3 Steps to Effective Self-Leadership

I have had to learn a lot about myself in the last few months. I have spent most of my time exploring my values and what it means to be wearing this new entrepreneurial hat. The biggest shift I have had to make has been with self-direction. After 30 years of being told what my priorities are, it was a bit disorienting to find myself “directionless”. Don’t get me wrong. I was very clear in terms of my higher purpose and the new direction my life was going into. But transforming that from the vision into the reality of taking daily action and being the lynchpin in making that happen has taken some time to put in place.

While I am not 100% there, I feel I am much more focused and clear as to what that looks like and how to make it happen. It’s been a process which I am gladly sharing with you, in the hopes it can accelerate your journey.

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

When we’re in a corporate environment, our qualities and performance are constantly being measured, if not judged. If you have a half-decent boss, you get regular, constructive feedback, so you have visibility as to where you are nailing it and where you need to improve. When you are on your own, you need to drive that bus. You have to understand yourself at a different level, and diving deeper into your strengths and weaknesses is a great first step.

When you know your strengths, you know the qualities that can support you in achieving your goal. Do you take Bold action? Are you Empathic? Can you bring people together for a greater purpose?

Then, you need to check your ego at the door and be honest about your weaknesses. By accepting you are not perfect, you become aware of where you need to improve and grow. Only then, can you begin to address your weaknesses and devise a development or learning plan.

One great way to find out where you stand is by doing a Lominger assessment. You can find the list of 67 competencies here. Once you have the list, you need to force rank your choice into three piles: 22 competencies where you consider yourself “skilled” and “unskilled” and the last 23 go into the average pile. You can use your “unskilled” pile to identify where to focus. Some may be more or less relevant, if you are looking at it from the point of view of entrepreneurship, but it is a great place to start.

Another great way to identify your strengths and weaknesses is by asking others for feedback. Carefully choose some friends and ex-colleagues. You want people who will have the courage to provide useful feedback and who will deliver it in a thoughtful and constructive way.

Don’t compare yourself to where others are in their journey. However, you can learn from the things they do, the qualities they develop and how they grow themselves and their business to add to your learning plan. Just make sure it is authentic and congruent with who you are.

Finally, take ownership of your life. Unlike corporate, no one will tell you what to do. Take responsibility for yourself and your future. Make a plan and follow through on your commitments to yourself.

Define Your Vision, Know Your Goals and Plan

The first step in taking ownership for your life is defining what you want that life to look like. When I woke up after my last day at work, I walked in my living room, stood there with my hands on my hips and thought “now what…?”

I had already started working on my vision, so my first step was to further define and fine tune it, turning it into a powerful motivational force to keep me moving forward, even when things didn’t go as planned. I knew that having that Big Dream in front of me would help me stay on track.

To make it happen, you need to develop your long-term goals and work backwards until you have not only short-term goals, but also concrete actions to help you reach those goals. But it’s not only about your “work” goals. It’s also about your learning plan. What got you here isn’t necessarily what will get you there. Though there are universal skills between corporate and entrepreneurship, there are also specific skills you will have to develop. If you are a coach like me, some of the skills you might need to develop are creativity, networking, writing, marketing… So many choices! Define what will help you move the needle fastest and start there.

You’ll have to become used to being uncomfortable, for nothing of consequence happens when you’re stuck in your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to try new things. It could be something as simple as eating a food you’ve never eaten before. Build that courage muscle and discover that whatever new thing you try, you’re not likely to die! Embrace new challenges. Need some accountability? Enlist a friend to do it with. Sometimes, doing a challenge with someone else is a good approach because you can learn together and from each other and therefore move faster!

Along the way, don’t forget to measure your progress. Once you have identified the growth areas you want to focus on, I encourage you to set up a simple scoring system. One of my favorites is rating myself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being “I’m awesome at this”. Score yourself honestly. When you don’t, you do yourself a disservice. You don’t have to impress anyone. You need a realistic view of where you are, so you know how to move forward. You also don’t want to underrate yourself because you may end up spending more time than needed on a given competency, rather than spending your time where you need to.

One of the reasons I love the scoring is because it helps you recognize where you have made progress. And it doesn’t have to be huge progress. Chances are it will be small steps taken consistently. It’s easy to celebrate the big things, but celebrating the little ones in between is really what keeps you going and fuels your tank!

One of the things I miss most since leaving corporate is the people I used to interact with on a daily basis. I love collaborating, building on other people’s thoughts and ideas, brainstorming solutions and I miss that as an entrepreneur. I remember being able to ask anyone around me what their experiences had been with a particular problem. I learned from them. Asking for help when you’re on your own can be difficult. The first step is to recognize you need help and when you realize that, to seek for it from fellow entrepreneurs, friends and others on a similar journey. It will help for a couple of different reasons; 1. You won’t feel so alone in your journey and 2. You can cut your learning curve.

Learn to Govern Yourself

For me, governing myself is holding myself accountable and keeping myself on track with what I want to do. When I was in corporate, I was accountable to my boss, my team, and my organization. Being on my own, I had to set that accountability for myself and found three ways that helped me most.

Stay organized: When you are organized, you become extremely efficient. One simple thing I do is to keep things is the same place. Like that I don’t have to spend hours wondering where the stuff I need is! I was reminded of that this morning. My boyfriend needed to leave to run an errand and was looking for his watch. He couldn’t find it, even though it was under his nose because he took it off mindlessly, put it somewhere and couldn’t remember what he did with it. So, develop an organizational system that works for you, whether it’s a physical, mental or chronological system. You’ll thank yourself for it. If you’re not used to having a system, it might feel restrictive at first, but then it will become second nature.

You have to clear the clutter. That clutter can be mental, and the way you do that is by identifying and clearing limiting beliefs, or it can be physical. I’ve heard people say that messy people are more creative. Personally, that doesn’t work for me. When my space is cluttered, I can’t think straight. All I see is the mess around me and I can’t concentrate. My BF is as messy as I am neat. He tends to leave things out because he’ll need to use them again, or he has 57 tab open on his browser. When it comes to his desk, even he acknowledges that he feels better when he has less on his desk and things are organized. My recommendation is once you’re defined that organizing system, stick to it. When you’re done with one thing put it away and move on to the next.

You can also govern yourself by practicing mindfulness. In a society where many are chasing the next shiny object, being present is a way to slow down time and enjoy the journey. When you keep going after the next thing without expressing gratitude for or appreciating the moment, it can feel like an endless, and mostly unfulfilling journey. Carve some time out for yourself to meditate. You can practice letting go of limiting beliefs, chanting positive affirmations, or visualizing your future. All are good to keep you motivated and on track.

Final Words

Before we can lead others, we have to lead ourselves. We have to know and stand strong in who we are. When we have a clear vision and goals, staying on track and living into our best self is much easier. Some of the techniques you can use for governing yourself are staying organized, clearing your mental and physical clutter and practicing mindfulness.

I’d love to hear how you are doing on your journey. Leaver a comment and let me know! Together, we can inspire others to follow their dreams!