Page 30 - Free Yourself From

Taking Action for Knowing and Being Yourself 13

as a physician. Soon after she joined the company, she was promoted
to a leadership position. She quickly learned that she needed to rely
on others to make decisions and to work in a collaborative way. She
was responsible for managing a small team of individuals which
required her to be on top of their day to day performance, commu-
nications, and overall development. This was quite a contrast from
being in the operating room and going from one crisis to another.
To make this transition, her organization suggested she go
through our Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL) program
and work with one of our executive coaches. As a result of their
experiences and structured introspection process she was able to re-
frame the image she had of herself in terms of her career and her
inner belief system. Overtime she began to tap into other areas of her
potential and was promoted to a senior vice president of her organi-
zation. If you know yourself it is much easier to reframe your belief
system and develop your full potential.

Finding Meaning—It’s Connection to Self-Awareness

Taking the time and having the courage to examine and be honest
about your own experiences, strengths, weaknesses, and other intrin-
sic motivations is an essential ingredient for leaders to be successful
in reaching their fullest potential. It all starts with building self-
awareness and continually checking in to see how these evolve and
change. I see many leaders in the early parts of their career who are
trying to establish themselves, determine the best path to go, and
define what really excites them, motivates them, and brings them the
greatest satisfaction in their work. While these factors may drive suc-
cess for them for a while, they are unable to sustain that success.
They may realize that their career aspirations change or they are
changing as a person from a values and lifestyle perspective.