Page 21 - IEC Insights Jul-Aug19

o you believe that the personal
and professional aspects of
your life are separate and
distinct from each other? I had
Dthis belief for many years. I
chose to focus my time and energy into
improving my knowledge and technical
skills. I thought that this was my ticket
to career success. Even though my
competency in performing my job was
improving, I was failing in every other area.
Specific problems that were sabotaging
my success included the following:

> A lack of knowledge about my innate
characteristics caused me to invest
significant time doing work that wasn’t
a match for me. I was frustrated because
the job duties didn’t align with my core
nature. My work quality and enjoyment
were low, and customers and coworkers
received subpar results from me.
> When other people gave me constructive
criticism, I would defend my position,
insisting that they were wrong. This
harmed my ability to learn and improve.
Constructive criticism is a crucial element
for improvement. My defensiveness
stifled my growth and discouraged
others from making an effort to help me.
> My lack of self-awareness kept me

stuck in destructive habits and my
lack of awareness related to other
people caused me to say and do
things that alienated them. By living in
unawareness and denial of ineffective
patterns of thought and behavior,
my development was halted.

> I allowed my ego and emotions to drive
my behavior and often regretted the
resulting consequences. When strong
emotions intervened, they took control
of my actions. I found that acting
out of anger, pride, jealousy, and fear
consistently led to poor results at work
and fractured relationships everywhere.
From these experiences, I learned a
valuable lesson. The same lesson backed
up by the experiences of other people
and research. The most effective way
to become better leaders is to focus on
our personal development. Efforts that
lead to personal development enhance

www.ieci.org | July/August 2019 | Insights Magazine 19