What is Self-Leadership? And how to develop it into yourself?

“Being a self-leader is to serve as chief, captain, president, or CEO of one’s own life.”

Peter Drucker

 Self-leadership is the practice of influencing your own thoughts, feelings, and actions/behaviors to achieve your personal and professional goals. It involves mindfulness, self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-motivation, allowing you to act with intention and purpose.

To develop self-leadership, consider the following strategies:

1. Clarity of Purpose: Define clear personal and professional goals. Ask yourself… what you’re put on earth for.
2. Mindfulness: Be mindful of your own thoughts, feelings and actions/behaviors at all times throughout the day and every day.
3. Self-Awareness: Reflect on your purpose, passion, vision, missions, values, strengths and weaknesses.
4. Self-Confidence: Have self-assurance in your own abilities through small and big successes.
5. Self-Discipline: Develop habits that align with your goals.
6. Emotional Intelligence: Manage your emotions constructively.
7. Time Management: Prioritize tasks that move you towards your goals.
8. Risk-Taking: Embrace calculated risks that align with your purpose, vision, missions and values.
9. Reflection: Regularly reflect on your progress and adapt as needed.
10. Life-long Learning: Stay open to new ideas and skills.
11. Positive Mindset: Maintain a positive outlook and resilience in the face of setbacks.
12. Letting go: Practice the art of letting go of what you cannot control or influence for your peace of mind.

By focusing on these 12 areas, you can enhance your ability to lead yourself effectively towards your desired objectives and outcomes. And that’s the so-called, “Self-Leadership”.

Thinking of a prominent role model of self-leadership, one person comes to mind immediately. He’s “Viktor E. Frankl”.

As described in his (1984) book: Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl survived the Holocaust and three years of incarceration in Nazi concentration camps. Despite the immense hardships he experienced there, Frankl was able to survive.

Moreover, he demonstrated many critical self-leadership skills throughout his experience. He had a profound understanding that he could not change what was happening to him and his fellow inmates, but he could choose how to respond to it.

As he wrote, “The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me.” This is a profound and insightful statement.

He understood the importance of values in life, had a strong self-awareness, and lived by them, and in doing so, he found meaning and purpose. He exhibited constructive thought strategies and continuously identified opportunities to contribute to the wellbeing of his inmates. And, he managed to persevere in this way not only throughout the entire period of incarceration but also afterward.

“First, be a leader of yourself. Only then can you grow to lead others.”

David Taylor-Klaus

If you want to develop your self-leadership more quickly and effectively, then let’s talk!