Self Leadership and
The New Leadership Playbook
Blog by Andrew Bryant

 In 2017 it was my pleasure to interview the legendary Brian Tracy on Self-leadership - a topic I have been speaking and writing about since 1999.

In case you don't know - Brian Tracy is a motivational speaker and self-development author of over 70 books. His popular titles include; 'Earn What You’re Really Worth', 'Eat That Frog!' and 'The Psychology of Achievement'.

Self-leadership Definition

You can watch the video of my interview with Brian above, and here is the transcript of his definition.

"Self-leadership is the starting point of everything. Self-leadership means that you decide exactly who you are and what you want, and then you write it down and you make a plan and a goal, and you work on it every day. And especially Self-leadership means you accept complete responsibility for your results and outcomes; you don't blame other people, you don't make excuses, and you say, 'I am responsible", I'm in control, I'm in charge of my own life.'

And when you do...

I remember being impressed by 9 critical leadership truths that were being promoted at my children’s school. What impacted me was the fact that as a leadership coach and consultant, I am often talking about these very same qualities and skills with my ‘adult’ clients.

This image (taken by my daughter, Tasha) shows the school's ideal student with a combination of qualities and skills – wouldn't it be great if managers and leaders valued the same qualities and worked on their skills?

Both leaders and children develop from the inside out and so it is great that being self-aware is promoted. The school sees self-awareness as developing self-discipline, self-esteem, self-confidence, and reflection – all great qualities for today’s leaders. With self-awareness, we can become a 'self-manager' which includes the skills of; meta-cognition, independence, perseverance, diligence, organization, and responsibility.

If you were to get a report card on your...

I have been a Professional Speaker and Executive Coach for over 20 years, but I've never received an introduction like this one from Planful CEO, Grant Halloran.

I am humbled that I have had an impact on Grant's career and also vicariously on all the people that he impacts. The synchronicity that he has recently renamed his company Planful, meaning rich in plans - is not lost on me.

Planning a Legacy

The dictionary tells us that legacy (n) is:

"Something that is a result of events in the past"

But, when I am working with leaders, leadership teams or MBA Students, I tell them that Leadership Legacy (n) is:

"The actions you take NOW that impact the future"

The emphasis is on the now. Legacy happens in the now, we don't have to wait until the future, we create our legacy with the planful intentional behaviors we enact today. Intentional behaviors are at the heart of Self-leadership.

Self-leadership and Legacy

Self-leadership is defined (Bryant & Kazan 2012) as:

Unconscious Bias

You are smart, really smart, your amazing brain can make judgments and decisions in milliseconds – unfortunately, you and the rest of us, are often WRONG!

What’s worse, is we don’t know we are wrong, and if it’s pointed out to us we are quick to ‘justify’ our decisions.

Your ability to achieve ‘lightning-fast’ decisions is achieved by your brain taking shortcuts and using pattern recognition. For our ancestors to survive, in a hostile environment, they needed to make quick judgments about friends or foes, food sources or fatal, predators or pets. They made these judgments using, what Daniel Kahneman, author of the book Thinking Fast and Slow, calls System 1 Thinking. System 1 Thinking is fast, instinctive, and emotional as opposed to System 2 Thinking which is slower, more deliberative, analytical, and more logical.

Our brain has not had a ‘firmware upgrade’ to help it operate in a modern,...

As a people manager, your most important and impactful activities are the conversations you have with your staff about how they are doing and how they can develop themselves. With this level of importance, it is therefore surprising that so many of these conversations can end up leaving both parties unsatisfied.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance, is a maxim I’m sure you've heard; well in the case of scheduled performance and development conversations, this is very true. So how and what to plan?

1. Behaviors Matter

When a human mind has a clear goal and feels motivated to achieve that goal, it rewards behaviors that move it towards that goal with little hits of the ‘feel good’ chemical, dopamine. In addition, when behaviors that move us towards a goal are recognized and acknowledged, we feel more motivated and are likely to increase our efforts.

This realization of human psychology means that before a conversation with a staff member, you must be...

  “I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed. Get along with the voices inside of my head”

Great lyrics from Rihanna and Eminem. Great because, they speak to an experience that we can all relate to. The experience of our fears manifesting as voice inside our head.

The voice that can say; “You’re not smart enough”, “Not tall enough”, “Not pretty enough”

A voice that tells you to “Stay safe, Stay Quiet, and “Stay invisible”

The voice inside your head can be your greatest friend or your greatest enemy. This voice is going to cheer you on to success or lock you in a prison of your own making.

In this post I’m going to share with you three Self-leadership strategies, to ensure that you get along with the voices inside of your head and make friends with the monsters that are under your bed!

READ ON, OR WATCH THIS VIDEO

I have known the acid taste of self-doubt; the...

Imagine a university lecture theater. Tiered seats in a semi-circle, and in those seats, powerful women. Women leaders from international governments; Singapore, South Africa, India, to name a few. Senior female leaders from multi-national organizations. All of these women looking towards a central focal point. I step into that focal point and endure their gaze. I ask this question, “What words is your mind giving you to describe me?”

We all judge, we cannot judge, and my intent in asking that question on the third day of a Women in Leadership program was to bring to awareness that gender bias goes both ways.

“Assertive, Arrogant and Aggressive” – were how some of these women perceived me, and that was before I have even started my lecture (It’s not my fault I look like a night-club bouncer!).

“Confident, Professional and a Leader” were the kinder descriptions. But the point had been made. We all judge, but worse than judging others is...

What sets successful people apart, is not that they don’t have setbacks, or failures but how they handle their emotions during these tough times.

In this post, I’m going to share with you psychologically sound, Self-leadership strategies to develop your resilience & bounce back faster.

READ ON, OR WATCH THIS VIDEO

If you are reading this, it’s likely that you have experienced disappointment or heartache at some point in your life. Issues like; injury, illness, losing a job, financial problems, failed business, and the end of a relationship are life’s way of knocking us on our ‘arse’ and testing what we are made of.

Personally, I have been through a business disruption that took me from owning houses, and cars and living the life to being completely broke, with zero assets, living day-by-day in a backpackers hostel. After rebuilding my life and starting another business, I was again disrupted by a divorce that I didn’t want.

As an ...