Self-leadership is the ability to intentionally influence one’s own thoughts, feelings and action towards achieving professional and personal goals. It is a journey of self-discovery, acceptance and self-improvement that has the potential to transform an individual and their circles of influence both personally and professionally. It’s impact on one’s workplace experiences is clear to see. With improved self-leadership one is imbued with restraint where emotional disarray calls for calm; one is steeped in stronger decision-making processes; one is more capable of taking risks in search of organisational gain and; one is able to act with courage and leadership in times of crisis.

Below we describe six essential elements of self-leadership and how they apply to the workplace.

1. Self-awareness is understanding who you are, your aspirations, your strengths and weaknesses. One of the key agents of self-awareness is emotional intelligence which is the ability to recognize and understand one’s emotions and feelings. Emotional intelligence determines how one responds to different situations. Many organisations use personality tests to identify individuals’ strengths and working styles, thereby helping them to enhance their self-awareness while also adding to organisational capability.
2. Self-regulation is the ability to manage one’s emotions, thoughts and behavior without external influences. Developing this skill helps one to respond appropriately to challenges or unexpected circumstances rather than react with agitation. The difference between a response and a reaction is that a response is carefully thought-out while a reaction is usually a spontaneous outburst. Reactions are usually driven by emotions and responses are driven by reasoning. Self-regulation helps a person to process and manage their emotions and feelings. Self-regulation can play a role in how a person deals with last-minute requests, a sudden change of plans or a performance appraisal that hasn’t gone as expected.Individuals that self-regulate rarely compromise on their values nor do they make rushed or emotional decisions. Leaders and managers need to self-regulate if they are to lead their teams objectively and impartially. Similarly, self-regulation is critical when managing conflict or dealing with feedback on one’s performance.
3. Motivation is the reason, need or desire that drives an individual to achieve a goal or continue to pursue something. Self-motivated people work diligently to reach their goals and have very high standards of quality. When facing challenges or struggles, one needs to remind themselves of the goal and why they decided to pursue it. Self-motivation requires a person to be optimistic and generally find the positives in any situation.
4. Empathy is the ability to understand other people’s feelings and emotions and respond in a way that is respectful and supportive. Empathy requires one to read body language and to express appropriate body language when interacting with others. One must also respond to the feelings or body language expressed by others. Empathy helps leaders to establish meaningful relationships with individuals in their teams which allows them to develop talent, provide constructive feedback, navigate team dynamics and improve overall performance.
5. Social skills are the ability to build and maintain relationships with others through good communication. Communication can be both verbal and non-verbal exchanges. Listening is probably the most critical but neglected communication skill. It is important to listen to understand and not listen just to respond. After all, we spend much of our time communicating and of this time a majority is spent listening (45%), followed by talking (30%), reading (16%) and writing (9%).People with strong social skills manage change effectively by presenting the change as an opportunity rather than a threat. They can also tactfully resolve conflict through open discussion while balancing the recognition of each parties’ emotions with rational reasoning.
6. Accountability is taking personal responsibility for one’s behaviour, decisions, actions and results. It means owning up to rather than shifting blame when things go wrong and acting to correct an issue. Leaders are also accountable for their teams’ behavior and actions in both successes and failures. Accountability improves team efficiency and productivity.

In conclusion, self-leadership is a skill that needs to be developed. Self-leadership determines how a person interacts with others, establishes relationships and performs in their work. A leader cannot lead others if they cannot lead themselves. Unfortunately, there are many in the workplace who do not have an awareness of self-leadership qualities in evidence, much less attempt to harness them. Individuals, businesses and organisations that focus on developing self-leadership are more likely to be focused, efficient, effective and fulfilled.

References

Indeed Career Guide. (2020, October 6). Retrieved from indeed.com: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/self-leadership

Mind Tools. Emotional Intelligence in Leadership. Retrieved from Mind Tools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_45.htm