The Importance of Introspection

What is one of the key elements of effective leadership?

Introspection.

The best leaders have the ability to watch themselves from the outside. They know their strengths and weaknesses and don't let false modesty or denial keep them from an honest assessment.

Self-assessment was a common characteristic of the leaders of the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, John Adams's correspondence, and George Washington's book on manners are examples of such inward looks. By knowing themselves, these extraordinary people came to better know human nature and to guard against its harmful leanings.

The worse leaders lack that tendency. Read the accounts of Adolf Hitler's informal conversations and you are punished with the droning of a man who was absorbed with a static view of himself; a person without introspection who prided himself on not changing.

It may have been impossible even if he wished to do so because within Hitler was a dark, vast, and lonely plain.