Leaders Make Their Beds: 3 Strategies for Self-Leadership
The best leadership quote I heard over the course of writing Next Gen Leadership comes from the legendary General Douglas MacArthur. It’s so powerful and illuminating for me that I decided to use it as the epigraph:
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.”
There is a well of insight in those words, but the last sentence in particular highlights true leadership by showing leadership is bestowed, not discovered or stolen. Leadership is not pursued, but rather ensues from consistent effort and integrity in daily life. You become a leader not because you want the job, fancy title or perks, but because your colleagues want you to have the job. They want you to have the job because they want to follow your example — an example that embodies “equality of actions and integrity of intent.”
In Next Gen Leadership, I call this self-leadership. Self-leadership is the daily combination of courage, discipline, and humility to challenge oneself to set the best example possible. All three, the courage to strive greatly, the discipline to stay the course, and the humility to avoid complacency are essential to self-leadership.
The reason self-leadership is so integral to effective leadership and comprises the first lesson of the book is because self-leadership fosters trust. A team without trust is a ship without sails. Often times when trust is lost, it is because words failed to match actions on a team and it usually starts at the top. Integrity and discipline were lost and self-leadership became weak. Once a leader embodies poor self-leadership, that example spreads through the organization rapidly.
Think of it this way, self-leadership is the task of consistently leading yourself through the day. It includes focusing on the task at hand, connecting problems with solutions, and maintaining a positive attitude. If you cannot lead yourself, the one individual whom you have complete control over, how can you lead a group of diverse, talented people whom you have limited control over? Self-leadership is the constant challenge of providing the best example for your team to follow. As the leader goes, so the team follows.
Make no mistake about it, self-leadership is tough. There are endless temptations and short cuts out there… being a yes man, passively working, listening but not engaging, hitting the snooze button, and those pesky candies in the office lobby. I’m not saying an excellent self-leader doesn’t have one of those candies every once in a while, but every day they do exercise the courage, discipline, and humility to put out the best example for their team to follow.
I have three strategies for self-leadership that will certainly benefit your approach to leading yourself throughout the day:
(1) Make Your Bed
Ok, I know this sounds trivial, but I promise it changes the way you approach your day. I picked up this habit from a speech by US Navy Admiral and Navy SEAL William McRaven in his commencement address at UT Austin when I was a junior in high school. I have made my bed every single day since then. Making your bed is the first task of the day. Albeit a small task, having made your bed is a task done and it will give you the motivation and confidence to move onto the next task. You will progress throughout your day accomplishing whatever task comes before you building on the satisfaction from accomplishing the task prior. The best part is that it becomes habit. I cannot leave my room unless my bed is made. I just feel as though I’m walking outside naked if that bed isn’t made. This is so powerful! When a practice becomes a habit, you just do it regardless of the circumstances. Leading by example through self-leadership should be the same thing. You resist temptations, frustrations, and short cuts because it’s a habit just like making your bed is a habit.
(2) Pursue Excellence
I picked up this tip from Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com and a remarkable, generous leader. His advice to me was to pursue excellence over money, fame, or recognition because people are attracted to excellence above all else. If you pursue excellence, your motivation becomes internal. When motivation becomes internal, it turns into discipline and you can count on discipline far more than motivation to set a good example as a leader. Your attitude when you walk into a team setting should be “I don’t care what our task is or what my task is, but whatever is needed, I am going to do to the best of my ability for the sake of excellence itself, nothing else.” People follow that example because they can trust that that leader is always trying to pursue excellence for their team’s benefit.
(3) Always Exude Gratitude
Life is difficult and leadership is especially difficult because you have the livelihoods of your teammates on your shoulders as well. There will be challenging times when self-pity and the blame game are easy scapegoats. But remember, leadership is about setting the example and that doesn’t change when crises arise. The way to combat this is to maintain composure and gratitude when challenges arise. I promise if you can maintain the composure to find a solution and the gratitude to know it could be worse, then you will be able to push through any crises that comes your way.
I hope you enjoyed this piece on self-leadership. You can find more self-leadership lessons in Chapter 1 of Next Gen Leadership.
Words have to match actions in positions of leadership, or else influence and respect are lost. Self-leadership is the art of crafting an ever-improving example by which to lead.
If you want to connect, you can reach me here via email hst7@georgetown.edu or connect with me on social: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Also, you can find my book, Next Gen Leadership on Amazon — here is the link to buy it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KMJQ2MK
