Tuesday 23 November 2010

Self-Leadership 101: Introduction

Okay, today I am going to talk about self leadership. A topic that is in my interest for a long time and have done some research on it. 

You all may ask these few questions: 
(1) What is self-leadership? 
(2) Why do I need it? 
(3) Is it different from the other types leadership? 

As for today, I will be focusing on these 3 questions. 

First, what is self-leadership? 
Self-leadership as the name implies, is about how you lead and guide your own self in your life. When we are young, many decisions that impacted us maybe made by our parents, those who have more experiences in life than us.  As we grow older, there seems to be more decisions that are to be made by ourselves and we are to face the consequences to the decisions we've made. Coming into adulthood, you are totally responsible for your own being. This is where self-leadership comes in. 

Self-leadership talks about how you can become a lead of yourself, commanding, guiding yourself to achieve your goals as how you would with leadership in a team whereby you lead others. 

What is good (or adequate) self-leadership? I have summarize them in 5 main points.

1. I love myself
This implies that you are willing to accept whatever, however, whoever you are. No matter how are good and bad you are, on the inside and on the outside. Willing to accept the fact does not neccessary means you agree to that fact. For example, I am fat, I accept that I am fat, but i does not neccessary accept that fat is good cause, obesity can bring health issues. 

2. I am willing to take changes
In life there are many situations where you can expect and not expect. To be a good self-leader, you are to allow changes to be made in your life. You are to embrace changes that if the changes is for the better. With willingness to take changes, it also means that you are willing to listen to critism. You are willing to improve and acquire new knowledge and skills if possible.

3. I am passionate on what is ahead
Passionate does not means that you have to jump up and down to cheer on what is to come~ You can do that, but different people have different style of being passionate. But the point is that, being passionate about what is ahead is about that you are always looking forward to the next point in life. If you are not, there is no point of having good self-leadership if you are not looking forward. Without passion, President Obama would not be standing in front of millions addressing his speech.

4. I sacrifice what is necessary
For everything we buy, there is a price to pay. Some are high and some are low. John C. Maxwell said this "...I reminded myself that I have to give up to go up" Sometimes, we have to give up things in order to process. It can something we love, something we like, something we don't like. Nonetheless, it is important to see that if that sacrifices is worth. Something like family or relationship are somethings that I would not sacrifices. You just have to be wise on it.   

5. I keep firm to my principles
Principles are what differentiates us as human. A person without principles is like a person without dignity. Everyone's principle might be different and that is ok. If someone does not keep firm to his/her principles, his/her decision making quavers whenever subjected to the opinions of others. We are the author of our lives, every decision we make, we are the ones to face those consequences. Stay firm to what you believe in, your principles, and make changes to the principles if necessary. As long as you keep firm to your principles, you have a clear mind of what is your decision. 

I will share in more details on the 5 points in the days to come. 

Okay, so you asked, why do I need this so called 'self-leadership'? 

Well, do you want to achieve what you've dream for? Do you want to be better than what you are now? Do you hunger for something on the other side of the pasture?Do you want to earn more $ for you and your family? Do you want to get a better relationship? Do you want to get that red hot Ferrari that you have longed for in a shorter time?

If you answer yes, then you need to make sure that you are leading yourself well, self-leadership

Lastly, is this leadership much different than the other types of leadership? 

Yes, because it is all about yourself! 
No, because it is also about to how lead an individual (that is YOU!) 

As a conclusion, just like to say thank you for your time to read this post. Hope it helps. 

Remember, "We are the author of our lives, lead myself well"

Cheers!

Yours Truly,

-G-

 

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