When we think about leadership, most often, we think about how we can influence others. Truthfully, the best leaders know by far that the best strategy begins with self-leadership. People are more likely to follow individuals that inspire them. A leader’s responsibility is to hone in on their positive capabilities, the ones that people desire to have. Thus, they must learn to lead by action, rather than by words.
Being in a leadership position requires an aptitude for intuition, coordination skills, and the ability to motivate others. When leaders fail to rectify the parts of themselves that make them real game-changers or influencers, they are less likely to attract the right people to their cause.
Hence, it’s important to continuously nurture the leader within to be able to lead an excellent organization.
Learn how to self-regulate your emotions
In times of stress, leaders want teams that can extinguish fires without letting their emotional or reactive sides derail them from making the appropriate decisions. People will always look towards leadership to determine what’s the next move.
As a leader, you need to build up a wall of resilience to adapt to the hardships that come along with entrepreneurship and building a company. But without self-compassion, it’s easier to give away to the pressure. As Lezly D’Limi, the founder of talentko(™) puts it— “if you don’t love and trust yourself, then no one’s going to be able to give you the tools to build resilience.” Lezly owns a talent acquisition company based in Australia, that aims to help people connect with their highest potential and causes through a trauma-informed, compassion-led lens.
Regulating your negative or reactive emotions begins with self-awareness and identifying your triggers. If you don’t respond well to critique, which is something everyone needs for improvement, then identify what’s getting in the way of your acceptance of advice that can potentially make you better. Instead of viewing it as a personal attack, start to change your mindset around feedback as a gift to your future self.
Make Radical Responsibility a Guiding Pillar in your Life
One of the best things leaders can do for their teams, is by exemplifying what accountability looks like. Every organization has goals they want to hit. However, if the leader is weak at demonstrating what following through looks like, this attitude and work ethic will be absorbed by their teams—leading to dwindling performance.
Leaders must establish a simple routine of following through on their words. It can be as simple as, ‘I’m going to work on my fitness this month, and go for walk during my lunch break.” For Lezly, taking radical responsibility for her actions and life has led to tremendous results. In times of tribulation, she’s always worked hard to improve her circumstances. At a young age, she left her life on the farm under the influence of abusive parents, to establish a stellar reputation at a global talent company. From there on, with every hurdle she has faced in her leadership journey, she has taken the steps to improve herself mentally and spiritually. Lezly says, “Even in the worst of circumstances, there are lessons to be learned. We need to own our involvement in all situations, change our behaviors, our limiting beliefs, or our surrender of power.”
Focus on continuous evolution
To become successful in various aspects of life, leaders must avoid getting stagnant. They have to recognize the areas they tend to get stuck in and double down on improving and overcoming them. Changing our thought patterns and behaviors can be tedious, but is essential to developing more capacity to lead. Every day, you have to make the conscious decision to be better than you were yesterday. And this involves being truthful and knowing yourself adeptly.
Lezly says, “I’ve always been big on personal growth and development, but it’s almost like this next level of self-awareness I strive for. Rather than thinking that I was okay because I had dealt with my trauma, therefore, everything was all good; it’s going a step beyond and reflecting on the parts of yourself that you’ve intentionally kept hidden from the world, and healing what needs to be healed.”
Self-leadership is a continuous journey, and it doesn’t stop when you’ve excelled in one area of it. Having this singular focus on your personal development can drive impact across your organization. Imagine what effect it would have on your team if you were more kind, courageous, assertive, and productive than you were three months, six months, or a year ago.
Conclusion
The biggest challenge leaders often have to face, is themselves. Their mental blocks and bad habits can hinder them from moving beyond where they are now, and becoming better leaders. The key is to take ownership of your actions, and learn how to better manage your emotional state so you can show up and lead by example every day.
