M.Phil. / In the changing world of today, individuals experience a lack of meaning and direction in their lives. Personal leadership is an approach that enables individuals to achieve a deeper self-insight and form a more distinct vision of their future. The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of self-awareness to personal leadership. With a view to gain a better understanding of self-awareness, a word and concept analysis of self-awareness was conducted in Chapter two by means of dictionary explanations as well as consulting viewpoints of experts from different perspectives. The relevant information gleaned from psychology and sociology was categorized to describe the ontological (essential nature), teleological (purpose), sociological (social nature) and methodological (methods) dimensions of self-awareness. Based on this analysis, self-awareness can be described as a psychological state or condition of attending to one's physical, spiritual, emotional and/or mental qualities by means of reflection, introspection and/or inner speech. It is thus an on-going process of seeing things both as they are and as they could be, as well as to form a perception of what is real. Furthermore, it was determined that self-awareness provides the key to a person's being, as it enables one to achieve: • self-knowledge or a candid assessment of personal strengths, limitations, needs, abilities, values and beliefs; • a solid self-concept or an awareness of the dominant thoughts, perceptions and feelings one has about oneself and thus to alter any unrealistic beliefs; • self-acceptance or insight into and understanding of oneself, which culminates in accepting oneself and others; • self-regulation or an awareness of one's internal states and values enabling one to manage oneself and to be flexible in adapting to change; • self-actualization or an awareness of one's unique nature, abilities and purpose enabling one to fulfil one's needs, realize one's potential and achieve meaning in life. In addition, it was also discovered that self-awareness could be achieved and/or developed through various methods like self-analysis, personality instruments, meditation, mentoring, and/or facilitation courses. Chapter three focused on the contribution of self-awareness to personal leadership. It was indicated that personal leadership is a process in which a person takes control of his/her own life. By consulting views of various authors on the subject, it was also established that the underlying foundation of personal leadership is an 'inside-out' approach, which means to start first with one's own perceptions, character and motives. As this approach involves a proactive attitude that is character-based and centred on principles and values, it enables one to achieve personal mastery. The role of self-awareness in each phase in the process of personal leadership was investigated. It was found that self-awareness enables the individual to gain knowledge of his/her different qualities, potential and core values, which is vital for understanding "Who am I?" in the first phase of personal leadership. Furthermore, it was also established that an awareness of one's unique nature, abilities and core values culminates in creating a personal vision, which is crucial to the second phase of "Where am I going?" in the personal leadership process. The last phase in this process addresses the question of "How am I going to get there?" and, consequently, an awareness of one's values, purpose, roles and conscience plays a vital role in taking certain steps to ensure that one realizes one's dreams. Based on the contribution of self-awareness to various aspects of personal leadership, the conclusion of this study was that self-awareness is a condition for personal leadership.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:1989 |
| Date | 06 February 2012 |
| Creators | Hattingh, Lizette |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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