“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
—Lao-Tzu, 500 BCE
Are you committed to leveling up your leadership? You’re reading this article, so let’s assume that you are, or at least that you are interested in leadership development. That’s excellent. But before you go further into what to do and how to do it, let’s pause for a moment to consider the importance of committing to next-level leadership. What are all the things that could possibly go wrong or get in your way? Why do so many leaders fail to commit to their own development? And why do so many of those who do make that commitment fail to live up to it?
Improving one’s leadership is hard work, with hard being the operative word. It requires significant effort. You may discover things about yourself you’d rather not have known. You may not know how to go about improving yourself. Or you may lack the time, support, resources, and perseverance that the effort requires. It’s so easy to plateau in one’s leadership development when so many other things clamor or scream for your attention. Learning about leadership can help, but becoming a next-level healthcare leader will require much more of you than your good intentions, taking a course, or reading words on a page, even this page.
The place to begin your journey to becoming a next-level leader is with your own self-leadership. That’s because becoming the best leader you can be is an inside job. Leadership focuses on how we influence others. Self-leadership, on the other hand, focuses on observing, understanding, and managing ourselves. That has to come first, and often it is the missing ingredient that keeps well-intentioned leaders from leveling up their leadership. Executive career coach Kara Dennison(1) explains, “Think about the inspiring leaders you know in business, politics, or your personal life. What sets them apart is their unchanging ability to motivate and guide themselves. They can do this even when faced with adversity.” I’ve found this to be true, and I’ll bet you have too. The most effective, inspiring, and visionary leaders we can think of have known how to lead themselves first, and because they do, they don’t get derailed from their goals or their vision.
Are you new to or not well-versed in the concept of self-leadership? If so, this article will help. Positive psychology coach Maike Neuhaus(2) suggests, “We are not born with an instruction booklet, but if we were, I am sure the first chapter would explain the art of self-leadership.” In the pages that follow, we will do precisely that. We will explore self-leadership, where the concept originated, its theoretical underpinnings, the behaviors and strategies of self-leadership, and, most importantly, how healthcare administrators, leaders, and managers can become better self-leaders. Dennison says, “Self-leadership influences and directs one’s thoughts, behaviors, and actions to achieve desired goals.” That may sound simple enough, but make no mistake about it: self-leadership is a complex skill that requires strength, resilience, and a willingness to look inward without flinching or putting blinders on. Your ability to become a next-level leader will depend on a strong foundation in self-leadership. That said, let’s begin now at the beginning, and understand what self-leadership is and what’s behind the concept.
What is Self-Leadership?
Self-leadership is the practice of understanding who we are, identifying our desired experiences and outcomes, and intentionally guiding ourselves toward them. It spans what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. Knowing our strengths and weaknesses is part of self-leadership. So, too, is acting like a grown-up, or acting with a high level of emotional intelligence. But as you’ll see, there is much more to it than that.
Leadership professor Charles C. Manz(3) coined the term self-leadership in 1983. Manz(4) defined it further in 1986 as “a comprehensive self-influence perspective that concerns leading oneself toward performance of naturally motivating tasks as well as managing oneself to do work that must be done but is not naturally motivating.” Some scholars back in the 1980s did not readily embrace the validity of Manz’s concept or recognize its utility in practical settings. Nonetheless, Manz and management professor Henry Sims(5) soldiered on and developed the insight in 1991 that self-leadership is a prerequisite for effective and authentic team leadership. Finally, more than 15 years later, in 2008, the team of Birdi, et al.,(6) concluded an important longitudinal study that found that more autonomous, self-leading workers are more productive, whether they are leaders or serve in other roles. That work gave strong empirical evidence to support the validity of Manz’s self-leadership concept.
After Manz’s first mention of self-leadership, discussion and examination of the concept remained predominantly in organizational leadership and management literature and contexts. Most people did not use it in their everyday vernacular. In 2019, however, industrial psychology professor Marieta Du Plessis(7) acknowledged the opportunity to complement Manz’s concept of self-leadership with insights from positive psychology research, offering the following definition: “Positive self-leadership refers to the capacity to identify and apply one’s signature strengths to initiate, maintain, or sustain self-influencing behaviors.” Du Plessis emphasized the importance of value-based self-inspiration and self-goal setting in the self-leadership journey. The broader application of self-leadership becomes evident when we consider Du Plessis’s definition. Today, self-leadership is widely accepted both in the literature and in common practice.
Theories that Ground Self-Leadership
Self-leadership’s early definitions were based on three central theories:
Self-control theory: Psychologists Charles S. Carver and Michael F. Scheier(8) suggested in 1981 that self-control is synonymous with self-management and self-regulation. It is important to note that, especially in the early literature, the terms self-leadership and self-management often were used interchangeably. Self-management now is considered to be a necessary but not entirely encompassing element of self-leadership in that it refers simply to the internally regulated management and execution of tasks (i.e., addressing the how of an action). Neuhaus explains, “In this case, the choice of the task itself and the underlying reason for the choice are externally regulated.” In contrast, self-leadership includes an internally regulated choice, value alignment, and execution of the chosen activity (i.e., addressing the how, but also, the what and the why).
Social cognitive theory: Self-leaders do not operate in a vacuum. Social cognitive theory maintains that portions of an individual’s knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within their environment. Social science professor Albert Bandura(9) suggested in 1986 that social cognitive theory acknowledges the triadic interaction between our thoughts, our behaviors, and the sociopolitical environment in which we operate.
Self-determination theory: Self-determination theory describes the reciprocity between human motivation and a purposeful life. Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan(10) suggested in 1985 that the theory highlights the role of internally regulated and intrinsic motivation as a driver behind self-leadership behaviors.
Self-leadership theory also plays well with at least two other widely accepted theories. The first is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which, like self-leadership, focuses on one’s intrinsic needs, particularly self-actualization. The second is Daniel Goleman’s(11) emotional intelligence theory. The self-management and self-awareness components of self-leadership also are two pillars of the four pillars in Goleman’s theory (the other two are social awareness and relationship management).
Benefits of Self-Leadership
Self-leadership is critical to next-level leadership because you will need it to accomplish your professional goals and become the best leader possible. Here are some of the most important benefits of self-leadership:
Increased efficiency and productivity: Self-leaders are masterful at prioritizing their work tasks. Dennison says that they learn how to “limit distractions and stay laser-focused” on their goals.
Increased motivation: Self-leaders adjust their goals to make them more personally appealing. They align their goals to their values and self-concept, which, in turn, makes them more motivating. Self-leaders also understand how to harness their willpower, which Neuhaus says is “a finite resource” but one that can be cultivated through self-leadership.
Mental toughness: Self-leaders are not squeamish about facing hard realities about themselves, and they are not wimps when trying to push through obstacles. They are tough and learn how to recover from setbacks and continue to strive toward their goals. Dennison says that the unwavering drive and mental toughness of self-leaders are infectious and that they will inspire followers to “up their game.”
Better planning: High-performance planning requires leaders to ask themselves how they can perform optimally. Neuhaus says that self-leadership requires “a particular form of planning, goal setting, and intention forming” beyond the tasks at hand.
Stronger relationships: Colleagues and followers regard the self-leaders among them as team players who are reliable and competent. They trust and respect self-leaders and know that they can count on them, which Dennison says is “the bedrock of high-performing, cohesive organizations.”
Greater self-compassion: Self-compassion is treating oneself with the same care, love, and respect that you would give to a struggling close friend. It is a key ingredient in self-leadership. Neuhaus says, “Research shows that contrary to the popular belief that self-compassion leads to complacency, it actually increases motivation” among self-leaders.
Better control: Self-leadership will help you guide your actions, which will bring purpose to your leadership. Dennison says, “It allows you to take complete ownership of your life to make choices that truly match your strengths and aspirations.” By mastering self-leadership, you will become the “author of your own story,” Dennison says, rather than a passive player controlled by and reacting to external forces.
Higher emotional intelligence: Self-leadership skills will enable you to see yourself and your employees through the lens of increased emotional intelligence. Dennison suggests that a self-leader also is better equipped to “set boundaries, communicate expectations, and leverage team strengths.”
Better “bad day” recovery: Bad days will occur less frequently when you lead yourself first. And when bad days do happen, self-leaders will be equipped with the skills they need to contain, manage, and minimize the bad experience.
More balance: Leaders’ struggles, personality, and life aren’t checked at the door when they walk into the healthcare organization each day. Self-leaders are better equipped to handle whatever happens both in their work and personal life, and to keep personal problems from spilling into their work.
Obstacles to Self-Leadership
Self-leadership requires self-awareness — the powerful combination of the will and the skill to see ourselves as we are. That’s a huge obstacle for most of us. Organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich(12) explains, “95% of people think they are self-aware but only 10–15% actually are … On a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about whether we’re lying to ourselves.” Why do so many of us lack self-awareness? Eurich offers several possible explanations:
Denial: Some of us have become masterful at denying who we are and what we want because we have molded ourselves to fit others’ expectations.
Avoidance: Some of us find it hard to confront who we are and what we truly want. Or we can discover unpleasant experiences or things about ourselves, or others, that we’d rather not think about. It can be painful to shed light on these aspects of our lives, so we avoid doing so.
Poor feedback: We may hold a powerful position, and the people we lead may not be honest with us. Or we may discount the feedback we receive because it conflicts with another reality of ourselves that we prefer.
Devaluing self-awareness: Leaders generally are rewarded for results. Unfortunately, Eurich says, the quest for those results causes many leaders to misconceive self-awareness as a “soft skill” to develop in their spare time. However, Eurich warns, self-awareness should be front and center because it is “paramount to your success.”
Leaders need two kinds of self-awareness: These are internal self-awareness (understanding yourself from the inside out) and external self-awareness (understanding how people see us). While it may seem like these two kinds of self-awareness must be equally present in us, Eurich’s research suggests that they are not. In fact, they operate independently from one another, Eurich says, adding, “Having one type of self-awareness and not the other can have some serious risks.”
Most people don’t spend a lot of time and energy working to improve their self-awareness. Unfortunately, those of us who do often choose a counterproductive method for going about it. We ask ourselves why something has happened, for example, “Why am I so upset about this?” Eurich warns, “Why questions tend to set off a ruminative spiral of thinking — single-minded fixation on our fears, shortcomings, and the bad things that happen to us which often turns off the rational processing portion of the brain.” Why questions also can be misleading and, in some cases, dangerous for our mental health and well-being. Eurich suggests that we swap why questions for what questions. That will give us better answers, increase our self-awareness, and make us happier and more productive. For example, instead of asking, “Why didn’t I get that promotion?” that we ask ourselves, “What can I do differently next time? What can I learn from this experience? What is the feedback I can get from this? What patterns can I uncover from what happened? What haven’t I tried yet? And what is different now than it was before?”
Eurich also suggests that we will become more self-aware when we are discerning about who we ask for feedback. She suggests soliciting feedback only from those who have our best interest at heart and who are willing to be “brutally honest” with us. She also suggests avoiding those who are threatened by us or who “have their own issues.” Eurich adds, “Don’t ask questions that are too open-ended.” Rather, confine feedback questions to specific goals and activities. Eurich says, “It’s easy to look at the statistics and say, ‘We’re all doomed to live in a delusional world forever and ever.’ But [what’s] abundantly clear in all of our empirical research … is just how learnable and developable self-awareness really is.” Ultimately, Eurich wants her findings to be a message of hope. She says, “Most of us have a lot more work to do than we think, but if we are courageous enough and skilled enough and choose the right approach, we can make huge improvements and therefore improve pretty much every area of our lives.”
Fifteen Cognitive and Behavioral Self-Leadership Strategies
While there is significant research in the broad subject of positive psychology, we will find relatively fewer studies of self-leadership. Neuhaus says, “There is still a general lack of self-leadership models and guiding frameworks….” Therefore, Neuhaus suggests, it may be helpful instead to focus on self-leadership strategies.
Following are 15 cognitive and behavioral strategies to help you reach the next level in your self-leadership. As you read about them, consider which ones are your strengths and which may be potentially holding you back or interfering with your leadership. Then, develop a short list of those to work on first. Recognize your preferred learning style and identify books, courses, coaches, therapists, study groups, mentors, and other resources that can help you improve.
Become more self-aware. As we’ve seen, Eurich’s research found that most of us aren’t as self-aware as we think we are. At a minimum, Neuhaus suggests, self-awareness includes knowing one’s personality traits, personal strengths and weaknesses, values, talents, and interests. Fortunately, everyone can learn to be more self-aware. Journaling, mindfulness practices, personality and skill tests, feedback from others, mentoring, coaching, and therapy are useful tools for becoming more self-aware.
Identify desired experiences. Most of us strive for happiness. However, our ability to predict what will make us happy is poorer than we think. Therefore, it is important for us to understand insights from happiness research as well as how to align our goals or desired experiences with our values. Doing so will enable us to identify opportunities and to live and lead in line with our values.
Keep thoughts constructive. We like to think of ourselves as cognitive, rational beings who make thoughtful choices. However, much of what happens inside our minds is anything but rational. Cognitive dissonance is an example of this. Another is that our ability to reason is inhibited when we feel stressed or are experiencing the fight-or-flight response. If you are prone to destructive thoughts, especially when things go wrong, you’ll want to stop the negative self-talk and dysfunctional beliefs that are holding you back. (Examples: “I’m bad at this kind of work,” “I’ll never get everything done on time,” or “I have no patience.”)
Plan and set goals. Self-leaders know how to break bigger dreams into manageable milestones and then optimize each milestone into a goal. The goal-setting process includes SMART goals, contingency plans, documentation, accountability, and positive rewards for achieving goals.
Keep your ego in check. When you are in a position of leadership, especially a high position, it’s easy to start believing your own press. However, the leadership development firm Initiative One(13) warns, “The arrogant leader is not someone we want to follow. That’s a leader who alienates their team, causes conflict, and incites drama, none of which is healthy for an organization.” Effective self-leaders remain humble and recognize that leadership is about influence and impact, not authority. Learn to recognize the value of the team around you and reap the rewards of a team that respects your character and your willingness to work alongside them to reach a common goal.
Optimize your motivation. Self-leaders know how to adjust their goals to make them move personally appealing. They know how to align their values with their self-concept. They also know how to optimize their motivation, for example, by using visualization and celebrating their successes.
Develop confidence. Most leaders doubt themselves from time to time. Initiative One warns, “The more you succeed, the more you’re likely to wrestle with those feelings that you’re not really who people think you are.” Unfortunately, an ongoing lack of confidence can cripple your ability to inspire, motivate, and serve your team. Effective self-leaders unpack and examine their doubts to see the truth beneath them. They adjust their thinking so they can say to themselves, with confidence, “I am enough.” Or, if they find that they are not enough for their leadership role, they identify what specifically is missing and work to improve those skills.
Harness your ecosystem. Do we learn our behavior mostly through our life circumstances, experiences, and the people around us? Or is our behavior mostly innate and inherited? Neuhaus says, “These days, scientists agree that the answer isn’t usually found at either extreme end of the scale.” Instead, we know that both nature and nurture influence the way we act. Harnessing your ecosystem is about proactively seeking support for your goals in the social, organizational, community, political, and physical environment in which you live and work.
Deal with conflict. Conflict is part of life and part of leadership. Initiative One says, “Effective leadership means embracing the fact that conflict has to happen — but that there’s a way for conflict to be constructive. It means tough conversations. Sometimes it hurts.” Self-leaders know how to avoid conflict when possible but also how to deal with it effectively when it is not.
Self-regulate. Effective self-leaders possess the ability to think before they act. They know how to manage or redirect their disruptive impulses and moods. Leaders who can regulate their emotions have greater honesty, which makes them more trustworthy to those they lead. However, self-regulation doesn’t mean that leaders must repress or suppress their emotions. Self-leadership author Scott Jeffrey(14) explains, “While sometimes we do need to suppress our initial emotional response in a situation, ultimately, we need to work with our emotional landscape so our feelings don’t negatively influence our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.” Self-regulation means being flexible and open to change. Jeffrey adds that being okay with ambiguity is another defining characteristic of a self-regulated, mature self-leader.
Recognize and release your anxiety and stress. We all know that leadership can be stressful. Unfortunately, Initiative One says, “The fear, the self-doubt, the cascade of problems and expectations that leaders often face — it can all add up to a level of stress that puts your ability to lead in danger.” Effective self-leaders learn to recognize the first inklings of their own stress. They also know their triggers and how they typically react to stress. They understand their thoughts and behaviors and develop healthy techniques for reframing their challenges and releasing their stress.
Become more visionary. You may think that some leaders are visionary and others aren’t. However, everyone has the ability to be a visionary, and you can develop visionary skills. Kristenson(15) suggests that you learn to brainstorm and not overthink things. Rather, let your mind freely imagine what you would want to happen if everything were possible. Then, most importantly, Kristenson says, involve “the emotion you seek to feel in reality.” Engage your five senses. Notice the tastes, smells, sights, textures (from feeling), and sounds that you will experience if your vision becomes reality. Be specific. For example, if you’re thinking about how great it would be if you were to build a new building for your healthcare organization, imagine how you will feel when you walk through that building, how it will sound when you hear your own footsteps in the corridor, and what it will look like when you see the faces of the employees who will work in that building or the patients who will receive their healthcare services there. Imagine the smell of the products the custodians will use to wax the floors, the scent of the fresh flowers that will be delivered to the reception desk, and the aroma of the fresh coffee brewing in the cafeteria when you arrive at work in the morning. This level of sensory detail will make your vision real to you, which in turn, will ignite your passion.
Stay motivated. We all have bad days and blah days. Initiative One explains, “It’s easy to dwell on what isn’t working and let it sap your energy. And that can be especially tough for a leader to work through because everyone’s looking to you to be a cheerleader — a champion of forward momentum, enthusiasm, and the ‘get it done’ attitude.” Unfortunately, the expectation of you to be the chief motivating officer for your followers can be one of the most personally demotivating factors you deal with, Initiative One warns. Nonetheless, your team will look to you to lead, guide, and inspire them. Self-leaders recognize when their motivation is waning and have the skills they need to ramp it back up. They practice gratitude, set deadlines, create rewards for themselves, and remind themselves often why they do what they do. They recognize the first signs of demotivation or burnout and seek help when they need it.
Cultivate grit. Can you bounce back quickly from setbacks and power on when things get tough? Resilience mastery coach Ashley Elizabeth(16) says, “Research indicates that the ability to be gritty — to stick with things that are important to you and bounce back from failure — is an essential component of success.” Persevering, even against the odds, is about learning how to sit with your darkness and soften into the discomfort. Self-leadership may require you to adjust your view of failure so that it doesn’t devastate and derail you. You may need to learn how to dig deep inside you for strength when things get hard. Neuhaus adds, “Grit is what can, more reliably than any other characteristic, distinguish the successful from the non-successful.”
Make hard decisions. Overthinking and fear can get in the way of making good decisions. Initiative One explains, “You fear making the wrong decision. All the risks and ‘what ifs’ that can stop you in your tracks — from economic changes or market shifts, to the specter of job cuts or restructuring, to global crises.” However, fear left unchecked can interfere with what you need to do and undermine your leadership. Initiative One says, “Leadership is full of tough decisions. Some gut-wrenching. It’s the leader’s job to stare those tough decisions down.”
How to Develop a Next-Level Leadership Mindset
Exceptional leaders don’t settle for the status quo. They continuously seek improvement by exploring strategies to adapt and refine their leadership plans. They leverage the lessons they’ve learned, from both their successes and their failures. As executive coach Monique Valcour(17) succinctly puts it, “Leading well requires a continuous journey of personal development.” While most of us know this, a lot of people who occupy leadership roles sidestep the long and challenging work of deepening self-insight. Instead, they chase after the latest and greatest management tools, Valcour says, preferably the “‘quick ‘n’ easy’” kind. For example, Valcour says, they may cling to personality type assessments that reduce employees to a few simplistic behavioral tendencies. Or they may attend short implicit bias workshops that do little more than serve as a Band-aid solution for systemic discrimination. Or they may be drawn to ranking systems that purport to identify the best talent by requiring managers to compare employees to one another. These tactics are not inherently bad and may, in fact, be useful when combined with other efforts. However, they are not in and of themselves a shortcut to effective leadership. Rather, Valcour warns, they are a mechanistic approach that is more often a “dead end.” Unfortunately, turning to what appear to be quick and easy fixes can misdirect leaders’ attention away from the harder work of understanding and strengthening the link between their own behavior and employee outcomes.
As a leader, you must be careful not to search in vain for a magic tool or resource to help you lead others. Do remain open to new ideas and resources, of course. However, also think in terms of creating new practices and skill sets to increase your leadership capability. To do this, you’ll need to develop your own leadership learning program customized to your specific learning needs and goals. Tools can be part of that effort, but none will take the place of your own fearless introspection, quality feedback from trusted individuals, and your continuous, committed efforts to change your behaviors and mindset to achieve greater leadership effectiveness. Like all next-level leaders, you must be willing to identify and challenge your assumptions, biases, and behaviors, even when doing so becomes humbling or even painful. You must be willing to focus fully on the meaningful outcomes that will make a difference to your healthcare organization and the people in it, but also to you. Authentic leaders believe in what they do and are fulfilled by their work. If you don’t feel that way, you need to figure out why.
Your first thought as you consider your leadership development program may be to improve upon your weaknesses. That makes perfect sense, because so much of our education and self-development efforts focus on improving our weaknesses. Certainly, there is merit in overcoming a powerful weakness that may be holding us back or crippling us. But what if we think about a next-level leadership mindset in a different, more positive way?
Workplace researchers Tom Rath and Barry Conchie(18) argue that the best leaders invest in their personal strengths while building a diverse team to fill in for their weaknesses. Using a strengths-based approach to leadership, they say, each individual contributes unique strengths to create a well-rounded team. For strengths-based leadership work, though, leaders must become objectively and realistically aware of their own strengths. In fact, Rath and Conchie say, “Without an awareness of your strengths, it’s almost impossible for you to lead effectively.” Next-level leaders may study other leaders, famous or otherwise, for inspiration and encouragement. However, they don’t try to make themselves into an exact copy of another leader because, as Rath and Conchie point out, “Serious problems can occur when we think we need to be exactly like the leaders we admire.” Next-level leaders find ways to retain their “natural element” (i.e., their authenticity and strengths) in their leadership, Rath and Conchie say, adding that trying to fashion yourself into another Lincoln, Churchill, or Gandhi “practically eliminates the chances of success.”
You have stepped into and occupy your leadership role for a reason. Perhaps you aspired to lead others and let that be known to people who had the potential to influence hiring and promotion decisions. Perhaps you studied leadership and gained a degree, certificate, or other relevant credential. Perhaps leadership was thrust upon you. However you became a leader, one or more people in your healthcare organization recognized your strengths and entrusted you with your position so you can apply those strengths to the enormous responsibility of leading others. The strengths they saw in you are in you, even if you don’t see them or know what they are, even if you take them for granted. Do you recognize and appreciate your strengths? Are you using them as well as you can? Are you nurturing and building your strengths so they don’t collect dust and atrophy? Remember: your strengths are what make you you. They may be the best part of you, and most likely, they are the best part of your leadership. Therefore, they are the place for you to begin your effort to become a next-level leader. Your first step will be to treasure and protect your strengths and make them the centerpiece of your own next-level leadership mentality.
There is more to learn about leadership than you can learn in a hundred lifetimes. In scholarly literature alone, there are more than 1500 definitions of leadership. My own doctoral dissertation reviewed dozens of leadership theories — the great man theory, situational leadership, servant leadership, trait theories, behavioral theories, participative theories, contingency theories, transactional theories, transformational theories, and more. There will always be new leadership studies, theories, and frameworks, as well as new leadership articles, courses, books, webinars, podcasts, blog posts, study groups, tools, instruments, mentors, coaches, and gurus. Some leadership concepts will turn out to be short-lived fads, whereas others will have more staying power. It’s not always easy to know which is which. You cannot spend all your time studying what there is to know about leadership or you’ll never be able to get anything else done. On top of that, you’re already in your leadership role, and unless today is your first day in it, you’ve already established yourself as a leader. The people you lead have an opinion of you, and expectations of you, and it may take work and time to change them. That means that you’ve got to start your next-level journey where you are, and they are, and be realistic about what you can learn and how quickly you can accomplish what you set out to do. The good news is that you can learn more about leadership and you can improve and change. Just don’t try to soar too high too quickly or like Icarus, your wings may melt.
Self-leadership is an inside-out approach to leadership development: it begins with your commitment to improve and grow, and your willingness to work on yourself, warts and all. Be selective and focus on efforts that are likely to have the biggest impact on your leadership. The more you know, the more skills you develop, and the more self-aware you become, the more you will have to give. The people you lead will notice the changes in you and respond differently — and better — to you, even if you do nothing else. Business consultant and prolific author Matthew Kelly(19) wrote: “You were born to become the-best-version-of-yourself. This is your essential purpose. Embrace this one solitary truth and it will change your life more than anything you have ever learned.”
Herein lies the essence of a next-level leadership mindset. The goal of self-leadership is simply to become the best version of yourself. We can fill an enormous library with the whys and the hows of leadership and run out of shelf space. Don’t get so bogged down in the study and practice of leadership that you lose sight of what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish. Hold your strengths dear. Treasure, nurture, and build on them. And remember that if what you are setting out to do were easy, everyone would do it. Leadership is hard work. Self-leadership is hard work, too. It can be unpleasant at times. Look for the grace in the challenges, setbacks, and frustrations. Forgive yourself for past leadership transgressions and for making mistakes as you learn. Most importantly, keep going. You will hit times in your self-leadership journey when you want to give up. That’s when your grit comes into play. Most of us are a lot stronger and tougher than we think we are.
As you can see, next-level leadership is an advanced topic. What you gain personally in the pursuit of your own leadership excellence will be just as valuable as, if not more so, than what you accomplish in your leadership role. Self-leadership requires that you examine your life — who you are, what you believe, your strengths and shortcomings, what you have to offer. It’s about becoming the best version of yourself as a leader but also as a person. It’s so easy to stagnate, to drift through life — so easy to put our own development on the back burner when we are busy and tired and pulled in 17 directions at once. But as Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Next-level leaders lead examined and worthwhile lives. In the end, there will be no better use of your time, energy, and talents than that. How do you become a next-level leader? Become a self-leader first, and keep leading yourself, and your leadership will be well on its way to the next level.
The Eight C’s of Self-Leadership
Psychotherapist Richard Schwartz,(20) the founder of The Center for Self-Leadership (now called IFS Institute), developed a concept of the “Self” that’s different from the rest of mainstream psychology. “Self” in this context, Schwartz explains, doesn’t mean only our sense of self or ego. Instead, Schwartz refers to our true Self (capital “S”) as an organizing principle within us. Author Scott Jeffrey(14) says, “This Self already possesses all the qualities we seek to develop or integrate to become a mature adult, including confidence, openness, and compassion.” The ultimate goal of self-leadership is to navigate through our various parts, tendencies, and prior conditioning so our Self can shine forth.
Schwartz developed a list of eight one-word qualities of self-leadership, all beginning with the letter C. Author Max Freedman(21) says that developing these eight qualities can help you to become “the self-leader you know you can be.”
Creativity: The best leaders are imaginative. They come up with out-of-the-box solutions to both new and old problems. Freedman says, “That’s creativity in a nutshell: bringing something to life that wasn’t there before.” In Schwartz’s concept of “Self,” we often access peak creative experiences (flow states) where we become fully absorbed in what we’re doing, accompanied by feelings of enjoyment, spontaneity, and inner freedom.
Clarity: Self-leaders learn to see situations as they are, without allowing themselves to skew the picture to make it prettier. Jeffrey says, “Clarity gives us the ability to pierce through distortions (delusions) from extreme beliefs, emotions, and preconditioning to perceive situations accurately.” Clarity provides us with greater objectivity because we become objectively aware of our personal biases without being influenced by them.
Calmness: Leadership can be stressful even if you love what you do. In the most overwhelming moments, calmness is the hallmark of a self-leader. Freedman says, “It’s on you to ground yourself when stressors emerge, and the same is true when your team is overloaded.” Learn how to settle yourself and address your team’s concerns and the path from start to finish will feel less chaotic and cluttered. Jeffrey adds, “With this calmness, you’re able to manage challenging life situations in less automatic (preconditioned) and extreme ways.”
Curiosity: Curiosity helps self-leaders to inquire into their true nature. With curiosity, they can learn about themselves and others without judgment. Jeffrey says, “Here, criticalness gives way to a sense of wonder, a quality Maslow observed in self-actualizing individuals.” When leaders lean into and nurture their own curiosity, new ideas and innovative solutions will be more likely to come to them.
Confidence: Self-confidence gives leaders the ability to take risks and to handle whatever is thrown at them. Jeffrey says, “Confidence comes after having worked through previous traumas, setbacks, and failures.” Confidence also will help leaders to feel comfortable in their own skin, and less fearful of making mistakes. Freedman adds, “Confidence is the soil from which the flowers of excellent team leadership grow.”
Connectedness: You’ll be much more likely to be a great leader if you feel a meaningful connection with your team and healthcare organization. Freedman suggests, “Take the time to discover the parts of your organization’s mission and vision statements that resonate with you. Get to know the people you work with, too.” You’ll wind up building bonds that make everyone — yourself included — enthusiastic about sharing ideas, collaborating, and pushing together toward the finish line. In a connected state, you will be able to relax your ego defenses and your need to control others. Jeffrey says, “This sense of connectedness allows you to navigate through life circumstances in a more intuitive, free-flowing manner.”
Courage: Courage enables leaders to take responsibility for their actions and to make amends when they make mistakes. It gives leaders the strength to face external challenges and threats. Jeffrey says, “Courage is a vital quality for doing inner work, facing our shadow, and embracing one’s hero’s journey….´
Compassion: Compassion breeds deeper understanding and allows leaders to appreciate themselves and others without feeling the need to fix, change, or judge anything. Jeffrey explains, “Many of us approach change with self-criticism, which ensures we never change.” When we have compassion for ourselves and others, we can learn and grow with understanding, kindness, and self-acceptance.
Sullivan and Schwartz’s IFS Institute(22) provides a simple assessment tool called The 8 C’s of Self-Leadership Wheel that can help you evaluate how much “Self” you have available to you right now.
References
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