Self-awareness is often listed as a core leadership skill — but how many leaders truly understand what it involves, and how many are unintentionally overestimating it?
In this episode of Influence & Impact, I am joined by Dr Julia Carden, former Royal Navy officer, leadership coach, and author of You Are Not As Self-Aware As You Think You Are. Drawing on her PhD research and years of coaching senior leaders, Julia shares why self-awareness is harder — and more confronting — than most people expect.
Together, we explore how self-awareness goes far beyond surface-level feedback, why it’s essential for healthy team dynamics, and how leaders can start uncovering their blind spots without becoming defensive.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why self-awareness is often a blind spot for leaders
- The moment you say “I’m very self-aware” — and why that’s a warning sign
- How a lack of self-awareness shows up as team tension, conflict, and disengagement
- Julia’s practical definition of self-awareness using interpersonal and intrapersonal “ingredients”
- Why feedback can feel threatening — and how to work with it constructively
- How leaders can build self-awareness without a coach or 360-degree feedback
- The role of beliefs, values, emotions, and even physiological responses in leadership behaviour
- Why the people who irritate us most can be powerful mirrors
- Simple reflective practices that highly self-aware leaders use consistently
- The one question leaders can ask themselves daily to deepen self-awareness
- How greater self-awareness can lead to more compassion, acceptance, and connection at work
This is Influence & Impact for Leaders, the podcast that helps leaders like you increase your impact and build a happy and high performing team. Each episode delivers focused, actionable insights you can implement immediately, to be better at your job without working harder.
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About Dr Julia Carden PhD MSc PCC FCIPD
Julia was born and raised in Cornwall and “made in the Royal Navy” and now lives in Hampshire. She has been and continues to be on a lifelong journey in developing her own self-awareness. She works as a relational coach and coach supervisor practitioner, with an academic underpinning. Her work focuses on working with the whole person (both individuals and teams) to expand and deepen self-awareness, so that individuals can connect deeply with others and develop the capacity to sit with uncertainty. Julia has a deep interest in self-awareness and how it helps individuals develop and grow, by enabling firstly self-connection and then connection with others. This approach is underpinned by her PhD research into Self-Awareness. Alongside her coaching and supervision practice she is a visiting tutor at Henley Business School teaching on the Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching, MSc in Executive Coaching for Behavioural Change and heads up the Professional Certificate in Coaching Supervision.
Her new book “You Are Not As Self-Aware As You Think You Are” will was published in October 2025.
Julia is an accredited coaching supervisor and coach with the EMCC and ICF.
Website: https://carden-consulting.co.uk/
Book: https://youarenotasselfawareasyouthink.com/
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