Finding Your Edge: Part 3 - Self-Awareness

Edge in itself, is a fairly broad concept and can applied to many scenarios. Competitive edge, brand edge, management edge, and even edge computing. Ultimately, when you think about edge, it is something that produces a delta. It helps separate companies, brands or methodologies from the pack. Looking at some of the denominators, edge could be derived through attributes such as uniqueness, quality, relevance, speed, approach, or some permutation of them all. When applied at an individual level, what is edge and how do you identify it in people, and more importantly, how do you develop it? 

In part 1 of finding your edge, I wrote about how important consistency was in edge. In part 2 of finding your edge, I explored the notion of generosity and how this trait could also be a key contributor to finding your edge. In the final instalment of this series, part 3 will take a closer look at self-awareness.

I was 12 years old and couldn’t wait to travel to Cape Town. It was October, and we were beginning to ramp up our training. It was no longer just about the amount of time spent in the pool, but more focused on other aspects that will help us become more complete swimmers. Dryland workouts, nutrition, and psychology were all coming into the mix now.  As part of this evolved training approach, our swimming club had partnered with Stellenbosch University for a 10-day swimming camp where we could train with and learn from some of the best in the country at the time.  I was beyond excited, but I knew that there was a lot of hard work ahead. 

Our first session was what I expected. The coaching staff at the university put us through our paces. Long warm up, a couple of drill sets and then some sprints. Times were logged and I felt good. I was ready for day two. 

Session two was different. We did countless drills and then the coaches asked us to rest. They gave us a lot of rest. The rest intervals were important, as the coaches wanted to see how we performed at race pace. They filmed us in action – something that was really cutting edge back then.  The intent was to look at our strokes both above and below the water line, and then replay it back for us. I was looking forward to seeing the replay – In my mind, I was awesome, and the video would now prove it. Needless to say, the replay was a pretty humbling experience, even at that age. I had no idea how much work I still needed to do on my strokes to improve my overall swimming performance. Seeing it firsthand was an eye opening experience of note. 

The rest of the time at the swimming performance camp in in Stellenbosch focused on further developing our kinesthetic sense. In essence, this refers to our ability to navigate space and have an awareness of how we move. In simple terms it’s about muscle memory. It was a lesson that stuck with me for years. If you can’t see how you are moving, it’s not that easy to understand how to make the improvements needed. It was a painful process to be honest – constant correction, countless laps at race pace, sweating the smallest details.

I can draw countless parallels between the early days of developing kinesthetic awareness in swimming with general self-awareness in life. Both take a concerted effort, both are not easy to always see or develop, both are not always a pleasant process, and both require constant attention. That said, the juice is worth the squeeze, and the output of the process is so rewarding. 

Self-awareness is a lifelong process of learning. It is not something that you can study for, write a test on and then have all the answers. As situations and context change, especially in today’s VUCA world, the importance of self-awareness becomes even more critical. Change is a constant, we are all going to have to embrace it at some point. Self-awareness will make us more adaptable, more flexible and give us a solid foundation to build from when change inevitably comes along. This fundamentally, makes up some of the building blocks of edge. 

Edge is not edge, if you don’t know what differentiates you from others. Knowing your strengths and knowing your development areas are both so important. When finding your edge, you need to play up to, and emphasize your strengths, while being acutely aware of where you need to improve. This also goes far beyond the functional skillset you are developing. In fact, capability is table stakes, and as you progress, the more important behavioral aspect of edge begins to play a role. Self-awareness becomes key then in understanding the often-subjective side of behavior. 

Edge is not a single factor equation, and there are multiple lenses that come to the fore when building your personal edge. In swimming kinesthetics, the more you know about your stroke, the more you can focus on building out as a complete swimmer. Having a strong kick but a weak pull means that you will only be as good as your pull. In life too, the more you know about yourself, the more you are able to sharpen your edge. You may be exceptional at your job, but lack leadership skills, which will likely inhibit your ability to grow on the capability dimension alone. In this example, knowing your development opportunities when it comes to leadership, will provide you with options to course correct, go deeper and get the right training, development opportunities and experiences to improve here.  When you then add this back to your strengths, the output of your edge equation rises too. 

Self-awareness is therefore perhaps more of an enabler to building your edge, than a trait thereof. Without it, you are not in the game. With it, you have somewhat of a blueprint on what to do and how to do it. 

To recap, over the course of the three-part series, I have written about the importance of consistency, generosity and self-awareness in building your edge. 

Consistency comes down to your day in and day out behaviors, and relevant outputs. Realizing that edge is built and earned in much the same way that quality is with a brand, means that we can’t only focus on the big shiny objects or the meetings that you think are important. Edge is part of who you are, and not only what you put forward when you think it matters. 

Generosity is not about the ratings our boss gives us at the end of the year, the raise that comes with it, or the bonus we received. In fact, generosity in the context of edge has very little to do with renumeration and everything to do with growth and development. Generosity in the workplace is about selflessness - a willingness to give something to others that contributes to their personal growth. It comes in many forms and takes many shapes, it is both conscious and subconscious, and it is done without wanting anything in return 

Finally, Self-awareness is knowing your strengths as well as knowing your development areas. When finding your edge, you need to play up to, and emphasize your strengths, while being acutely aware of where you need to improve. It provides an enabler on which to build your edge. 

Edge is complicated and takes time to develop. If it was easy, everyone would have it. The good news is that everyone can have edge because it is exactly that individual differentiator that makes edge so powerful. There is only one you, embrace that and use that to build your own brand and develop your own edge. 

There is more to say on edge, and I may write again about in the future. If you have any thoughts or perspectives on the series of finding your edge, I would love to hear your feedback.