Leading Yourself
Back in May 2023, SmarterWisdom wrote about understanding and developing self-awareness as a key step in the journey towards effective and sustainable leadership. As part of our efforts to become, and remain, aware of who we are there is a golden opportunity to understand more about our personal drive and how it will further our necessary growth as a professional. The image of “looking under the hood” comes to mind—what kind of engine is there? Can it be tuned more finely? Self-awareness and development of this “drive” are key components of leading ourselves. Without a conscious effort to lead ourselves, just as we explicitly work to lead others, we are missing a vital component of growth. All self-development is of course important for leaders; further understanding our personal drive and how it works, while focusing on leading ourselves will set out a path of development for us as individuals, and also our team and therefore the whole organization. Self-leadership is perhaps the guiding structure behind all of our efforts to be explicit and conscious about how we want to lead.
In a recent short blog Sean McPheat, CEO of MTD Training group in the UK, defines self-leadership as: “… the ability to influence and direct your own thoughts and actions to successfully reach goals and build a satisfying life. You may consult with others for outside perspectives and opinions, but ultimately, you make your own decisions, motivate yourself to act, and reward yourself for success.” It’s a bit like writing a text book about you, creating your own manual about how you lead and how you want to lead in the future.
Your personal drive or decision even to care about leading yourself is a key first step of self-knowledge. Is the desire to lead myself within me? Do I want to do this? Leading ourselves is the element of our approach to our work where we think and act explicitly in order to become better at what we do. It explains who we are, where we want to go and why we want to go there. It helps us understand what we might accomplish in our work. Ideally it might also help us control our emotions and behavior, since it brings focus and ideally razor-sharp vision to our work. SmarterWisdom sees its work with emerging leaders as helping them to access this deeper knowledge of their intrinsic motivation. Some leaders however struggle to understand the importance of further analyzing and capitalizing on their drive as part of leading themselves. I am working with an experienced school head right now, for example, who resists the idea of spending time understanding and defining her own leadership style and approach. To this person, it seems selfish, even Machiavellian, to concentrate on her own drive and direction. Her concern is that working on self-leadership is separate from her role as a leader within her organization.
Once we embark on a self-directed path of leadership we can use our focus to encourage and inspire others, the members of our team, and the whole organization. This influence helps the team accomplish the most it can by following and partnering with you. Rather than this work being selfish, it is actually generative: helping the organization to grow, follow its mission and pursue its stated goals. Without defining and augmenting our personal path to how we lead, it is arguable that a leader is failing to develop optimally, and certainly missing a great opportunity.
Leading by example is often the most obvious way to link your personal leadership goals to the motivation of your team. Inspiring and influencing others to meet organizational goals makes you a better leader in the eyes of your team and of your board or bosses. Staying motivated and responsible keeps you aware of your influence on others, builds in further accountability and creates healthy generative relationships. You are truly a better leader because of this essential effort.
This excellent little article, by the editorial board of Indeed.com, lists out some further skills of self-leadership: self-awareness, motivation, decision-making, dedication, influence, empathy, social skills, self-regulation and accountability. We have elsewhere referred to these skills as soft or power skills; all are absolutely at the heart of good leadership. Pairing your self-development with clearly-stated institutional goals and deliverables, with a defined growth path toward mastery in these skills, will serve you, your colleagues and your work setting well.
In our coaching work with aspiring leaders, SmarterWisdom focuses very much on self-leadership. Helping our clients understand the differences between how they want to lead and how they are actually leading means that we can define growth goals that are at the core of their development. There is nothing self-serving about this approach! We frequently explain to our clients that working on their own leadership and developing the right tools for the job, will not only ensure that they serve their workplace better, but also serve them well in their own professional career path. An explicit focus on self-growth encourages others to do the same. This is not a selfish or Machiavellian act! It is in fact the opposite; it is necessary and generous work.