Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes
Effective leaders are really good at being able to read situations and accurately understand what is going on. They are also able to successfully adjust their behavior, based on the situation, to respond appropriately. One of the things that determines our ability to be able to accurately read situations and respond with the appropriate behavior is our level of self-monitoring.
The concept of self-monitoring was added to the psychology of personality back in the mid-1970’s when it was developed by Mark Snyder. According to Snyder, individuals fall along a continuum from Low Self-Monitoring to High Self-Monitoring.
Those falling on the high end of the scale tend to be able to read situations and use the cues they pick up from the environment or social setting to determine their behavior. Those that fall on the lower end of the scale either aren’t able to read the situational cues as well or don’t use them to change their behavior.
Continuing with my previous description on understanding why people behave the way they do, when we filter an event we’ve experienced using the rocks that we carry around (our values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations), those of us that are high self-monitors will add perceptions and judgements that are related to the external cues, where those that are low self-monitors will add perceptions and judgments that are related to their own internal conditions.
Importance of Self-Monitoring for Leaders
There is research that suggests that those who are high self-monitors tend to emerge as leaders with more frequency than low self-monitors. So if we accept this as true, leaders and those wanting to become leaders should be aware of our self-monitoring ability.
The first step is to use Self Reflection to understand our level of self-monitoring. When we see what is going on around us, do we ignore the situational cues and react the way we always react? (While this makes us consistent, we may be consistently responding inappropriately.) Or, do we adapt our approach and behavior based on the cues we are picking up?
Once we have an idea of our level of self-monitoring there are two areas that we can focus on to improve our ability to self-monitor; reading situational cues and adapting our behavior accordingly.
Picking Up On Cues
Some folks are just better than others at reading people and situations. But there is a sure-fire way to begin to be better at reading situational cues and that is to pay attention. Clearly, it is much harder to read another person if we aren’t focused on that person.
There is a whole sub-field of psychology that is devoted to reading nonverbal cues such as body language. If we aren’t paying attention to someone’s body language, we are missing some important cues to the situation.
This paying attention is even more important if we do much of our work by phone. I’ve spent thousands of hours coaching and mentoring people on the phone and when I pay attention I’m able to pick up cues in the conversation; the words they use or don’t use, the tone of their voice, their level of engagement.
If we pay attention we begin to recognize the cues around us. Over time, as we recognize different cues we can put together a “library” of cues that we see and the different behaviors we have tried in response to those cues. This is some what of a trial and error process. We may recognize the cues, but our reaction may be completely inappropriate. So the next time we recognize those particular cues, we need to try a different reaction looking for the one that has the positive outcome we seek.
Adapting Behavior
When we are able to recognize the cues in situations, we then need to be able to adapt our behavior to the situation. Again, some folks are just better at adapting their behavior than others. When you get used to being in situations where individuals are inconsistent in their actions and/or their messaging, you tend to get better at adapting your own behavior to the situation, sometimes out of sheer self-preservation.
The secret here is not acting in a way that dismisses ourself and who we are in order to just “look good” to others. Rather it is to understand the situation for what it is and to bring out those parts of ourself, or as I like to say dig a little deeper into the bag of rocks that we carry around, to find the most appropriate response to the situation that is still true to who we are.
In order to do this, we need to have a good understanding of who we are and what rocks (values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations) we are carrying around with us.
When we are able to adapt our behavior based on the cues of the situation, it allows us to seek positive results. This is really at the heart of what Stephen Covey talks about when he says that highly effective people Think Win-Win. When we are able to read situational cues accurately, it opens the door for us to change OUR behavior to produce truly win-win results.
Leader’s Reflection: Research suggests that those who are able to accurately read situational cues and adapt their behavior to those cues are high self-monitors and tend to emerge as leaders more often than those that are low-self monitors. Leaders can begin to improve their ability to pick up on situational cues by paying attention. Once we’re able to recognize situational cues, we need to adapt our behavior to the situation and seek win-win results by having a good understanding of our values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations.
