Know Thyself, But Not Completely

Letter to a young leader. It’s never too late to be young.

Dear young leader,

You have come to acknowledge that you already have paid a high price for your self-ignorance, when ambition that doesn’t know itself re-emerges as panic, when envy transforms itself into bitterness, anger turns into rage, sadness into depression.

You say that you aspire to an examined life, that it will help you understand your strengths, your weaknesses, and solve problems at work and in life. If you know yourself better, how others see you, and how you fit into the world, it will improve your interpersonal skills, making you better at understanding others and making more fulfilling contributions to the lives of people around you.

You mention that you also read that a high score on self-awareness is the greatest predictor of overall success in the workplace, according to Cornell University, and that it is one of the most important capabilities for leaders to develop if they ambition to significantly impact the bottom line.

Perhaps first and foremost, learning more about yourself is a natural inclination of yours. You’re a curious person by nature, and this curiosity drives you to learn more, to do more, to be more. And that’s reason enough.