When we think of leaders, our thoughts generally turn to women and men who stand in front of others – in business, community, politics, and our thoughts of those folks on the way to achieving some greater purpose, goal or dream. We see them as decisive, self-confident individuals who believe they can handle what others don’t see as possible, whatever comes their way; capable of adapting and overcoming adversity.
Take a couple of minutes and picture the great leaders you’ve worked for, know personally, or have admired over the years. What stands out to you about them?
- Do the words values, confidence, and effective describe them?
- Do they bring out the skills, talents, and capabilities in others?
- Are they able to set the direction and then trust that the people they lead know how to get to the goal line?
- Do they stand in front to take credit, or are they confident enough in themselves to stand back and let those they lead get acknowledged for the accomplishments?
- Would you call them courageous?
Now, turn the lens on yourself. When it comes to moving forward, making progress towards your goals and dreams, whether personal or professional, how would you describe your self-leadership? How would you rate your ability to identify and bring out YOUR skills and talents as you also look for others who are more able in some areas than you?
The ability to lead ourselves builds focus and discipline, makes us stronger, more independent decision-makers, and more in control of ourselves – reducing overwhelm and uncertainty.
Self-leadership develops our autonomy, leading to greater responsibility and accountability to self and others. It can seem counterintuitive to think that building your own leadership and autonomy could result in better leadership overall, but it does. In fact, in Sharon E. Norris’ paper on An Examination of Self-Leadership she notes that “changes in both workforce and organizational structures necessitate changes from traditional management to shared leadership”. This requires more employees who demonstrate and develop self-leadership capabilities.
“It’s hard to lead others if you don’t know how to lead yourself. This applies not only in business but also in your personal life.” Ken Blanchard (3 Ways To Be An Effective Self-Leader)
The theory of self-leadership rests upon social learning and social cognitive theories, which separately explain how people influence their behavior, thinking and reasoning, and motivation, and how they interact with their environments continuously. There are three strategies associated with self-leadership: behavior focused, natural rewards, and constructive thought.
- Behavior-focused. Being behavior-focused through personal behavior management incorporates actions such as personal goal setting, to include self-rewards for achieving results, reaching milestones as well as consequences for failure to advance. The consequences may be as basic as delaying some other action until the specific commitment has been fulfilled or action taken.
- Natural Rewards involves building enjoyment into what you are doing, whether work-related tasks or home and personal tasks. Need to exercise more? Head to the gym or outdoors for a walk and take your favorite podcast along. Writing or creating content? Make sure you have tools you enjoy using and space conducive to thinking and creativity.
- Constructive Thinking means changing our thought patterns so that we habitually think in positive ways with positive frames. This type of thinking necessitates challenging and eliminating negative thinking and self-talk. It requires self-awareness about our self-talk and thought patterns, which in turn requires clarity about our intentions, our values, what we want and our reasons why. Our motivations. When we know these things, we can begin living our lives out of choice and not reaction. When our thoughts aren’t getting in the way of what we want to be and do, we gain clarity and naturally become proactive rather than reactive. This may be the hardest of the three for most of us.
All of this sounds pretty straightforward, right? Maybe some parts even sound easy? It can be, especially when things are going the way we want or envision. The test of our self-leadership “muscles” comes during times of adversity or frustration. Whether it’s a personal or professional set back, a disagreement with someone, or a time we’ve been treated poorly, those are the times when your self-leadership is put to the test. That’s where clarity on our values and intentions kick in, and we choose purposefully how to act and think. We manage our behavior, choose our actions and lead ourselves out of a reactive mode and into doing what we need to do in the moment.
“You only have control over three things in your life – the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take.” ― Jack Canfield
It’s time to re-commit to your 2019 goals and dreams and move into action. The best place to start is with self. (Hey, it’s where we have the most influence, right?) Not sure where to start? How to reset?
Focus on self-awareness, self-confidence, and developing your personal action-taking muscles. Need a Sherpa with tools or inspiration to help you on your journey? That’s exactly why we publish this blog and release new episodes of our No Labels No Limits podcast weekly. Sign up at the bottom of the page HERE and get notified automatically about new content that can help you increase clarity, develop strategy, and hone your muscles of self-activation along your path to achievement.
