WHAT IS SELF-LEADERSHIP?
"Because you can't lead others unless you first lead yourself!"
Self-leadership is essential for leadership development, increasing ownership and confidence and staying relevant for the future of work.
Everyone can practice self-leadership, but not everybody does. The good news is that we can all apply self-leadership strategies and become the best version of ourselves.
The practice of self-leadership is to constantly develop the 'inner game' (mindset) and the ‘outer game’ (action).
The inner game consists of Intention, Self-awareness, Self-confidence, and Self-efficacy (self-belief) to achieve Personal Mastery, whilst the outer game consists of influence and impact.
Grant Halloran CEO, Planful Inc
"Self-leadership has produced results I had no idea were possible.
I have grown enormously as an executive: my relations with my managers and staff are far more harmonious; I have been able to coach my team through significant personal development."
Dr. Lakshmi Ramachandran, Ph.D
"Andrew’s coaching on Self-Leadership and Executive Presence has been transformational for me. Transformational because self-leadership addresses the very issues that prevent an individual from being their best at all times irrespective of qualifications/professional level."
Global Authority on Self-leadership
Founder of Self Leadership International, Andrew Bryant CSP, is a Global expert on Self-leadership, with three books on the topic.
His latest work, ‘The New Leadership Playbook’ is changing the way people think about leading in a post-pandemic world.
Andrew's signature keynote speech is 'Accelerating Results through Self-leadership'. He also offers in-person and online programs.
He has delivered keynote speeches on 5 continents in 30+ countries to 200,000+ executives on Self-Leadership, People and Culture for Sales Kick-offs, Product Launches, Team Alignment, Partner Meetings and Leadership Off-sites.
WHY IS SELF-LEADERSHIP IMPORTANT?
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."
- Henley
Self-leadership (a.k.a Personal Mastery) is the answer to how we develop ourselves to survive and thrive in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world.
Self-leadership is the Critical Success Factor for individual and organizational success.
In this current disruptive age, organizational learning has become the only sustainable advantage. Senge noted the link between self-leadership and organizational learning:
"Organizations learn only through individuals who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning. But without it, no organizational learning occurs." - Peter Senge
Self-leadership Videos on YouTube
Remember to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube Channel
Self-leadership Podcasts
Andrew has appeared as a guest on many podcasts and shared his insights on self-leadership. A selection can be found here.
SELF-LEADERSHIP DEFINITION
Founder of Self Leadership International, Andrew Bryant, is a Global expert, speaker, and coach on Self-leadership, and in his 2012 book, 'Self Leadership: How to be a More Successful, Efficient and Effective Leader from the Inside Out', he shares this definition:
"Self-leadership is the practice of intentionally influencing your thinking, feeling, and actions towards your objective/s"
Charles Manz was the first to use the term 'Self-leadership' in 1983 and defined it as; “a comprehensive self-influence perspective that concerns leading oneself".
Peter Drucker (2010) said that being a Self-leader is to serve as chief, captain, or CEO of one's own life, and Brian Tracy talks about setting a goal and taking full responsibility for that goal.
Andrew Bryant has developed psychometric tools to measure, and therefore develop, the 3-core competencies of self-leadership:
- Self-awareness is the tendency for an individual to focus on and reflect on their own psychological processes and inner experiences as well as their relationships with others.
- Self-learning is the process by which individuals take the initiative, in diagnosing their learning needs, goals, resources, and outcomes.
- Self-regulation is the process of modulating attention, emotion, and behavior to a given situation/stimulus, for the purpose of pursuing a goal.
For example: As you read this page, what is your inner narrative about yourself as a leader? Have you considered the gaps in your performance? Are you committed to improving your leadership?
How to Build Self-leadership
Self Leadership - 12 Powerful Mindsets & Methods to Win in Life & Business (2016) is a succinct guide to personal transformation and increased influence through self-leadership. Here is a summary:
Intention (having a 'why') precedes any purposeful action (behavior). Actions have an impact that the self-leader evaluates via feedback.
Intention is an inner narrative about why achieving an objective is important. Intention is the drive to be a better version of oneself and to make the world a better place as a result.
Whether leading yourself or leading others, it is essential, to begin with ‘Why’. Intentional action is like a laser, whilst unintentional action like hitting everything with a hammer.
Self-awareness is about knowing your intentions and values, as well as knowing your personality, what can ‘push your buttons’ and derail you. There are clear correlations between self-awareness and effective leadership, so developing self-awareness must be a constant habit. When coaching your team, transformation occurs, when you increase self-awareness about what drives behaviors, rather than just trying to modify behavior.
Self-confidence comes from knowing your capacity and strengths. As we take action and develop skills, we become more confident. Often people sabotage their confidence by self-judgment and ‘discounting’. Self-leadership is about being grounded and realistic about what you are good at, and what needs improving, this leads to true authenticity and humility (self-leadership blog: false humility will kill your career)
Self-efficacy is the belief that whatever comes our way, we can handle it. We can take the feedback, Accept, Adjust and Advance. With self-efficacy, we can be more creative and innovative.
When our inner game is good, our outer game becomes more efficient and effective through influence and impact.
Influence is the result of intentional action. Through self-awareness and self-confidence, we increase our capacity to Influence. Because we are grounded in ourselves, we can focus on others, and what is best for them. We can therefore positively influence ourselves and the world around us to facilitate change.
Impact is how intention and influence are measured in the world.
SELF-LEADERSHIP AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
Developing self-leadership has been identified as important for the future of work. Research by the McKinsey Global Institute has looked at the kind of jobs that will be lost, as well as those that will be created, as automation, AI, and robotics take hold. And it has inferred the type of high-level skills that will become increasingly important as a result.
The research identified 56 Deltas ( a mix of skills and attitudes) across 13 skill groups and four categories. Digital fluency is not a surprise, but self-leadership accounts for twenty-five percent of the skill required. In addition, cognitive and interpersonal skills are enhanced with the practice of self-leadership.
Andrew Bryant has developed a Situational Judgment Test to measure the 3-core competencies of self-leadership; self-awareness, self-leadership, and self-regulation.
SELF-LEADERSHIP ONLINE COACHING
Self-leadership is essential for personal and career development. With self-leadership, you can enhance your Executive Presence, and then develop your Influence Capital to become a C-Suite leader.
SELF-LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR
Invest in yourself and transform your life with powerful mindsets and strategies to win in life and business.
EXECUTIVE PRESENCE ACCELERATOR
Discover the 6 strategies to stop being overlooked. Feel more confident and start your Senior Leadership Journey.
C-SUITE ACCELERATOR
Learn 3 things all C-Suite Executives have in common and how to develop them. Not where you want to be in your career? You need to change something.
Self-leadership Books
Self Leadership - How to Become a More Successful, Efficient, and Effective Leader from the Inside Out by Andrew Bryant and Anna Kazan, Ph.D (McGraw Hill 2012) is a comprehensive text to understand, "What is Self-leadership?". it covers the theory and application of Self-leadership to individuals and teams. It is available on Amazon.
Self Leadership - 12 Powerful Mindsets & Methods to Win in Life & Business (2016) is a succinct guide to personal transformation and increased influence through Self-leadership. It is available on Amazon and a free soft copy is included in The Self Leadership Accelerator online coaching programs.
The New Leadership Playbook: Being Human Whilst Successfully Delivering Accelerated Results is the third self-leadership book from Andrew Bryant. If you are a leader or manager in this post-pandemic world, you know that there’s more to being effective than just being good at what you do. It will require balancing empathy with accountability. It will require being human whilst driving for and delivering results.
"Written with deep insight, heart, and humor, Andrew Bryant has unpacked theory into practical plays you can immediately apply to lead yourself and others to higher ground." - Dr. Margie Warrell
