Self-Discovery: The Principal Thing for Leadership

Self-discovery starts with self-awareness. Self-awareness is an inward journey. It does connote a time for introspective deliberations with oneself.

I watched an interview on how a king was made to pass through the traditional rites of being crowned. Part of the process was to live like a pauper in a hut for some days. There must be a time of solitude for you to discover your true self. It is only in the time of absolute silence that we can do a complete self-evaluation. There must be a time that all you need to do as a leader is to sit down and talk to yourself.

One thing that we must understand is that we all provide leadership irrespective of our position in the workplace. President John F. Kennedy met a janitor at NASA headquarters in 1962 when the US was trying to launch its rocket into space. He asked the janitor about what he was doing at NASA and the man replied: "Mr President, I'm helping put a man on the moon!" The janitor understood the power of purpose in the workplace.

Leadership begins with the knowledge of our purpose, beliefs and values. Don't seek power if you haven't discovered purpose. We have various temperaments and the earlier we discover our individual temperament, the better for us. Some decisions are not to be taken when we are in the midst of pressure. Hence we need to know and understand ourselves inside out.

We must know and understand our individual Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) matrix. Excellence in leadership is not dependent on the type of temperament. All you need is to know how to maximize your strengths to relate with people and handle projects for personal and organizational productivity.

You can do your connections a favour by sharing this article with them. Please feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.