want to build more awareness which enables you to take more control in work and life? Let’s talk!