Nia Thomas [00:00:01]:
Hello listeners. Welcome to a very special episode of the Knowing Self Knowing Others podcast, where we usually discuss self aware leadership with thinkers from around the globe to generate kinder, more respectful and creative working relationships through reflection, recognition and regulation. I'm your host, Nia Thomas. Today, we're gonna do something a little different. This episode is going to be a book launch takeover. Yes, it's the moment we've all been waiting for and talking about. I'm thrilled, delighted, and so excited to announce the launch of my book, The Self Awareness Superhighway, Charting Your Leadership Journey.

goodluck [00:00:46]:
Hey, Nia. Steph Caswell here. Congratulations on the publication of the self awareness superhighway. I'm so excited that launch day is finally here for you because I know how hard you've worked, but I also know what a fantastic book it is. So you can now call yourself a published author. Isn't that incredible? So good luck today. I hope launch goes brilliantly, which I know it will, and I can't wait to see what's in store for

goodluck [00:01:11]:
you next. Hey Doctor. Nia, this is Doctor. Grant. Just wanted to wish you congratulations on your book launch. It's an exciting journey. It is a heartfelt journey and it's so exciting to see that all of your hard work and the fruits of your labor are starting to come to play. So congratulations to you.

goodluck [00:01:29]:
Enjoy the moment. Take care.

goodluck [00:01:33]:
Happy book launch day, Nia. We are so excited that everybody gets to read your book and I think it's gonna make a massive difference in the leadership literature space. I think that there is so much learning to come for this, so thank you for bringing it to everybody. Good luck.

goodluck [00:01:51]:
Good morning. Just wanna start off on a real positive note with a huge congratulations to doctor Nia Thomas on today, the day of her book launch. Have a great day. I'm sure it's gonna be amazing. I can't wait to read it, and I'll see you

goodluck [00:02:05]:
soon. Congratulations on completing your book. Best of luck with your book launch.

goodluck [00:02:11]:
Hi, Nia. . Wishing you a memorable and very successful book launch.

goodluck [00:02:18]:
Woah. Happy book launch, day Nia. Go for it.

goodluck [00:02:23]:
Hi, Nia. All the best with the launch of a new buck. All the best.

goodluck [00:02:28]:
Hi Nia, can't believe it's launch day. The very best of luck. I'm sure you'll smash it. Bye.

goodluck [00:02:34]:
Happy book launch day, Nia, from Jessica Kate  Brown Publications. Kerry, Zara, and I wish you and your book all the luck in the world and hope you're celebrating this special day in style. 

Happy book launch day. And I made a space for it.

Interviewer [00:02:56]:
Question 1. What sparked the idea for your book, and what personal stories or experiences influenced its creation?

Nia Thomas [00:03:04]:
When I started my doctorate in 2016, I always knew that, whatever my discoveries and findings were, they had to be useful people. So the book is a translation of my doctoral thesis, taking the ideas from academia to the office. I had 2 work experiences which sparked my interest in workplace relationships and behaviors. In the first, I experienced a number of people at different levels of an organization behaving pretty badly. And I wondered, do these people have a clue of the impact they have on others? In the second, I had the absolute privilege of working with people who are really able to represent their colleagues and lead without having any line management responsibilities or even the word leader in their job title. And I observed and experienced behaviors at two ends of the same spectrum, really. And as time went on, that spectrum turned out to be self aware leadership.

Interviewer [00:04:05]:
Question 2. Can you give us a taste of what your book is all about in a nutshell?

Nia Thomas [00:04:11]:
The book has got 3 parts. Part 1, why are you here, traveler? Which is all about defining and self awareness, leader effectiveness, and leadership at all levels, and setting out why it's important to you, the reader, me, and us. Part 2, where are you going, sets up the 9 directions of the self awareness compass. The 9 chartable compass points cover things like care, humility, authenticity, and reflection. And chartable is a mnemonic, chart able. Part 2, also explores the signposts and directions that enable you and the roadblocks and trip hazards that obstruct you on your journey during your working life. Part 3, how will you get there? This describes, the variety of tools, techniques and methods that I've come across during my exploration of self aware leadership, that you can use to develop your self aware leadership skills. And it covers things like mindfulness, journaling, coaching, and 360 degree assessments.

Interviewer [00:05:21]:
Question 3. How does your book offer a fresh perspective or new insights on its subject matter?

Nia Thomas [00:05:27]:
My definition of self awareness has 3 layers. And if you're a listener to the podcast, you've probably heard me talk about these before. Reflection of your hard and relational skills, recognition of your impact, and regulation of your behaviour. I also connect these layers directly to leadership and provide you with a self awareness compass, and those 9 clear directions in which to travel to help you grow your self aware leadership skills. And those are the directions that I mentioned in the mnemonic chartable previously. And they are things like care, humility, authenticity and reflection. I was also able to draw comments from my pod cast guests to be able to exemplify my research in the book. And it was great to be able to give those real life examples from people who are talking the talk and walking the walk.

Interviewer [00:06:20]:
Question 4. Share a fascinating discovery from your research that readers will find intriguing.

Nia Thomas [00:06:26]:
All of the literature and academic research that I read during my doctorate said that people in the most senior positions of organisations had greater self awareness than anyone else in the organisation. But my research said exactly the opposite. People talk to me about this idea of strategic level disconnect, where senior level people seem to lose touch with the operational realities of their organization, and their ideas are disjointed from what is actually possible in practice.

Interviewer [00:06:58]:
Question 5. Who do you think will connect most with your book and why?

Nia Thomas [00:07:04]:
I've dedicated my book to those who want to care better for others and those who want to be better cared for by others. I think it's gonna be of most interest to people who manage people and have a desire to improve their leadership and management practices. And I also think that it's gonna be of interest to people who've been led by poor leaders and people who want to know how they can in turn be better and do better than the people that have managed them in the past.

Interviewer [00:07:34]:
Question 6. What's one key takeaway or lesson you hope readers will absorb after reading your book?

Nia Thomas [00:07:41]:
That self awareness is an ongoing journey, and you always have to be traveling the superhighway to keep yourself aware leadership skills honed and updated. Even people who are consciously carving out time to build their self awareness are going to have days when they are more self aware or less self aware. So we need to keep talking about self awareness to make reflection, recognition, and regulation part of our ongoing practice and part of business as usual.

Interviewer [00:08:11]:
Question 7. Any juicy sneak peeks or behind the scenes stories from the making of your book that you can share?

Nia Thomas [00:08:18]:
Great question. This launch hasn't quite gone to plan. So, the 4th April was always in my mind for launch day, but one of my distributors was really slow in reviewing my files and giving me the okay for the book to go to printing. After that, I ordered a printed proof using their rush option, thinking that the date wasn't finalised until I'd approved that hard copy. And it took nearly a week for that paperback to arrive. In that time, I decided to push my launch back to the 22nd April in case something didn't pan out. So the ebook go live date was changed, and then I'm sitting on the sofa on bank holiday Sunday. I click onto Amazon and see that the paperback is there for all to see saying it's launching on the 4th April.

Nia Thomas [00:09:05]:
So I guess launch day is the 4th April after all.

Interviewer [00:09:10]:
Question 8. Tell us about the quiz related to your book. What inspired it, and what can readers expect?

Nia Thomas [00:09:17]:
I wanted readers to have something practical to be able to help them chart their journey along their self awareness superhighway. So with a little help from my friends, I've built a tool that allows you to assess yourself against the 9 self awareness compass directions. You can then add up to 3 email addresses for friends or colleagues to assess you. You'll get a chart with two lines, the first being your scores and the second being the average of the scores of the up to 3 people who've assessed you. The difference in your line and your others line gives you an indication of how different your view of yourself is compared to others' view of you. And the differences and similarities help you to understand that direction you need to travel in order to further develop your self awareness.

Interviewer [00:10:06]:
Question 9. Lastly, could you shed some light on the companion journal for your book? What prompted its creation, and how does it enhance the reader's experience?

Nia Thomas [00:10:16]:
Journaling is a really powerful way of getting all of your busy thoughts from inside your head out onto a page, and it facilitates the three essential components for developing self awareness. The journal also uses the 9 pointed compass to facilitate your reflection. Every day, week, or whenever it fits into your schedule, you can score yourself against the 9 compass points and reflect on your hard and relational skills, your impact on others, and what changes you want to make to your behavior to do things differently next time. 

I'm excited to share the book, the journal and the quiz with the world, because we need to keep up with the momentum to develop more self aware leaders around the globe to generate kinder, more respectful and creative working relationships through reflection, recognition and regulation. 

Thank you to the amazing Steph Caswell, Jessica Brown and Associates, and Liam Beattie for being on my team and making this launch possible, as well as my husband for helping me build the quiz and all of my podcast guests for their conversations, insights and wisdom. 

Please remember to leave a rate and review on Amazon because rates and reviews influence rankings and the higher my book goes in the rankings, the more chance we have of developing self aware leaders and self aware workplaces. 

Join me next week on the podcast when we'll be back to normal with my guest, Gwen Sterling Wilkie, talking about hybrid working, dialogue, relationships, and more. 

Looking forward to having you on my learning journey.