Develop Your Self-Awareness Skills to Grow Your Leadership Value
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new ATD book grows middle manager self-awareness so they can add more value and scale team performance. In The Self-Aware Leader, 2nd edition (ATD Press, November 2025), Dan Gallagher presents a model that leaders can use as a catalyst to reinvent their patterns of leadership and grow their impact on the business.
"Executives want middle managers to operate more cross-functionally so they can scale performance. Middle managers are waiting for permission from executives to activate their leadership voice. This book targets both," says Gallagher, who has seen this model positively impact teams navigating mergers, re-orgs, new leaders, strategic pivots, and more.
Increased self-awareness allows leaders to see around the corner. It informs leaders with data to make better decisions that benefit the business, not just the function. Based on research and more than two decades of use, this proven model blends the core tenants of self-awareness and reinvention with best practices in performance improvement, transformation, and servant leadership.
"Scaling performance is about scaling leadership. Too many leaders lean on control which feeds an escalation culture," clarifies Gallagher.
"Part of leadership is learning how to find your voice and manage it," Gallagher explains in an ATD blog. "By giving others a voice, you create a much stronger followership and less dependency on your presence to drive progress."
Updates to this second edition include new content and examples plus expanded exercises that enable leaders to navigate operationalizing AI, boosting cross-functional collaboration, or managing your leadership health. The addition of the 24 validated behaviors plus a deeper focus on scaling performance create more practical insights as to how leaders and teams can grow.
Kim Damron, president of Sports Properties, LEARFIELD, adds, "Self-awareness is key for developing context. Leadership is not about one moment – it's stringing together a series of moments into a movement. The Self-Aware Leader speaks directly to this journey and presents meaningful tools that immediately makes a difference in what leaders think and how they act."
About the Author
Daniel P. Gallagher is founder and CEO of Gallagher Leadership. Having worked in both talent and operations, Gallagher specializes in aligning executive teams, activating middle management, and scaling performance. He accelerates profitable growth across multiple industries including manufacturing, hospitality, telecommunications, healthcare, and nonprofits. For more information, visit gallagherleadership.com or theselfawareleaders.com.
About ATD and ATD Press
The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world's largest association dedicated to those who develop talent in organizations. ATD's members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD Press publications are written by industry thought leaders and offer anyone who works with adult learners the best practices, academic theory, and guidance necessary to move the profession forward. For more information, visit td.org/books.
The Self-Aware Leader, 2nd Edition
ISBN: 9781960231727| 232 Pages
SOURCE Association for Talent Development (ATD)
Share this article