Comment on Fernando Martinez's post:
Absolutely — self-awareness is the foundation that makes everything else in leadership work. You cannot read your team accurately if you cannot first read yourself. When a leader knows their own triggers, patterns, and blind spots, they stop projecting their reactions onto the team and start actually seeing the people in front of them. That is when real understanding begins. I've found that the leaders I respect most are the ones who pause before reacting and ask, "Is this about them, or is this about me?" That single question has saved me from more than one misstep. Thanks for naming something so fundamental — self-awareness truly is the starting line.
With Benevolence, Shannon
