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What is self-leadership?
Home » Leadership » Self-Leadership and Self-Management » What is self-leadership?Fundamentally, leadership is a matter of purposeful influence. By definition, a leader has followers, people who follow the leader’s convictions and direction. Leaders recognize and articulate the goals of a group. In contrast to management, leadership is outward focused, a “Where are we going?” mentality. Leaders are strong or weak based on the clarity of their vision and their ability to effectively communicate visions and goals to a group of followers.
If leadership is about influencing others, then, self-leadership means challenging oneself to live according to convictions and goals. If leadership is about passing on vision through effective communication, self-leadership means living out vision through effective understanding of personal goals and visions.
Self-leadership begins with a mental aspect. A self-leader recognizes goals and has a determined plan for how to reach those goals. This is not an overnight awakening, but rather a long process of analyzing oneself and the surrounding world. Where do you want to be in five or ten years? What kind of person do you want to be? Self-leaders strive to answer these questions.
Once they know where they want to go, self-leaders get moving by adapting their behaviors to reach their goals. Think of the actions of a strong leader and then apply those to yourself. Encourage yourself, but also challenge yourself to keep moving. Make personal sacrifices in light of your greater goal. Don’t wait for things to happen to you; take charge and move forward in the direction you need to go.
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