The Lead Stage: Self-Awareness

Most leadership breakdowns aren’t execution problems — they’re diagnosis problems. In this episode of How Leaders Think, Kenny Lange kicks off a three-part Inner Loop series by unpacking awareness, the foundational stage of real transformation.

You’ll learn why leaders can’t change what they can’t see, how blind spots limit teams and organizations, and how awareness functions differently at the lead, grow, and scale stages of leadership. This episode is for leaders who want clarity before action and transformation that actually lasts.

Listen on Other Platforms

Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-leaders-think-with-kenny-lange/id1434737807

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2wKtzb6KaF1vNlG9TsZkzh

Google Podcasts:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2tlZXAtcmlzaW5nLXdpdGgta2VubnktbGFuZ2U=

Amazon Music:

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b13c5d64-50db-4626-9685-c356116ec54b

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@KennyLange/podcasts

Website:

https://howleadersthink.kennylange.com/

00:00 - Leadership awareness & Inner Loop intro

01:00 - Why awareness is the first step in leadership

01:28 - Symptoms vs diagnosis in leadership failure

02:00 - Naming reality without shame as a leader

03:00 - Lead, grow, scale: three awareness levels

03:16 - Leadership blind spots that limit growth

04:00 - Kenny’s Enneagram 8 leadership blind spot

05:00 - Leadership self-awareness tools explained

07:00 - Team awareness in the growth stage

08:00 - Why visionary teams struggle to execute

09:20 - Diagnosing team wiring & misalignment

11:00 - Organizational awareness & scaling stages

13:00 - Whitewater leadership case study

16:20 - Awareness before alignment (what’s next)

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#HowLeadersThink #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #OrganizationalGrowth