In my column, February 2025 I wrote about the findings of Dr Tasha Eurich, an organisational psychologist and researcher, who reported in HBR on her research (2018) into awareness levels with almost 5,000 participants. She found that even though most people believe they are self-aware, self-awareness is a truly rare quality.
Her findings estimate that only 10%–15% of the people they studied met the criteria for self-awareness, and I have recently found that this decreases as the job title becomes more important. Scary. And quite possibly the source of much workplace frustration.
Just last year (2025) Heidrick and Struggles analysed circa 75,000 senior executive assessments and a mere 13% showed to possess true self-awareness. Admittedly, this is in the US; however, I very much doubt the situation is too different here in the UK.
It was only last year that I came across the Dunning-Kruger effect. It came as a bit of a surprise as we tend to be so fixated on imposter syndrome that it didn’t occur to me that the opposite was indeed a named disorder too. Not very aware of me!
In the H&S ‘Wired and Unaware’ piece by Les T. Csorba and Dr Kate Malter McLean they look into the treacherous CEO bubble, explaining that the further up the ladder you climb, the less likely one is to hear, absorb then process accurate, honest feedback, feeding illusory superiority. Simply put, people who think they are fully aware, believing they know what they are doing, may not.
Unless there is a mechanism to disrupt this cycle, it continues, causing resentment and loss of productivity, which in turn will have a negative impact on team culture, ultimately hitting the bottom line and all stakeholders.
Solutions
There are various ways of approaching such situations, which can be delicate.
- Engage external support by way of professional profiling to unearth patterns of behaviour
- Encourage healthy practices such as reflection, mentoring initiatives and coaching with a ‘practice what we preach’ ethos
- Be bold with the 360 feedback process for all senior leaders up to the top and spark open, honest conversations
These are my three favourite questions to spark an awareness conversation:
- When was the last time you thought about the causes of a reaction? Yours or someone else’s
- When was the last time you thought about how you come across?
- When was the last time you had an awareness ‘aha’ moment?
A live example
A few years ago, I had an awareness breakthrough. In a webinar, the host explained a variety of personality types and how they can react to each other, as well as how best to work together.
I recognised my husband’s detail-orientated traits. He needs the facts and figures of a situation to process a conversation, and I am the opposite. Now, instead of becoming frustrated with myself for my lack of detailed knowledge, I say so when I have shared everything I know.
This has been quite liberating for us both, and it provides a little humour.
I now work with CCR3, an advanced profiling tool which explores values as well as traits.
Awareness is a skill we continually have to work on. Like a muscle. There is no room for complacency. However, sometimes it takes bravery, which in turn leads to respect.
We only know how aware we are if we ask those who will be open, honest and upfront.
Two final questions. When was the last time you checked in with your peers on this topic, and is 2026 your year to be brave?
Sources
Tasha Eurich, Insight: Why We’re Not as Self-Aware as We Think
Heidrick and Struggles, Wired and unaware: neuroscience behind leaders’ greatest liability
