Know Yourself to Lead Yourself: The Power of Self-Awareness in Business and Leadership | e87

Know Yourself to Lead Yourself 


Jason Kempf: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the leading a serving podcast. My name is Jason. I am stepping in for my cohost Chris. Today. I'm running solo once again. And we're going to take a look at one of our previous episodes in the archives. That both Chris and I have had some shifts in our lives professionally over the last couple of months, it's been a time for us to really be introspective. And we've both made some significant changes that have shifted our day to day and our goals and our strategies. And so as we do that, 
 How do we know? 
 The direction we need to be heading. And all of that falls back to, we have to return to our base understanding of who we are. And so that's what we're going to look at today. Is looking at a tool from my coaching experiences [00:01:00] called know yourself to lead yourself of understanding our own tendencies of where we're going, where we're headed and things like that. And over the next couple of episodes, we're going to look at what does it look like when we deal with the curve balls of business of life? 
 How do we deal with those curve balls and how do we readjust and how do we reframe. And what that does is it brings us back to our why our purpose. And so to understand our, why understand our purpose, understand what we're doing in business each and every day. We've got to learn about ourselves. So we're going to backtrack a little bit and we're going to pull back, reflect and look at ourselves. Look at our tendencies, look at who we are so that when the curve balls of life hit, we can adjust. We can know what steps to take. So I hope you'll tune in, to these next couple of weeks. 
 Great formative thoughts in how we deal with our business and our leadership. 
 So here we go. We're going to jump on over to the know yourself to lead yourself tool. And we'll see you in just a moment. ​ 
 [00:02:00] 
 Chris Wood: I always appreciate coming back around to talk about these again, because it's always a great time to just do a quick reflection. Um, maybe you've already done this, maybe. Absolutely. And, and maybe you need to revisit it 
 Jason Kempf: again. Right. And really this is the type of leadership tool that we should keep in front of ourselves. 
 Mm-hmm. Um, weekly, if not daily. I mean, huh. Thinking about, um, you know, thinking about this, this trend in our lives. That Right. Um, go ahead and throw it out there. That, that. Who we are. And so knowing ourselves, right? Is that we've got, we've got underlying tendencies, right? That when something happens, we have a tendency to respond, react. 
 Mm-hmm. Or, you know, move in a certain way. Right. Because of that just deep seated tendency. It's, it's how we're wired, it's how we're made, and, and those things probably aren't gonna change. 
 Chris Wood: It's funny we're having this conversation too, because I had a breakfast meeting this morning with somebody who's a leader and mm-hmm. 
 I said, have you taken the five voices? And he said no. And I said, you totally [00:03:00] need to do that. And I'll tell you why. Because you need to know from where you operate from. Yeah. You need to know what is putting energy towards your, in your bucket and what's taking energy outta your bucket. Yeah. And if you don't, it's harder to deal with everything else. 
 Absolutely. And so it comes back to that five voices again. Take the test. Mm-hmm. It's, it's a 10, 15 minute thing. Yep. And it is a great. We time, you know, it's a great mm-hmm. Information Yeah. And 
 Jason Kempf: wisdom to, and there's always a link in the show notes, so, right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 
 Chris Wood: So, and I encouraged him to do the same thing, so. 
 Absolutely. 
 Jason Kempf: Absolutely. Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, I mean, knowing yourself, knowing those, those underlying tendencies, um, helps us understand, like you were saying, what. What puts energy in the bucket? What takes energy out? Right. You know, what, what fuels us? Cuz you know, there are certainly some things in life that I just absolutely love doing. 
 I could, you know, some of 'em I could do in my sleep and I just want to, you know, when I do those things, I don't feel [00:04:00] like it's work. Right. Right. You know, but then there's plenty of other things that feels a lot like work. Very pumping. Yeah. And, and it just, you know, it takes energy to do those things and Right. 
 Um, and so, You know, that's about our, our output in life. Mm-hmm. But, you know, when we look at ourselves, there's a lot of, um, we kind of create a reality around ourselves. Mm-hmm. You know, of, uh, you know, asking the question, what's it like to be on the opposite side of the table from Jason Kemp? Right. You know, what's it like being on the opposite side of. 
 Of Chris Wood. Right. You know, and you know, and like every good, you know, if you're, if you're getting ready to go out on a, you know, a date or you know, you're heading out for, you know, going to somebody's wedding or something like that, and you're all danced, dressed up, and, um, you spend two hours at a wedding and realize you've had. 
 You know, pepper in your teeth, right? You want somebody to point that out and say, right. Yay, stop. You know? Right. You know? Right. So it, you know this, knowing [00:05:00] yourself to lead yourself is, is looking in the mirror at yourself. Right. You know, where, where do I have pepper in my teeth? Where do I, um, you know, what's it like sitting on the opposite side of the table? 
 Right. When you sit down with a one-on-one with your, you know, with your team, with an employee or you're, uh, you know, fixing a customer service issue in your business. Right. You know, what's it like being on the opposite side of you? Right. Because we all have these, these deep-seated tendencies and they're probably not gonna change. 
 Mm-hmm. Right? But those tendencies. Cause us to act in a certain way, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, um, because we act in a certain way, that action has a consequence. Mm-hmm. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Right? Right. Good consequences are fine. Right. Um, we don't, we 
 Chris Wood: don't really talk about it when it's a good consequence, but Right. 
 This is so true. Like, it's either, it's either positive it's or negative. It's 
 Jason Kempf: one of the two. And so, That creates a reality around you. Mm-hmm. Totally. This is what it's like to do business with Chris Wood because, um, I've, I've seen his [00:06:00] actions that create a positive or negative Right. Consequence that leads to a reality. 
 And either I want to be a part of that or I, I, I wanna stay away from it. Right. Right. And so, Understanding how our tendencies lead to that reality. Right. And where we can break that cycle. Mm-hmm. Is that, you know, maybe we have an tendency that when, um, I'm trying to think of, we should have thought of examples before we hit record, but here we are. 
 Yeah. 
 Chris Wood: Well, I'm sure I can come up with something like this, 
 Jason Kempf: you know, um, this is so real. You know, say somebody who grew up, um, Uh, in a very low income, almost, you know, poverty level type. Mm-hmm. Um, that any type of, you know, if they're in a financial industry or they, they need, they depend on cash flow for the business. 
 If anything negative happens financially mm-hmm. You know, the market crashes. Right. Or there's some unrest or something that can create a. A action or response where, man, we tighten the screws. Right. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna put a halt on spending and mm-hmm. You [00:07:00] know? Yeah. Whatever that might be, that creates positive or negative consequences in your business. 
 Right, right. Yeah. Um, you know, your money guy is probably going like, oh, yeah, yeah. Good, good, good on you. I mean, thanks for Right. Thanks for slowing it down cuz our cash flows. Drying up a little bit. Right? Yeah. You know, it'll, it'll recover, but, you know, we gotta be careful. Right. Um, but the person who needs to spend might be going, oh my goodness, you can never get anything done around here. 
 Right. So you might even be creating positive and negatives Yes. Around your tendencies. Mm-hmm. And that creates a reality of what, what it's like to work with you. Mm-hmm. And so where we can break that is from that tendency to the action that. That comes out of us. Yeah, just that, um, that we create patterns over time. 
 When the, when the stock market dips, I get stressed and I tend to make these decisions. Mm-hmm. Okay. Next time the stock market dips, I'm gonna feel that stress, but I'm gonna make decisions in advance. That if this is what happens, here's how I'm [00:08:00] gonna respond. Here's how I'm gonna act in this. Right. My gut says to do this, but I know the best thing is to do this. 
 Right. And so we have to change those patterns of action in our lives that we're not gonna be able to change the tendency. Mm-hmm. Stock market dipping's always gonna make you stressful. Right? But we can choose to. Okay. I'm not gonna tighten the screws a hundred percent. Right. Uh, we're just gonna go to 50%. 
 Chris Wood: Well, and at some level, like to your point, right, knowing yourself, you need to recognize whether this is an emotional relax reaction or a truly a reaction that knowing with the information that's come down the pipe. So if yes, if your cash flow is. Getting cut back, then, yes, you need to make different choices to try to help adjust that. 
 But if it's just emotional from your past, that's a different conversation. Mm-hmm. These things are indicative of your past. I get it. But they're also not indicative of your future because you're in a different point now. Right. And many business owners, if they don't know their self well, They can't manage themselves well and therefore [00:09:00] those stresses come out in their business. 
 Right, right. So, right. Um, I mean, I've been there, done that and been like, everything you just said, I was like, oh my gosh, this is like hidden spot on. Right. Like, so at some level we've all gone through some different levels and different financial crunches at different points. A fewer a business owner and haven't gone through a financial crunch. 
 Then I, I'd be a little shocked cuz there's many people who have gone through that. That growth curve. Right. And recognizing that there's consequences with their actions. And sometimes they're personal, sometimes they're business related. Mm-hmm. Sometimes, you know, just depends on what it is. So. Right. 
 Knowing your consequences, knowing your tendencies, knowing where you're operating from mm-hmm. Is huge. 
 Jason Kempf: Right. Right. I mean, I, I like doing a lot of creative work. Mm-hmm. Um, I've dabbled in graphic design and things like that. Right. Um, but I'm also a. Deadlines help me. Okay. Um, it's, so I guess I'm just trying to say it nicely that I procrastinate. 
 Right. [00:10:00] Um, but you know, I, you know, if I've got two weeks to do a design right, I'll mull on it for two weeks. Right. But I may not your head. Yeah. I may not put pen to paper or mouse to pen screen or whatever it is, you know. Yes. Until, Kind of right at the deadline. Mm-hmm. You know, and I do really good work under pressure mm-hmm. 
 When it's spread out and I'm like, oh, I've got two weeks to do this. I'll work on it for an hour here, and now we're there. Right. I, I think I, my quality doesn't, is, isn't as good sometimes. Hmm. Um, that I need that pressure. It sharpens my focus and I get you get it done. I get more done faster probably, you know? 
 Yeah. And so, That is my tendency. Okay. And I know I've got coworkers mm-hmm. Who like seeing that rough draft Yep. A week in advance. Right. Getting the feedback on it then, you know, rather than, um, Hey, this has to be out by five o'clock, right at 10. Could you take a look at this? Well, I'm like, 10:00 AM That's a great time for a rough draft. 
 That's still good. I've still got seven hours. [00:11:00] I can, I can work on the feedback. Um, You know, that's, um, you know, it's important for the team around me Right. To see that draft earlier. Right. You know, and so I want to create the reality around myself, that man Jason does some good creative work. Mm-hmm. And it's high quality and he listens to our feedback, we incorporate. 
 Right. This is, you know, you know, I want to create that, but if I procrastinate, you know, I've, I have waited until a deadline, right. And forgotten that a couple of teammates were out for the weekend or Oh no. You know, so I'm sitting there on a Friday going, ah, I hope this is what everybody wants. Right. You know, cuz I waited, you know, and so how do I affect the patterns of my actions through that? 
 Um, and so, you know, I'm, I'm learning on how to create, um, foe deadlines, I guess. Right. You know, 
 Chris Wood: just, just try to give use. Yourself, your own pressure. 
 Jason Kempf: Yeah. And how do I, how do I create accountability around that so that, um, the teammate that really likes seeing that rough draft, right. He's holding me accountable going, Hey, hey, we were [00:12:00] gonna look at that today. 
 Do you have that ready for the meeting this afternoon? Mm-hmm. Oh yeah, I do have a deadline. Here we go. Right. And I can, you know, I can give myself permission and space to mm-hmm. You know, so we've got things that affect our decisions or, you know, it's not just our, our how we're wired. Yeah. At the root level it's how we were brought up, the environments we were part of. 
 Right. And it's the choices we made along the way. Correct. Correct. You know, some things are thrust on us. Mm-hmm. You know, if you went through, um, say I'm horrible with dates, what was it? Oh eight, that there was the big deal. The, the crash. Yeah. Right. The big crash. The crash, yeah. You know, um, if you went through that as a business owner versus not going through, that's gonna affect your decisions. 
 Right. And you know, maybe you made a decision along the way of, I'm gonna risk for. For this. Mm-hmm. And man, that went bad, right? So I'm never gonna risk that again. Right? But three years later, that might be the right risk you need to take, right? And so understanding yourself, knowing your tendencies, knowing where you're coming from, where you're going, that just helps you lead yourself so much better throughout, right? 
 Every 
 Chris Wood: day. I think this is like, I mean, I [00:13:00] don't know if you've read the, there's so many books out there talking about leadership and that stuff, and this is one of those things, like knowing yourself and growing yourself I think is key. Right. Yeah. So it is, it is the one thing, like I have, everybody's always like, you need to make sure you're continuing to grow. 
 Even as a business leader, I always try to keep learning, keep reading, keep, don't stop. It's not Absolutely. It's, it's a, a constant evolution process Yeah. Of absolutely. Just 
 Jason Kempf: like business. Absolutely. It's just you just, you can't stop. 
 
 Jason Kempf: Hey, thanks for joining us today on the leading to serving podcast, we hope this has been encouraging. And given some practical tips for becoming a more effective and compassionate leader fighting for the highest good of others. I mean, let's face it. Our world is fast paced and it's always changing as leaders. 
 We need to start with self-awareness it's a critical [00:14:00] step in our growth. And by understanding ourselves better, we can navigate challenges. Inspire others build, influence and create a positive impact with our organizations. If you want to continue this journey of self-awareness, we invite you to visit exANIMO solutions.com and that's spelled E X a N I M O solutions.com. There you'll find a link to the free five voices assessment that we talked about in the podcast. 
 And, and you can reach out to us to talk more about what we can do for you and help your team grow. And by the way we value your feedback, if you would just hop over to leading is serving.com. That's a, you know, the website for a podcast and leave us a review. Share your thoughts, your suggestions. 
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 At leading a serving our mission is to empower others [00:15:00] like you to fight for the highest good of those you serve. And we believe that true leadership starts with self-awareness and a genuine desire to support. And uplift others. So as you continue to embrace this mindset, remember the power of leading by example, your actions, your decisions, your words, they have a ripple effect on your team and your organization. 
 So by leading with purpose, you can create an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best. By becoming more efficient and effective. 
 Hey, and thanks again for tuning in and being a part of our leadership community. Remember the journey of leadership is ongoing. And we're here to support you each and every step of the way. Hey, keep leading with purpose and fight for the highest good of others. We'll see you next time.