Maxine Harris, PhD, Co-author, Lessons for Non-Profit and Start-Up Leaders

Self-awareness is seen as an essential component of having healthy relationships and of achieving success in any organization. Every year, businesses of all types and sizes spend resources and what can be as much as tens of thousands of dollars (depending on the size of the organization) to help top-level managers attain a better awareness of how they see themselves and how they are seen by others. Techniques such as staff retreats; individual coaching and supervision; and 360 evaluations in which employees receive feedback from peers, as well as from those above and below them in the organization, are all used in the quest for making leaders more self-aware.