Updated on December 2, 2024
As a teen mom, Amber Hurdle faced many obstacles to providing a quality life for herself and her child. Becoming self-aware about her strengths and weaknesses and capitalizing on her strengths ultimately helped her to get ahead. Today, she is an award-winning brand strategist and CEO of Employer Brand Central.
In this session at the RR Summit: Rise and Thrive, Amber detailed how self-awareness can make you a more effective leader in every area of your life and provided practical steps to build self-awareness.
Remember that leaders aren’t just CEOs and board directors: They are anyone who has influence over others, including spouses, parents, grandparents, and volunteers.
“If everybody were self-aware, we would have the highest performing teams on the planet because the best leaders are self-aware leaders,” Amber said. “They know they can understand themselves, and that unlocks their ability to see and harvest the greatness in others.”
Watch the replay from the RR Summit: Rise and Thrive inside the RR Network >
Consequences of low self-awareness
When you lack self-awareness, it can negatively impact every facet of your life by increasing your stress levels and decreasing your ability to regulate your emotions. This can lead to poor interpersonal relationships and diminished job performance and leadership potential.
“Think about that person who just jumps the shark and how uncomfortable that is, and then that leads to poor interpersonal relationships because you don’t know the impact you’re having on other people,” Amber said. “You’re not even aware that when you’re cut, you’re bleeding on somebody else.”
Benefits of high self-awareness
Self-awareness helps build resilience and learn to manage stress effectively, leading to greater relationship satisfaction, better job performance, and career success.
Being self-aware means knowing your strengths and weaknesses and what your triggers are.
“I’m very self-aware that you could put me on a stage with 1,000 people in the audience, and I’m not going to bat an eyelash,” Amber said, “but if you put me in a position where I had to even count the Fun Run money at the elementary school, I’m going to fail.”
Practical steps for building self-awareness
1. Take a personality assessment. Personality assessments—such as Fascinate, Predictive Index, or StrengthsFinders—reveal your communication style, natural strengths, and work preferences.
2. “Hire” a personal brand coach. Thanks to artificial intelligence, you can now create a GPT-based personal brand coach customized to your personality. Upload your personality assessment results and other relevant information to Custom GPT or another AI tool, which can then provide personalized insights, guidance, and suggestions for decision-making and personal growth.
3. Start and maintain a daily habit of affirming who you want to be that day. Write down or speak aloud a statement about the type of person you want to be rather than just focusing on tasks or goals.
4. To gain a better understanding of yourself, use tools like Breethe and Rosebud to create personalized affirmations, meditations, and journaling prompts. These exercises can help you reflect on your reactions, emotions, and thought patterns while reinforcing your personal values and desired behaviors.
5. Practice gratitude and focus on building self-compassion. Recognizing your strengths and accepting your weaknesses can help you lead with authenticity and confidence.
To watch the full replay of Amber’s session, including the full story behind Amber’s rise from teen mom to an award-winning brand strategist, log into the RR Network and click on “Replays & Downloads.”
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