“Self-awareness,” or knowing the foundation everything else is built on, can give leaders an edge over peers and artificial intelligence, a leadership expert told a crowd of nearly 40 young professionals Wednesday. 

Executive leadership strategist and advisor Tami Imlay was the featured speaker at “Career Clarity: The Competitive Edge of Self Awareness” at the Chamber offices. It was the third professional development event of the year for TYPROS (Tulsa’s Young Professionals), a Community Development initiative of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. 

Imlay asked attendees to take a Leadership Friction Assessment to gauge how they deal with pressure, perception and clarity, which she said are shown to be among the biggest impacts on self-awareness.  

Reminding attendees that “you can’t read the label from inside the jar,” Imlay said leaders must make sure that teams are on the same page. When people understand their roles better, there is less pressure, the work becomes less heavy for everyone and better results can be achieved. 

The next TYPROS professional development events will be in September and December. Registrations and more information will be on the Chamber’s events page and TYPROS events page closer to each event. With increased interest this year, TYPROS Executive Director Reagan Gowens said more professional development events are planned for 2027.