The foundational nature of self-awareness has been recognized by Emotion- al Intelligence researcher and author, Daniel Goleman. Goleman notes that self-awareness is the least visible of the emotional intelligence competencies, and yet, individuals who test high in self-awareness also demonstrate the overwhelming majority of emotional intelligence competencies. Basically, if you cultivate the soil of self-awareness, the odds are in your favor that you will harvest self-awareness along with emotional regulation, empathy, and inspirational leadership, all of which are the cornerstones of strong emotional intelligence1. For leaders with a broad scope of interactions and responsibilities, self-aware- ness possesses extensive value because it cuts across all interpersonal interac- tions. In these interactions, it helps correct for the bad while simultaneously augmenting the good. Once cultivated, increased awareness can be utilized positively in every interaction you are involved in. Cultivating Self-Awareness Unfortunately, quality self-awareness is a scarce commodity. The first barri- er to self-awareness is that the overwhelming majority of people believe they already have it. Sasha Eurich notes this in her book Insight. By believing that we already possess a critical amount of self-awareness, we cease to be curious about how to grow in this area. Second, like most commodities, you must de- vote resources in order to acquire it. In light of these two obstacles, we must recognize that we are prone to think we have self-awareness when we do not and, as a result, we devote insufficient resources to cultivating it. Despite these potential challenges, Eurich highlights the good news of self-awareness: it is a trait that can be actively developed2. Self-awareness is a lot like a muscle. We need a baseline of strength and health followed by routines and practices that maintain good functioning. This maintenance rarely provides dramatic returns in the moment; rather, the returns on the investment in self-awareness compound over time. If we can recognize the value, and the need, we can then take steps to cultivate deeper, more reliable self-awareness.