Mastering Self-Leadership

Mastering Self-Leadership

by | Jul 15, 2017 | Leadership, Self-awareness

Self-leadership is the ability to use your own personal strengths efficiently and effectively as well as having a proper understanding of your own personal behaviors. It is characterized by the 8 c’s of self-leadership: compassion, clarity, curiosity, calmness, confidence, creativity, courage, and connectedness. It is the ability to use your own personal strengths efficiently and effectively as well as having a proper understanding of your own personal behaviors. The question we should ask ourselves is; how can we lead others when we are not able to lead ourselves? Mastering self-leadership applies not only to your business life but to your personal life also.

SELF-AWARENESS IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP.

One of the most important things you need in order to be a self-leader is self-awareness. In order to be a great self-leader, we must be able to identify our own strengths and weaknesses. What are you good at? What do you need to improve on? Self-reflection is a great way to identify this. Once you are aware of what your personal strengths and weaknesses are, then you take on leadership roles that you will be good at in regards to your strengths, or that will personally challenge you in regards to your weaknesses.

Being a great self-leader also means being able to seek and be okay with feedback from others. When looking at our own strengths and weaknesses we can sometimes be biased. Seeking feedback from others allows you to get a different opinion, which may reveal something about yourself that you never thought of before. Although you may not always agree with someone else’s feedback, it is still extremely helpful to look at it from a different perspective. Sometimes we see ourselves differently than how others see us, and this is not always a good thing.

As a self-leader, you must always empower yourself as opposed to discouraging yourself.

Israelmore Ayivor stated, “those who mistrust their own abilities are being too wicked to themselves, discouraging themselves from doing what they should have been excelling in. If you are good at discouraging yourself, you can’t be a good leader because leadership is built on inspiring others to face challenges.”

In order to master self-leadership, you must truly know who you are, the good and the bad. You must be able to overcome challenges and take full responsibility for all your actions. You must be honest and truthful with yourself and others. Being a great self-leader means being the best you and embracing all your strengths and weaknesses. If you love, embrace, and are proud of who you are, others will shortly follow.

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What is Mindful Leadership?

What is Mindful Leadership?

by | Feb 15, 2017 | Leadership, Mindfulness

Nowadays it is so easy to get caught up in the stress, noise, and excitement of the modern world.  We are constantly being bombarded by billboards, commercials, and jingles all vying for our attention. Add to that our reliance on our smartphones and the nonstop status updates and tweets, and it seems we never have a moment to ourselves.  It might feel like you’re thinking about a million things at once.

Day in and day out, it slowly takes its toll, to the point where it can feel almost overwhelming.  And how do we react?  Sometimes we seem distant and preoccupied, sometimes we get high-strung and irritable, and sometimes, in worst case scenarios, it keeps us up all night.

We’ve all heard the saying that ‘a mind is a terrible thing to waste’, and I know what you’re thinking.  “Of course it’s a terrible thing to waste! And I’m definitely NOT wasting mine, just look at how busy I am!”

 

But have you ever thought about how you use it?

What if I told you there was a way to train and develop your mind in order to better overcome stress and live in the moment?

There is a trend in business towards what is called Mindful Leadership, which isn’t about what we necessarily focus our attention on, but how we focus it.  It is about paying active attention to our own thoughts and feelings and being present in the moment.  Practising mindful leadership cannot only reduce stress but increase your creativity and well being, while also optimizing your emotional intelligence.

How?

The key to mindful leadership is meditation.  But that doesn’t mean you have to spark the incense and contort your body into the lotus position, or anything like that. It can be as simple and easy as taking a 5-minute breather in your office. But it does take some practice.

The first step (and often the hardest) is that you have to clear your mind.

On paper, it might sound easy, but it can be surprisingly difficult to keep all those little nagging thoughts from bubbling up.  Closing the eyes helps because it eliminates any visual distractions, and can help you focus better.  You need to relax, preferably in a quiet room, although with practice you may be able to filter noises out through concentration.

The second step is breathing.

It is important to breathe deeply and fully, ideally, each breath in and out should take about 5 seconds each.  Try to breathe through your diaphragm, not the lungs, as we usually do.  You know you’re doing it right when you see your stomach move in and out with each breath, instead of your shoulders rising and falling.

With practice, it will become more natural to you, and you will be able to maintain the meditation for longer and longer periods of time.  And upon your return to the waking world, you will feel much more alert and refreshed.  If you look at your brain like it’s a computer, a quick meditative period can be likened to a quick reset, giving your mind a much-needed break.

The benefits of meditation can be quite amazing.  Along with an improvement in your overall wellbeing, you will develop a greater clarity of mind that will help you deal with stress more effectively.  It will also allow you to be able to focus your attention on the here and now, which will not only increase your self-awareness but strengthen your connection with others as you become a more capable and inspiring leader.

Interested in learning more about mindful leadership and emotional wellbeing? Check out our blog post, Improving Your Wellbeing with Self Management and Emotional Intelligence for tricks on how EQ competencies tie into wellbeing and self care. You can also connect with us and tell us what’s on your mind.

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