Self-awareness: understanding the links between self-esteem, trust and performance

09 March 2018

A Professionnal Development Workshop led by Valerie Asselot on 23rd January 2018

We focused on two main questions: How do the choices we make impact our style of leadership? And how does our behavior impact our professional relationships.

We started with brief introductions : all participants introduced themselves and explained their expectations, and thus finally the reason for his presence. This gave the latecomers time to arrive and allowed for their integration. 

This was our first behavioral experience: making sure that everyone was included despite varying arrival times.

This phase of inclusion was carried out in an authentic and benevolent climate, we were then able to get to the heart of the subject with a presentation of the Human Element ©, an approach developed in the United States by William Schutz, and its 3 basic principles: Self-awareness, Choice and Truth.

We plunged straight into the theme of choice through an experiential activity. I really appreciated the trust of the participants who played the game and were able to learn about themselves and more specifically about how they make their choices.

This exercise is a tool I often use so forgive me not totally revealing how it works, it could jeopardize its effect in a future workshop. 

At the beginning of the experiment, each participant had to make a choice in silence, and then move around the room without exchanging with the others. I then asked them to stop and do something specific. This order gave them the opportunity to act as per their initial choice. I noted that most of the participants made a spontaneous which was different to their initial choice.

We then debriefed: I first asked them to think about their initial choice, their eyes closed and without talking to the others, and to consider whether they had gone through with this initial choice and, if not, what had maybe prevented them from doing so. And we then discussed whether this attitude and way of functioning was a reflection of the choices they generally make in their lives.

Once back around the table, everyone was able to express themselves on what they had experienced, their blocking points, their reflexes, their strategies with others - and whether they had acted and act for the benefit or at the expense of their personal choices. The exchange was very rich: it was about pro-activity and passivity, determination and letting go, pace, exchanging looks and consideration for others.

I then presented William Schutz's choice spectrum on a scale of 0 to 4 that goes from level 0 : "I do not have the Choice" to level 4  : ”I choose everything in my Life" through level 2 "My choices are determined by my education, my environment and genetics". The participants then correlated what they had experienced to the corresponding level of Choice. And reflected on the the levels of Choice that they usually implement in a professional context.

We then made the link between Behaviors, Choice and Leadership. I briefly explained the different dimensions of Behavior as proposed by the Human Element model ©: Inclusion defined as social contact, Control corresponding to the impact on the relationship and the Opening embodied by the authenticity of the relationship. And since the Human Element Approach © is above all experiential, we left the room again for a larger space. Each participant had to find their rightful place as a Leader along an imaginary line… in silence and without sharing a position with another participant. The "game" lasted until everyone had found “their place". I challenged them on several occasions to ensure they were in the right place along the line. The exercise could have lasted even longer if I had asked everyone to move those who were not, in their opinion, in the right place.

It was then time to debrief on the reasons for their behaviour, on the choices they had made and on the link with their type of leadership. Several questions guided our reflection: 

  • What is my place?
  • What is my preferred behavioural strategy ?
  • Which strategy could I adopt to take the place I want in my job or in my company?

 

 I was struck by the difficulty for some of finding their “right place”. This difficulty was of course heightened by the fact that those present do not function as a team.

I also noted the energy of some and the “laissez-faire” attitude of others for the sake of consensus and harmony. We shared our learnings way beyond the time scheduled for the end of the event.  

  

Warm thanks to Agnieszka Jaros and Romaine JohnstonPWN Professionnal Development co-VP, for their organization and help during the evening and to the participants for their active participation and their interest in this workshop. 

Valerie Asselot, Executive Coach

valerie.asselot@plusensemble.com 

 

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