How to Use Self-Reflection as a Founder

Most leaders aren’t destroyed by others. They’re destroyed by themselves. Here is why? They think success is about being strategically brilliant... or experts in their field... And then they fail due to missing self-awareness. Years ago, I worked with a strong executive. Sharp mind. Strong resume. Great results on paper. But his team didn’t trust him. They gave minimal input. They avoided him in meetings. He thought it was all about them - laziness, lack of ambition, wrong culture fit. He couldn’t see that the problem was him, with his dismissive, reactive, and self-centered behaviour. That's when I saw how easily success blinds us. How quickly ego blocks awareness. And how fast people stop telling you the truth when you rise. My learning until today: Self-awareness is the foundation of leadership. Without it, every other skill is wasted. Here are 10 principles to build it daily: 1️⃣ Ask for brutal feedback Don’t fish for praise, invite truth. Growth begins where comfort ends. 2️⃣ Watch your impact, not just intent Good intentions can still hurt. Measure how others experience you. 3️⃣ Listen beyond words What’s unsaid is often more important. Pay attention to body language and silence. 4️⃣ Spot your triggers Stress exposes blind spots. Know what sets you off before it controls you. 5️⃣ Separate ego from role You are not your title. People follow authenticity, not hierarchy. 6️⃣ Reflect daily 5 minutes of honest reflection beats 5 hours of excuses. Ask: “How did I show up today?” 7️⃣ Own mistakes fast Excuses destroy trust. Admission builds it. 8️⃣ Notice recurring feedback If three people tell you the same thing - it’s not coincidence. It’s your blind spot showing. 9️⃣ Test your assumptions “I think they’re fine” is not a fact. Validate before acting. 🔟 Grow with humility Leaders who think they’ve arrived stop learning. Stay curious, stay open. When leaders master self-awareness, people stop working for you and start working with you. Because self-awareness builds trust - and trust builds everything else. Remember: You can’t lead others if you can’t lead yourself. The mirror is the hardest tool in leadership. Self-awareness isn’t soft. It’s the sharpest edge you can have. ‐---‐------------------------------- Follow me for more insights.

The 5-Minute Morning Question That Revolutionizes Leadership "What am I avoiding taking responsibility for today?" This one question, asked every morning for 5 minutes, has transformed how I lead. Here's why it works. Real-World Example: Morning Reflection revealed: "I'm avoiding addressing the tension between two senior team members." What I was telling myself: - "They're adults, they should figure it out" - "Addressing it might make things worse" - "We have bigger priorities right now" Truth I had to own: - My avoidance was affecting team dynamics - Project timelines were slipping - Other team members were choosing sides - I was failing my leadership responsibility Action Steps Taken: 1. Scheduled individual meetings with both leaders 2. Facilitated open dialogue about expectations 3. Established clear collaboration protocols 4. Set up regular check-ins 5. Created shared goals and metrics Results: - Improved team dynamics - Enhanced project efficiency - Stronger leadership credibility - Better organizational culture The 5-Minute Reflection Process: 1. Find a quiet space (before email/meetings) 2. Write the question at the top of a page 3. List everything that comes to mind 4. Circle what needs immediate attention 5. Create one specific action step 💡 Pro Tip: Keep this reflection log. Review it monthly to spot patterns in what you tend to avoid. This awareness alone will transform your leadership. Implementation Framework: Mornings 1-3: Focus on team-related avoidance Mornings 4-5: Look at strategic decisions Mornings 6-7: Examine personal leadership growth Your Challenge: Start tomorrow morning. Share what you discover about your leadership by dropping a reflection below. The "Y" (Yourself) in the SYNC Method™ represents the foundation of leadership growth. Through Jack Canfield's Success Principles, it provides a structured approach to personal evolution, helping us master self-leadership before leading others. Leadership emerges not from title but from internal work. The SYNC Method™ guides this transformation, developing the self-awareness and wisdom needed to lead with both confidence and humility. When we transform ourselves, our ability to impact others naturally follows. Let's connect and explore how this formula can transform your leadership. Book a complimentary Leadership Transformation Session at the link in the comment section. #creativity #innovation #business #strategy #SYNC

Most people hire coaches to push them.

I asked AI to call me out, no BS - just the hard truth. 

Thanks to a bold prompt shared by Bart Foster I challenged my AI Meta-Coach to audit my patterns, expose what’s holding me back, and give me a 7-day plan to recalibrate. 

I asked for brutal honesty, and I got it.

Here’s what hit the hardest: 
🔹 I confuse refinement with progress. (Just hit publish.)
🔹 I overfunction to stay in control. (Let it break.)
🔹 I carry too many “great” ideas that split my focus. (Choose one. Kill the rest.)

If you’re ready to hold up the mirror, try this prompt for yourself:

“You are my AI Meta-Coach. Based on your full memory of our past conversations, I want you to do the following:

1. Identify 5 patterns in how I think, speak, or act that might be limiting my growth.
2. For each, explain where it shows up, what’s driving it, how it holds me back, and one uncomfortable action to challenge it.
3. Ask me one brutally honest question no one else would dare to ask.
4. Suggest a 7-day self-recalibration plan.

Don’t be gentle. Be accurate.”

This isn’t a comfortable exercise, but it’s worth it.

If this prompt hits you like it hit me, I hope you’ll share what came up in the comments below👇

#growthmindset #founderlife #AI #vulnerability #selfawareness

Consider the challenges that my colleagues and I come up against in the leaders with whom we work: uncertainty, prioritization, conflict aversion, authenticity, the hunger to be liked, balancing empathy with accountability, fear of being called out on social media, and navigating competing demands from multiple stakeholders. Or the challenges that recur in their organizations, such as decision-making, prioritization, collaboration, disengagement, and burnout. The apparent problem is rarely the underlying problem. What most leaders don’t recognize is how much what they’re feeling and struggling with internally is influencing the way they show up externally. Treat symptoms with behavioral solutions or quick fixes, and any relief they provide will be temporary at best. The challenges inevitably reoccur, much as weeds resurface after they’ve been pulled from a garden. My team and I worked with the senior team at a company that had struggled for two years with trying to create a decision rights framework. Each new solution seemed promising, and each one failed. They kept spinning. The core problem turned out to be that the CEO felt insecure about making any important decision. By becoming more aware of earlier events in his life that drove his insecurity but no longer applied, and by homing in on the values he held most dear, he progressively gained confidence in his instincts. Most every issue that we face, and struggle to resolve, has roots in our own doubts about our worthiness, and in our tendency to look outside ourselves for answers. These are questions we regularly ask all our coaching clients when they’re struggling: 1. What are you not seeing? 2. What part of what you’re feeling – or avoiding feeling – is a reflection of something you’re bringing to the present from experiences that happened in the past? 3. Rather than seeking certainty, can you create space for all of what you’re feeling, and tap into your core capacity to do the next right thing? #excecutivecoaching #leadership #selfreflection

Self-reflection is an important tool for entrepreneurs to use to help grow and improve their businesses. Continuous self-reflection is not always feasible in the busy life of an entrepreneur. Therefore, I recommend a practice that I undertake in my own business: taking stock at the beginning of each quarter. Some of the questions I ask myself are: 💡Do my core values still align with the mission of my business? 💡What is the business's unique "value added?" 💡 Am I bringing my business's unique value to the table? 💡Am I effectively communicating my unique value added to others? 💡What has worked well in the last few months? Why? 💡What has not worked well in the last few months? Why? 💡What should I change, and what should I keep the same? 💡What should I be doing to add more value? 💡Is there something new I can learn to impact my business significantly? 💡What is that something new? 💡Can I identify and plan for monthly or seasonal trends in my business? 💡Are there areas in which I can (or should) ask others for help? This sort of assessment is to help me re-focus, get out of the weeds, and know where improvements should be made that will make my company stronger and better. It is an exercise I also recommend to clients who are interested in reassessing. At times, we all get bogged down by the minutia involved in running a business. That is to be expected. The key is resurfacing and making sure we also can see the forest for the trees. To improve and grow, in business and in life, it is important to know what matters most and has the most impact. We cannot expect different results from the same behavior.