If You Want to Be a Leader – Lead Yourself First was originally published on Ivy Exec.
“The most important person you will ever lead is yourself.” – John C. Maxwell.
As John C. Maxwell said, the most important person you will ever lead is yourself. Before we start to think about leading others or if we want to improve how we’re leading others, we need to learn how to lead ourselves first. Let’s explore the importance of self-leadership and how it can help you become a better leader.
🔹 Elements of Self-Leadership
At the core of what leadership is all about is leading ourselves.
If I were to put self-leadership into one simple statement, it’s probably this: how well do you follow through on the commitments you make to yourself and live in congruence with your own stated values and goals?
Who we are inside matters, as it drives what happens on the outside and thus impacts others around us. Hence, we must master this inner game. When you say you’re going to do something, do it.
🔹 The Importance of Vision and Clarity
In a team or organization, leaders need to clarify the vision and the reasons behind it.
In our own lives, too few people even spend time crafting a vision for their personal lives. Their goals and dreams are diminished or nonexistent, or they just feel out of reach.
Create a vision for yourself, and use that as a driving force to create a vision as a leader for others. If not, why would anyone want to follow you?
🔹 Rating Your Level of Self-Leadership
Take a moment right now and give yourself a simple rating of self-leadership on a scale of 1-5.
Here are a few questions you might consider asking yourself to complete the rating:
- Have you identified your core values? Do you usually live by them?
- How often do you keep commitments you make to yourself?
- Do you have a vision for your life and who you want to become? Are you taking actions that will make that a reality?
- Do you like yourself? Right here and now, not just waiting for something to happen in the future?
Figuring out where you land in relation to these questions can help you identify areas you have the opportunity to improve in your self-leadership.
🔹 Seeking Help from a Leadership Coach
This work is hard to do on our own, and we all need some help. A leadership and career development coach can help you learn how to identify those things that are important to you and then start taking action to move toward those goals.
The best athletes have coaches. So do the best engineering leaders.
Reach out to me, and we can talk about the next steps to becoming the leader you are meant to be – for yourself, and others.
Take Intentional Action
If this resonates with you, I’d love to help you take this even further.
Connect with me on LinkedIn or send me an email. Whether you’re looking for individual support or programs for your team or organization, let’s talk about how to create intentional growth and development.
My book, The Intentional Engineer, has a whole framework and process to map out your intentional career journey. You can get the free workbook with a bunch of exercises and activities to help you shift your mindset at https://www.theintentionalengineer.com/workbook.
Grab your copy, and create your intentional life/career!
