Reflections on Paul Lacy: How Self-Awareness Makes You a Better Leader

I really enjoyed last week’s episode with Paul Lacy, and appreciated how incredibly raw he was in sharing his insights and learnings from his leadership journey thus far. In this episode, I break down the key takeaways and practical tips from the conversation with Paul, shedding light on the importance of self-awareness, building high-performance teams and nurturing your wellbeing.Paul emphasised the significance of habits and the role of awareness in transforming them. We discussed the concept of catastrophizing, where many of us tend to blow issues out of proportion, leading to unnecessary stress. Paul's journey into cognitive psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) taught him that thoughts and emotions aren't set in stone. You can choose to change them, and small, deliberate habits can make a big difference.Paul shared how managing his diary strategically transformed his daily life. By dedicating time to reflection and minimising back-to-back meetings, he created space for focus and well-being. This practice aligns with Stephen Covey's important versus urgent work and Cyril Peupion's insights from "Work Smarter, Live Better." I talk about the importance of creating blank space in your calendar in order to enhance your leadership and wellbeing. Paul spoke about doing a 360 degree assessment to increase his self-awareness. While there was some feedback that was quite confronting and provoked emotion in him, he took it as an opportunity to get curious and develop further as a leader. This is key in having the capacity to build a high-performing team, something that Paul values as crucial in achieving success. His openness to feedback and his curious mindset have been instrumental in his growth as a leader and has aided his personal development.As I dive deeper into the poignant moments of my conversation with Paul, I hope you are inspired to take the lessons he’s learnt and apply them to your own journey of growth in leadership. LINKS:Connect with Hayden:Websites: -  https://haydenfricke.com/ -  https://www.steople.com.au/-  APS College of Organisational Psychologists LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayden-fricke/