Self-Leadership

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Self-Leadership

• Based on The Ultimate Leadership Task
  Self-Leadership by Richard J. Leider, in The
  Leader of the Future New visions, Strategies,
  and Practices for the Next Era, F. Hesselbein, M.
  Goldsmith and R. Beckhard, Jossey-Bass
  Publishers, San Francisco, 1996

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Look within ourselves for leadership guidance

• Know thyself Thales
• To thine own self be true William Shakespeare
• You must be the change you wish to see in the
  world Mahatma Gandhi

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Questions

• In the context of real change, what
  responsibilities do leaders have to their
  followers?
• How can they generate energy and encourage
  superior performance?
• How can they develop effective relationships?

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Answer

• They can do it only through self-leadership

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All change is self-change

• People cannot be reengineered
• Individuals cannot be empowered by organizations
• Leaders cannot empower people to be innovative or
  courageous

They have to do it themselves
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People have difficulty coping with
change

• Organizations and leaders have discovered that
  the soft stuff is the hard stuff in creating
  real change, i.e. the human side of leading
  change is, as if not, more important than the
  technical or financial issues

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Remember

• All change is self-change and involves the soft
  stuff- it cannot be done in a nice and tidy
  manner
• Self-change involves emotions and requires
  helping people to help themselves
• Leaders must hear people with that soft stuff
  their hearts
• Listening is the core of the change process

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Heart hear and art

• the core of leadership art

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Remember

• Change requires self-leadership
• Leaders must look within themselves to decide
  what they want, what they value, and where they
  stand
• Individual choice remains the key to creating
  high-performance teams a great team cannot be
  build with a collection of passive members

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Real change

• Depends on the motivation and self-leadership of
  both leaders and followers
• Everyones motivation and talents must be
  reignited to sustain any change effort
• Support systems must be in place to use them
  effectively in the organization

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YOU, Inc. The new career reality

• People work for themselves first and their
  organizations second in todays reengineered
  organizations
• They feel they dont know where they belong
  anymore
• Their work which they used to love becomes
  drudgery
• They do twice as much but enjoy it half as much

• They do not voice complaints because they feel
  vulnerable
• They feel little loyalty to corporate authority
  yet want to contribute their talents
• Leaders must recognize this shift to YOU, Inc.
  and build upon it
• Requires a new career covenant where leaders
  develop followers and help them master their
  skills

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Self-Leadership

• The essence of leadership
• The core around which the new career covenant is
  built
• Consists of personal purpose, values, vision, and
  courage

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Self-Leadership

• Based on knowing yourself and seeking reliable
  counsel
• Taking stock of your personal attributes that
  embrace or resist change
• Without understanding the purpose that ignites
  them, the vision that motivates them to lead, the
  values that empower them, leaders cannot make
  courageous choices

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Self-Leadership

• The essence of all individual, team and
  organizational change
• Visionary leadership demands courage
• Team unity means individual enrolment
• Organizational change demand self-change

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Self-Leadership

• The ultimate leadership challenge a survival
  skill

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Leaders

• Must incorporate self-leadership through all the
  change philosophies, processes, programmes and
  tools
• Must give adequate time and effort on
  self-leadership, and walk their talk
• Must continually refer to their personal purpose,
  values, vision and courage

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Twenty Tips for Self-Leadership
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1. The quality and depth of leadership reflects
in the relationships with colleagues and
followers. Leaders must be clear about their
values since they reveal what they really are as
leaders.

• Tip
• Recognize your stress level and watch for signs
  forgetfulness, chronic fatigue, sleeplessness,
  appetite, increased cold, headaches or lower back
  pain, withdrawal from relationships or mood
  swings
• Ask your family and friends if they notice
  changes in you

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2. We do have choices and the willingness to
exercise our choices is the source of leadership
energy. We are not powerless.

• Tip
• Gain control where you can
• Look for areas where you can take charge
• Schedule time for exercise or to attend family
  events

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3. Recognize our addictions to find out if we are
true to our essence or living in a self-imposed
prison, driven by others or organizations
expectations.

• Tip
• Balance your life style
• Think of other areas which you would like to
  develop besides your work your mind? body?
  spirit?
• Perfectionists, idealists or workaholics can
  never truly please themselves

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4. Real change comes from changing our mental
maps high energy comes from a clear and
passionate personal vision.

• Tip
• Take a daily time off
• Allow at least 15 minutes a day to reflect on the
  big picture and set or revise priorities
  according to it

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5. Leadership assessment is best done on the
basis of our own complete records of what we do
rather than anybody elses partial, incomplete
records.

• Tip
• Do what you love
• We may burn up by doing what we love, but we will
  not burn out or rust out
• Get career counselling
• You may need to reinvent your job

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6. Take inventory of our leadership talents to
profit in the future the lessons from the past.

• Tip
• Examine your job
• Note everything you naturally love and everything
  you intensely dislike doing at work
• Ask yourself honestly,How much time do I spend
  doing what I naturally love to do?
• Then focus on your strengths and manage your
  weaknesses

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7. Decide personally by which criteria we want
our leadership legacy measured.

• Tip
• Renew a relationship with a mentor or coach
• Ask yourself, Who are my teachers today? Who
  is the first person I would call for leadership
  advice?

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8. Reinventing ourselves is a lifelong and
continuous learning process we must be
comfortable with the reality that satisfaction
always lead to dissatisfaction.

• Tip
• Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort
  zone
• Pursue a non-leadership role in a professional or
  community organization
• Undertake a new learning experience outside of
  your element
• Risk and challenge can recharge your batteries

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9. Establish solid support systems that can carry
us through the vagaries of change.

• Tip
• Who are the people whose wisdom and personal
  counsel you value?
• Who would you select to sit on the advisory team
  for your personal life work and leadership?

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10. Take risks to initiate courageous
conversations that will keep us in honest and
creative face-to-face dialogue with our
colleagues and followers.

• Tip
• Quit doing something
• Do not overcommit yourself
• Saying no and meaning it will reduce your stress
  and give you a sense of control
• Stop participating in one committee or assignment

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11. Develop a personal Plan B before successfully
achieving Plan A

• Tip
• Design a written Plan B
• What would you do if you lose your job tomorrow
  and had for look for customers?
• What exactly would you do that people would pay
  money for?

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12. Do not play victim to external forces take
control of your calendars.

• Tip
• Picture your ideal week and sketch it out
• What does it look like?
• Would you sacrifice a days pay for an extra day
  off each week?

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13. First make the important life decisions that
are the raw materials of career decisions.

• Tip
• Schedule a heart check up
• When was the last time you had a life
  priorities conversations?
• Think about your friendships
• When was the last time you asked someone how he
  or she was and stopped long enough to hear the
  answer?
• Do you and your partner talk?

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14. Blend your priorities and trade-offs in our
personal life and work are you risk wasting the
most valuable currency time.

• Tip
• Envision yourself ten years from now
• Discuss your ideal career and life scenario with
  someone close to you

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15. Having a clear sense of personal purpose
creates success with fulfilment a written
personal purpose reduces anxiety in times of
change

• Tip
• Ask the big question, i.e., lifes purpose
• Why do I get up in the morning?

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16. Live with clear intention and make consistent
contact with a higher power greater than
ourselves.

• Tip
• Find a listening point
• Figure out what we want to be first instead of
  spending a lot of time running around trying to
  figure out what to do
• Take regular spirit breaks
• Give you spiritual core space to grow

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17. Leading from a clear, personal sense of
purpose creates courage real courage attracts
real followers.

• Tip
• How we spend our time defines how we live and
  lead
• Are you spending time with the courageous change
  champions in your organization?
• Do your meeting agendas allow time for
  courageous conversations?

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18. The key to high performance is integrity
doing little things consistently. Leadership
integrity is built or destroyed by small
day-to-day things that becomes a pattern.

• Tip
• Practice stress management techniques
• One simple technique leave 15 minutes early for
  an appointment so that you wont have to rush

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19. Overstress comes mainly from reactive living
stress can break us down or it can energize us
the difference is in how we perceive it.

• Tip
• Self-leadership is self-care
• Be honest with yourself
• How healthy are you?
• Do you have the energy and vitality you need?
• Schedule a physical check up soon

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20. People are attracted to what is celebrated
celebrate the many faces of celebration.

• Tip
• Lighten up
• And find your smile if you have lost it
• Notice the baby steps toward change by
  phoning,writing notes and affirming your progress
  all year long