tips for leaders
In a previous post, we shared some ideas on Self-Awareness as a Leadership Tool for Designers, as one of our most valuable tips for leaders – and for designers who wish to be. Empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and appreciate the way others feel, and is at the heart of all effective work relationships. And yet, empathy requires self-awareness as the foundation of your ability to grasp what others are feeling, even when vastly different from your own emotional reaction. If you truly hope to be seen as open and approachable by others (including associates, suppliers, and clients), improving your level of self-awareness is the first step to being the best leader you can be.
7 Steps to Improve Self-Awareness
To avoid potential negative consequences of overly high self-regard, use empathy and an appropriate level of assertiveness to avoid appearing overconfident, and develop a greater degree of self-awareness:
Always look at yourself objectively – By showing your willingness and ability to understand and accept your strengths and weaknesses you will be perceived by others as confident. People may frequently gravitate toward you, look to you for advice, and seek your leadership.
Because you are able to demonstrate your strengths with confidence, you are sure to be given opportunities to excel that will maximize your talents; however, it is also important to seek out opportunities that stretch your less developed skills as well.
Keep a journal in which you write down your goals, plans, and priorities – Take the time to write down some of the things you do in your job that help to motivate you. No matter how small, everything should make the list. Review this list once a week; Monday is usually a good day. Remind yourself that even the small things (like having a client compliment you on your presentation or a small job) can push you to do your very best.
Record your reaction to any mistakes or errors you make over the next few weeks. If you find yourself blaming “the system” or the ubiquitous “them” for your mistakes, you might want to start openly admitting your areas of weaknesses. Rather than placing blame, use mistakes as learning opportunities; the chance to show that you know and accept areas that need improvement, and put in place strategies that manage them, rather than pretending they don’t exist.
Perform daily self-reflection – Known as self-actualization, we can define this practice in three words: pursuit of meaning. While this sounds a bit too philosophical for some, in the world of business it means finding purpose and enjoyment in your job and performing to your fullest potential. Doing this will go a long way toward keeping you passionate about your work, as well as your life outside of work, and you will feel a real sense of pride in setting and achieving challenging goals.
While it’s normal to think that you can accomplish more, by spending time with self-reflection you will begin to realize just how much you: value ongoing training and keeping your expertise sharp; enjoy acting with a plan in mind; believe that you are leading a rich and fulfilling life; at times, you turn on “autopilot” mode, going through the motions of your job without truly striving to excel – and will resolve to do this less often.
Practice meditation and other mindfulness habits – Doing this will lead to greater emotional self-awareness. If you are able to develop a solid understanding of what causes your emotions, it is much easier to regulate your behavior and control the impact your emotions have on those you work with.
One of the implications of recognizing your emotions, and what triggers them, is that for you, experiencing an emotion is the result of a cause-and-effect relationship. You will know when and why an emotion will be triggered and you will begin to know how to use that emotion to your benefit. You will soon find yourself in tune with the physiological sensations of emotion though, from time to time, there may be some emotions that continue to slip by unrecognized. For that, the next step will help you greatly.
Take personality and psychometric tests – By working with an expert, you will learn to effectively express emotions using words and physical expressions to convey your feelings in a way that is not hurtful to others. This will enable you to be recognized by others as someone who is emotionally expressive, bringing your true feelings to the surface with relative ease.
By being able to more freely share your emotions with others, you will build stronger relationships with your colleagues and friends – and achieve your goals – business and personal.
Ask trusted friends to describe you – Relationships are an essential part of life and you are likely heavily invested in making your relationships work. One implication of this emotional investment is that you may sometimes hide your emotions or shy away from making decisions that could potentially cause conflict.
By asking your most trusted friends to describe you in their own words, you will be better able to determine if you, or your personal relationships, are suffering as a result of withholding your true thoughts and feelings from those you care about.
Ask for feedback from people you respect – This is a critical step toward taking a more active role in establishing and maintaining your professional relationships at work – and fulfilling your leadership role. Your goal should be to be seen as a “connector”, aware of who does what, who knows what, and who needs to know what. Maintaining confidences, team harmony, and open communication should be a top priority for you in your job as a designer, and as a team leader.
As you continue to build professional relationships – with associates, suppliers, prospects, and clients – it’s important to know the boundaries of these interactions. Failure to recognize when you begin to occupy more and more of your colleague’s time may result in less time allocated to projects, at which point your social interactions may prove costly to your performance.
Empathy & Self-Awareness as Leadership Tools
Are you as self-aware as you can be? Are you an empathetic person who appreciates the emotional needs of those around you? Are you the leader you’ve always hoped to be?If your answer to any of these questions is “No”, or even “Maybe not”, use these tips for leaders to enhance and improve your level of self-awareness and become the person, leader, and designer you want to be.Looking for more interior designer marketing tips, new design trends, and design product ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.
In a previous post, we shared some ideas on 
As an interior designer, the service you offer is very personal; whether your client base is made up of homeowners or professionals. With that in mind, your website must be extremely transparent, presenting yourself as a person who truly cares about the needs of your clients. And, while the About Page on most websites is fairly simple, and often simplistic, crafting the information you share on your own may well be the foundation of your interior design marketing strategy.We’ve said it before – repeatedly – and will no doubt say it again: the internet is a very impersonal place and, in order to promote your design business, you must be willing to share yourself with your audience.The key to creating a good impression with potential clients who visit your website is to ensure they get an accurate sense of who you are, as well as what your goals are as a designer. Sure, they will want to know your qualifications and experience but, they will also want to get to know YOU.After all, it is highly unlikely that many people will want to spend thousands of dollars with a total stranger, much less trusting you to completely revamp their home or office. As you craft the content for your About Page, try to think like a potential client might, answering the questions they would ask in an effort to know and understand you.And, while knowing how many cats you own may make a visitor smile, it’s unlikely to convince them to hire you!Making a Positive Impression is Your Only GoalInstead, as you craft your About Page, imagine yourself sitting in front of your ideal client, remembering the questions they most often ask, as well as the particular concerns you most often hear from them. By trying to answer those questions in advance for them, on every page of your website, you will enhance your reputation as an expert they can trust.Questions to ask yourself – from the perspective of a potential client:
Trying something new is nearly always daunting. When it comes to marketing your business online, that can be even more true. After all, your business is your baby and you don’t want to do anything to hurt it, right?Then again, most of us would do anything, endure any hardship and spare no expense, to protect and nurture our baby. That’s why the three objections to marketing with video above make little sense. If you truly wish to nurture your business with your online marketing strategy, then marketing with video simply must become a part of that effort; and we’ve explained why in the various posts in this series: 
At TD Fall & Company, our goal is to help designers by providing innovative solutions for their interior design challenges. We do this by providing you with access to outstanding products that will empower you to fulfill your client's dreams, enabling you to build a successful design business.Perhaps foremost among those challenges for most designers is the struggle with trying to convince their clients of the true value of buying a higher quality product that really belongs in their homes. From flooring to wallcoverings and from window treatments to upholstered furniture, many design clients become fixated on cost with little regard for value.There are basically two ways to handle this particular challenge:
We all know that video can be entertaining and that there are millions out there on the internet who will watch nothing but those cute cat and dog videos for their amusement every day. While “creations” like these may attract a broad audience, they do little to help a business gain traction or engagement with a targeted audience.When it comes to using video for marketing your design business, the question must be answered: Whom are you trying to reach – and why?Business objectives with video marketingUltimately, the goal of every marketing effort should be to generate income. However, the ways you go about doing this can make all the difference in the just how you employ video as part of your marketing efforts. In other words, while the long-term goal of your marketing efforts is to boost revenue, you should also have a short-term goal for each video you produce.Video can be used in a variety of ways, with a range of outcomes for your business. Here are the five best ways to use video in your marketing efforts:
Does this sound something like your current marketing plan or strategy? Not to be overly negative or judgmental here but, the typical interior designer marketing plan looks a bit like this:
Interior designers, especially those working in the largely impersonal world of internet marketing, need to focus on content that tells a story and video is a great way to do that. In fact, video excels at quickly grabbing the attention of your audience, and enables strong storytelling in a short but memorable format that viewers can enjoy – and which you can measure.In today’s crowded online marketplace, you need to cut through the background noise if you hope to engage your prospects; using video content that entertains, inspires, and educates them about what you do and who you are, including the culture of your company. Doing this not only helps prospective clients get to know you but, by allowing them to learn more about who you are, you will also increase interest and build loyalty.But, there are even more important reasons to use video as part of your marketing strategy:
Best types of marketing videosOnce you’ve accepted that marketing with video has value for you and your design business, you need to determine the best type of video for reaching your client base. Of course, this will largely be determined by the nature of your business, and your target audience. The more technical your advice, the more you’ll need to create “explainer” videos. The more luxurious your product line, the more seductive your approach should be. The more useful your services, the more benefits-based you’ll need to be in your video.Here are some of the different types of video you can use to promote your business:
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