Conviction For Achieving Self-Awareness As A Leader

Being self-aware is going to help you in all areas of your life when it comes to leadership.

In our previous blogs, we talked about the first 2 parts that make up the self-aware leader: clarity and confidence. The third essential part that makes up the self-aware leader is conviction.

Leaders are often responsible for implementing change, guiding the team, generating enthusiasm within the team, solving a problem, or seizing an opportunity. All of these actions require one important trait: conviction.

Can a person be a leader without conviction? It is possible, but they can’t be a great leader who motivates and inspires others to change and improve. Let’s delve in to the 3rd pillar of a self-aware leader - CONVICTION.

Conviction means showing actual passion about your beliefs and values

Conviction sparks passion, which is a great energizer for the whole team, because passion and energy are infectious to those around you.

It is showing actual passion about your beliefs and your values while demonstrating consistent behavior. Leaders with conviction have an unwavering belief in their ability to control things that they can and can analyze facts for what they are.

But if conviction in a leader is so valuable, why is it an increasingly rare trait?

Not being able to show conviction as a leader stems from not being clear with your leadership brand and not having the confidence in what we know and finding out what we don’t know. This all stems from the first two pillars we talked about in our previous posts: Clarity and Confidence.

Lighthouse leadership

In 2020, there were a lot of challenges that businesses faced and leaders that did not have a steady hand were not able to guide their team to safety. Good leaders provide a guiding light and are able to withstand the storm and provide direction for their team.

As human beings, we are wired to overreact to uncertainty. As the uncertainty increases, this triggers the fight, flight, or freeze mode. This is the place where anxiety and panic kick in. When it comes to leaders with conviction, being able to know where you’re going stems from your clarity and going after it comes from your confidence.

As a leader, you’re not always going to assure certainty but you must be able to lead with certainty.

What happens when you practice that conviction muscle?

Uncertainty takes up a lot of our mental energy. So having conviction makes us more effective in our job as a leader. When we make fast and rapid decisions that are aligned with our values, we are able to practice that conviction muscle and produce better results.

When leaders have conviction, they are strong without being harsh. To be a more influential leader, practice your conviction muscle by starting with small decisions first, then working up to the bigger ones.

Here’s a great tool to assess how you show up as a leader to develop your self-awareness even further: 16 Personalities.

If you're wondering which area of leadership you need to focus on next.

You can Download our FREE Courageous Leadership Audit HERE.