I’m leaning heavily on an article from cnbc.com by Claire Hughes Johnson entitled “I was VP at Google for 10 years. Here’s the No. 1 skill I looked for at job interviews—very few people had it”

 According to research references by Claire, 95% of people think they have this quality, but only 10% to 15% actually do.

What is this important, yet rare, quality? Self-awareness.

Here’s a quote from the article: “Sure, your experience and skills matter, but they can be learned. And when someone is highly self-aware, they’re more motivated to learn because they’re honest about what they need to work on. They also relate better to their colleagues and managers.”

One way the author checked for self-awareness during job interviews when she was a VP at Google was to pay attention to two words: “I” and “we.” Too much “I” is an indication that the candidate may not be humble or collaborative, and too much “we” may obscure the role the candidate played in the situation.

There needs to be a balance between “I” and “we” language.

She also would ask the candidate what his or her colleagues would say about them. If the response is only good things, she would probe as to what constructive feedback they have received.

Then she would ask “And what have you done to improve in that area?” to see if they took the feedback to heart and made improvements.

How do you know if you are not self-aware? Here are some telltale signs:

-You consistently get feedback that you disagree with. This doesn’t mean the feedback is accurate, but it does tell you that how others perceive you differs from how you perceive yourself.

-You often feel frustrated and annoyed because you don’t agree with your team’s direction or decisions. This is likely because you aren’t aware of how you are presenting your ideas or how your ideas may be perceived. It may also indicate that you tend to disagree with ideas that aren’t yours.

-You feel drained at the end of the day and can’t pinpoint why. Self-awareness helps you to focus on the things you both enjoy and are good at (Motivated Skills), minimize the time you spend on activities that don’t play to your strengths, and have the proper mindset when you have to engage in Burnout Skills.

-You can’t describe what kinds of work you do and don’t enjoy doing. Engaging in your Motivated Skills and minimizing the use of your Burnout Skills allows you to do more of what you enjoy and less of what you don’t – it has to start there.

How to Build Self-Awareness

1.    Understand your values.

Knowing what is important to you, what gives you energy, and what steals your energy will help you make sense of how you work.

With these insights, you will be able to express your values and understand when they are at odds with one another, or with someone else’s values.

2.    Identify your work style.

Take a few weeks to write down the moments when you feel like you are reaching new heights in your work or hitting new lows – you’ll start to see patterns.

If you have trouble trusting your own instincts, ask someone whose judgment you respect: “When have you seen me do my best and worst work?”

3.    Analyze your skills and capabilities.

In an interview setting, you should be able to speak confidently about your strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself these questions:

“What can I do really well and really enjoy doing?” Which skills do you have, and which do you need to build on? What are my Motivated Skills?

Conversely, “What skills am I good at, but don’t enjoy using?” These are your Burnout Skills, and you want to minimize the time you spend doing these things.

“What is an area I have the capacity to move the needle on, and how can I move that needle?” This is not a weakness, but rather an emerging strength you would like to turn into a signature strength.

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