Much ink has been spilled on the topic of leadership—and how to influence others. Topics like communication, alignment, inspiration, and the like have filled pages of books in increasing number. What has received less attention, but is becoming increasingly clear, is that leadership starts with oneself.
One day when my son could barely talk, he looked at me over breakfast and said clearly enough for me to understand, “work”. While my interactions with him were never about work, much of my time was spent doing it. I realized at that moment that I would need to model more for him what good behavior and habits looked like versus telling him. The same is true of leadership in an organization. It’s important to model the behaviors that are expected of employees. So good leadership starts with self-leadership.
Here are three important things leaders need to do to lead themselves well:
- Commit to effective daily habits. James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, talks about how we rise and fall to the level of our habits. It is the tortoise who beats the hare every time. Oftentimes leaders are seeking a mountain-top experience without the pain and monotony of the long climb. Daily habits are the long obedience in the same direction that creates progress. And it is progress, not perfection, we are seeking.
- Establish good boundaries. Henry Cloud, in his book Boundaries for Leaders, observes that our results are often a product of what we create and what we allow. We just talked about creating good habits. The challenge to those habits are what we allow. Do distractions get in the way of our focus? Do we allow negativity to distract us from our priorities? Every time we say yes to something, essentially we say no to something else. We need to choose wisely what we allow to get on our calendars, what we allow to affect our emotions, and who we allow into our circle of friends and influencers.
- Set clear direction for oneself. We are the CEOs of our own lives. It’s important to regularly review your goals and the pathway to get there. As part of our daily habits, review these as well and make sure the actions you plan to take that day are going to bring you one step closer to achieving your goals.
It’s amazing how these three simple things will catapult you and your team forward. Modeling this behavior for your team will do more than anything else. Coupling this with your own coaching for them will help them to be held capable of incredible results. If you want to improve your leadership, look in the mirror and evaluate your habits, boundaries, and strategic plan for yourself.