Did you ever look at yourself in a mirror? Duh! What a dumb question. Okay, that handled, next question is “What do you really see”?

Remember the myth of Narcissus? He was a typical guy from way long ago. Typical, except he was renowned for his beauty, today we would call him a real hunk. He was also a true egotist, the best of the best, or so he thought. He looked down on everyone, even those who loved him.

So, the gods decided to punish him, give him a great lesson, kind of an “in your face” lesson. He went to look at his refection is a pool of water and fell so in love with what he saw that he wasted away to death not being able to stop looking at the beauty of the image of the guy in the water (think mirror).

In my executive coaching I have come into contact with a super huge number of men and women so in love with their image they really have forgotten who they really are.

These are the folks at the top of their game, the super achievers, and the “winners” in life. Except, they often step on or over anyone to get the brass ring of success. Sooner or later when we are so enamored with ourselves it really does backfire. Call it karma, revenge, or just the wy it is, when we don’t really learn how to play fair in life word gets around.

That’s what happened to Kent. He was that tall, gorgeous guy who had it all. Everyone wanted to be a “FOK” (friend of Kent) and when you got to have lunch with this guy or maybe go for a beer after work, you know deep in your heart you were a winner too.

Then the employees who were always excluded from the FOK group started to revolt. Soon, senior leadership got wind of it and Kent was sent packing. I hear he is now staring into a mirror, still in live with himself, however very alone.

In our Total Leadership Connections program we know that the Kent’s’ of the world can be helped to grow and become amazing leaders. They just need to learn the core components of self-awareness.

We go where most business leadership programs stop; to the roots. Without really digging down to find out what we are made of leadership is not on a strong enough foundation. Awareness is the key to real success. Emotional intelligence is a powerful tool and on top of that becoming self-aware and to top it off, pattern- aware makes leaders the best they can be.

In “TLC” we give the tips and techniques to become comfortable with conflict, learn the communication skills to include the whole work team in a positive way, and especially help leaders “look down on themselves”; get a bird’s eye view of how others see them. This includes a 360 feedback session from their teams at beginning and end of the four session program.

When finished, leaders appreciate themselves, their skills and talents; yet, they have a humbleness that will keep them from dwindling the way narcissus did. Oh, if only he had been able to participate in TLC!