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Interpersonal Awareness

Interpersonal Awareness is the desire to understand other people. It is the ability to accurately hear and understand spoken as well as unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings, and concerns of others. This competency allows the person to understand the reasons for another’s behavior, even when that behavior is subtle or complex.

Increasing Capability Levels

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Overusing Interpersonal Awareness

May spend too much time trying to analyze what others might or might not do; may generalize from his/her group appraisal to individuals letting personal impressions of a group cover individuals as well

Underusing Interpersonal Awareness

May lack good listening skills; cuts people off and finishes their sentences if they hesitate; doesn’t learn much from interactions with others. May be impatient to get on with the agenda; may only understand others similar to him or her in purpose and characteristics