Recipe for Authentic Leadership (Episode 2 - Self-Leadership)

I am excited to share my passion of leadership and people with you, so lets get started as we discuss one of the main ingredients of Authentic Leadership, Self-Leadership!

The burning question that has consistently been asked is, "Can leadership be taught or do you just have to be born with it?" The answer is simple, both, and anyone can be a great leader if they are willing to grow and that is what self-leadership is all about. How we lead others is often an example of how we lead ourselves. To me, self-leadership is deliberate and in Episode 2, we are going to dive more in detail following the scenario from Episode 1 and close with the 4 pillars of self-leadership.

Self-leadership is a great starting point if you want to achieve high levels of success, make an impact, serve others, and be the best version of you. Self-leadership helps leaders become more self-aware, disciplined, and build stronger relationships.

In scenario 1, we talked about an NCO who helped turn his organization around utilizing authentic leadership. I promise you that the NCO was not a born natural leader but he was driven to help others be successful. He had come from a broken home, was homeless for a short duration, failed 2 senior years and barely graduated high-school, had to lose 25 pounds to join the military, and the list goes on. After he joined the military, he was deeply rooted in doing the right thing, doing his best, and serving his country (Self-Discovery).

So how does this individual go from failure to turning an organization around? It started when he changed his outlook from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset as he was self-aware of his own shortfalls and was willing to change for the better. (Self-Acceptance)

The NCO came from humble beginnings and even though his career was filled with several ups and downs, he was very grateful for every opportunity and always stayed calm and positive (Self-Management).

One moment that stood out for him was during Airman Leadership School and they introduced the lesson Transformational Leadership. Everyone in the class wanted to embody the quality of a transformational leader, and that is when he decided to be a lifelong student of leadership (Self-Growth). He found a mentor, read constantly, completed several leadership courses, made daily self improvement a goal, and built a life around the person he wanted to be volunteering at several organizations that were special to him. He even volunteered to help out around the base in several events and invited his subordinates and peers to be involved with him.

 Here is an excerpt from a great article, “The 4 Pillars of Self-Leadership: Time to Focus on You” By Andrea Goodridge, Coach at Ad Florem – 2019. I believe it sums up everything in this scenario and I hope it helps.

 Self-Leadership Pillar 1: Self-Discovery

To be great leaders, we have to understand ourselves. It might sound silly. I mean you are you – how can you not know yourself?

At our core, we all have a set of beliefs and values that make us who we are. In a nutshell, your values guide your approach to life and relationships, and discovering them and uncovering what makes you tick can reveal some surprising things. Being the best leaders, we can be means identifying what these values are and then living and leading in accordance with them.

When you understand what’s important to you, what energizes you, what you believe in, and where you want to be; you can make leadership decisions with confidence.

Self-Leadership Pillar 2: Self-Acceptance

Self-Acceptance is about being completely honest with yourself and accepting it without self-criticism or self-sabotage. Perfectionism is overrated and technically impossible. Self-acceptance isn’t about accepting where you might have failed and shrugging your shoulders and carrying on exactly as before. Instead, it’s about taking responsibility for your feelings and actions, accepting what is and isn’t possible to change and developing a plan to handle things differently in the future. It’s accepting that you are good enough already, but that everyone can always strive to be a little better.

Importantly, self-acceptance isn’t just about accepting your flaws. It’s also about accepting and owning your strengths. 

Self-Leadership Pillar 3: Self-Management

Leaders who can self-manage are more productive, more focused and more able to work independently. Self-management and self-discipline are closely linked. It involves holding yourself accountable and ensuring you manage your time and resources effectively.

Self-management isn’t about overworking or pushing yourself too hard. Your greatest resources are your own time and energy. Self-managing means maintaining a good balance and prioritizing the right things.

Poor self-management leads to constant firefighting, stress, and burnout.

Self-Leadership Pillar 4: Self-Growth

Self-Leadership is all about personal growth and becoming a better leader. It’s about being completely honest with yourself, but it isn’t about self-criticism. It’s about recognizing what you’re doing, what is and isn’t working, and how you can make positive changes.

It develops a leader’s sense of accountability and responsibility for the right things.

Self-growth is about striving to continuously improve yourself. It requires being open to feedback and creating a development plan to keep you accountable and on track. Committing to self-growth can make a positive impact in your career and helps you to lead by example for those around you.

To harness the power of self-growth, you need a passion for learning and a sense of curiosity. Great leaders are curious, always asking questions and learning about their industry and themselves. Curiosity helps you close any knowledge gaps, which makes you more competent. It also inspires you to find new ways to solve old problems.

 I hope you enjoyed this episode of, "Recipe for Authentic Leadership- Episode 2 - Self Leadership" which we discussed on the 4 pillars of self-leadership and provided a real-life scenario with practical application. In the next episode we will continue the discussion on self-leadership while highlighting fixed vs growth mindset so you can focus on what is important. Thank you and have a great day!

Resources:

1) “The 4 Pillars of Self-Leadership: Time to Focus on You” By Andrea Goodridge, Coach at Ad Florem – 2019. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-4-pillars-of-self-leadership-time-to-focus-on-you/

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