Self-Understanding Is the Leadership Work

Then when I realized, you know, the whole thing really boils down to can you understand yourself and then manage yourself toward the leader you want to become? That is ultimately what this is about.

[upbeat music] Hello.

It's Relationships at Work, the leadership podcast helping you build workplace connection, improve culture, and avoid blind spots.

I'm Russel Lolacher, your communications and leadership expert.

Couple of decades of experience too in those areas, and a whole heap of curiosity, just like you, on how we can make the workplace a better place.

We are...

Oh, geez, we're almost pushing 400 episodes here.

We're getting pretty high in the 300s.

And something that we started right off the jump with were ingredients to great leadership, things that were non-negotiables, things that, you know what, you can't even call yourself a good leader or a great leader if you don't have.

Situational awareness is one, but self-awareness is so key.

So key.

And it is the...

It's the topic today.

Self-awareness, self-understanding.

If we wanna lead better, if we really want to start from a place and a strong foundation to build ourselves up on our journey of leadership, which we're doing right now by listening to this podcast, uh, self-understanding has to be in there.

And my guest, she knows a bit about it.

She wrote a book about it.

And we're gonna dig into it right now.

Hold on.

[upbeat music] On the show today we have Margaret Andrews, and here's why she is awesome.

She's a seasoned executive, academic leader, author, speaker, and instructor.

Uh, she ran the MBA program at the MIT Sloan School of Management before becoming an associate dean for management programs at Harvard University, where she also teaches courses and executive programs.

She's the founder of the Milo Center, a private leadership development firm.

Her clients, you may have heard of a few of them: Amazon, Citi, Continental, Walmart, you know, a couple of the bigger ones.

Her book is the one you really need to be paying attention to 'cause it hits into one of our principles, which I'm really excited to dig in today, which is about self-understanding, self-awareness.

The book named Manage Yourself to Lead Others: Why Great Leadership Begins with Self-Understanding.

Hello, Margaret.

Hello.

Thanks for having me.

Thrilled to have you here.

Uh, as I mentioned, I talk a lot on the show about self, self, because the most important relationship we have with anybody in the workplace is with ourselves first.

So super excited to hear your insights into that.

Sure.