What Is Your Level of Impact Awareness (IA)?

First there was intelligence quotient (IQ), then emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ). Now it’s time to add impact awareness (IA) to the list of essential core competencies of our leaders. Collectively, the experience of the past few years is like one giant social experiment on impact awareness, a term I define as the conscious consideration of our impact on others. Regardless of your beliefs, or where you work, or where in the world you call home, the decisions made by our leaders during and after the pandemic have had some form of impact on every one of us. When I coach current and future leaders, one of the first things we talk about is impact. We start the conversation by looking at the easier viewpoint. How aware are they of the impact of the actions and decisions of others? Although the saying is that we are our own harshest critic, for some reason when we are looking at behavior, it’s a whole lot easier to criticize what others are doing, especially when it has a perceived negative impact.

Our coaching conversations then turn to the reality that sometimes decisions need to be made for the good of the many, even if that means a negative impact on some. And this is where the awareness piece enters the picture. Remember, the definition of impact awareness is the conscious consideration of impact. The integral piece of the definition is conscious consideration. When making these decisions for the good of the many, did the leaders consciously consider what impact that decision would have on all groups of people?

Consciously considering the impact does not mean a leader is paralyzed against ever taking action or making a decision if someone is going to be negatively impacted. What it does mean is a leader considers the impact, explores how to mitigate the impact, is as transparent as possible about their awareness of the impact, and provides an opportunity for people to be heard.

In our leadership coaching sessions, the conversation purposefully moves away from focusing on the behavior of others and toward where it truly belongs: on self-awareness and conscious consideration of the impact of their own actions and decisions. We start by looking backward and analyzing a recent action or decisionby applying the four principles of impact awareness.

 The ultimate goal is to increase the leader’s level of impact awareness for future actions and decisions. As with other leadership competencies, selfawareness, followed by willingness to change, then practice, practice, practice can earn the leader a greater level of proficiency.

Four Principlesof impact Awareness:  In addition to self-analysis of each principle, brainstorm with others  whenever possible to get their insight. For continued practice and growth, pay special attention to where gaps exist in your own impact awareness with each analysis.

 Principle #1: Who will be impacted by this decision? Identify all the people who may be impacted, either positively or negatively. Also, identify anyone who may experience a residual or downstream impact. For example, clients, family members, or other teams in the organization.

 Principle #2: What impact will this decision have on those identified? Identify the potential positive and negative impacts on all of the people who will be impacted. Will there be any unintended impact? For example, on clients, family members, or other teams in the organization.

 Principle #3: What measures can you put into place to mitigate any of the negative impacts? What compromises or ‘gives’ are possible? Identify any actions you can take prior to the final decision to minimize the impact. For example, what can you communicate ahead of time?

What FAQs do you anticipate and how will you respond to those questions?

 Principle #4: What support can you offer? What can you be transparent about when it comes to acknowledging impact? Identify and prepare for any appropriate forums for asking questions and sharing concerns so that those impacted feel heard. Are there any internal or external resources available for additional support? Although it’s much easier to point to the negative impact others are creating, to truly grow as a leader others want to follow, we need to work on our own level of impact awareness and consciously consider how our actions and decisions impact the lives of other people.