“Mastering others is strength; mastering oneself is true power” - Lao Tsu
The pandemic took a heavy toll on us; in fact, some people are still suffering as a result of its effects. Aside from being a visionary leader who manages, motivates, and communicates with different teams, it is necessary to exhibit self-leadership. Having this will make it much easier to develop yourself into a competitive leader who survives and thrives in difficult situations.
We all know that leaders frequently face challenges that put their ability to navigate complex situations to the test and overcoming these challenges becomes difficult. To lead others well in tough situations, we need to first lead ourselves. The ability to understand who we are, to be certain about desires and decisions, and to have enough strength to initiate, maintain, and/or sustain self-influencing behaviors is referred to as self-leadership. It strengthens leaders' resolve to lead effectively not just in critical situations, but in everything they do.
Self-leadership is incredibly significant now, because the most difficult times allow us to learn more about ourselves. However, being open to exploring ourselves when we are extremely vulnerable requires a great deal of courage. On the other hand, it’s impossible to lead others successfully if you don’t know how to lead yourself in the direction you want, so you must muster all of your courage to know and improve yourself in such a way that it will help you when you lead people, teams, and organizations.
You can start building this kind of leadership by evaluating yourself first. This entails understanding our own strengths and weaknesses, as well as accepting who we are and what we can bring to "the table". However, it is not as simple as we think; many of us struggle with this type of assessment.
Here’s a quick rundown of Self-Leadership model by Andrew Bryant (2016):
1. Intention
Intention serves as your drive to achieve objectives. Knowing what your purpose is and why you must do things is important.
2. Self-awareness
Start by constantly knowing your intentions, personality, as well as your limitations.
3. Self-confidence
Recognize your own abilities and strengths and use them to improve your skills and boost your confidence. Self-judgment can undermine a person's confidence; instead, try to be honest and realistic about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as areas for improvement.
4. Self-efficacy
Believe that you can overcome everything. Accept and use feedback to your advantage.
5. Influence
Through self-awareness and self-confidence, capacity to influence will be increased and enhanced too.
6. Impact
This is how your intention and outer game’s influence are measured in the world.
Reference
Self Leadership International. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.selfleadership.com/what-is-self-leadership