Course 4. Foundational Leadership Principles: (Discussion #3) Lead Yourself
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Great Leadership, unsurprisingly, starts with yourself!
Practice what you preach. Lead by example. I am sure all of you heard these phrases. But why are they so iconic?
Because the journey starts with the first step and you are the person who is taking the initiative to lead -- Start a journey! So, you are the one who needs to take the first step before expecting others to do it.
To start with leading yourself, close your eyes and visualize two people: someone who inspired and encouraged you to be like them, and someone who discouraged you to be not like them.
Then, write down the good qualities of the person who inspired you as well as the qualities of the second person. You do not have to be specific with the details. Just a bulleted list.
Now, compare the list to yourself. Note the good qualities you have, the bad qualities you have, and give yourself a rating on a scale of 1-10. What we just did is identified your strengths and weaknesses and what you need in order to lead yourself. This allows you to create self-awareness.
Self-awareness is key to leading yourself in the right direction. But, leading yourself is not easy. Just being self-aware isn't enough. It's igniting the spark but not enough to catch the fire. To catch the fire, you need to be persistent with your practice, which is regular reflection. Be consistent with monitoring your efforts and holding yourself accountable.
You can't effectively lead others until you know how to lead yourself. That happens through Self-Observant Leadership: when you deeply understand your identity, compare it to your reputation (how others experience you) and then make meaning of the observations, and choose to adapt.
Exercise:
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
2. Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread!
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1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
Decision making
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I feel there's alot to improve upon ,but one thing that overpowers others for me is Time Management , people who inspire me also fascinate me by making me wonder "How is this person able to do so much ?" , but what I realise is that, they are able to prioritize well and have great time management skills, which eventually means they don't always procrastinate or delay on things , and also find time for self care .
This is something I'd really like to work on , prioritizing effectively and using my available time in the right way that makes me feel satisfied at the end of the day , having a good balance of work and leisure .
2. Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread!
Done
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou Time management is indeed great skill to improve. Also it is one I have low-scored too. Prioritizing effectively should help drastically, so I hope for you.
@windSpirit
Thanks wind , I hope so too ❤
I am glad you're able to assess your improvement areas also, we got this 😊
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I've set low score at communications. I must improve various communication skills, including but not limited to listening, problem solving, decision making, conflict resolution, empathy, adaptability etc.
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I do not understand this question but I need to work on time management between chores, self care, friend, school, and 7 cups!
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I'm not 100% sure what the rationale was behind the self-awareness check-in, since it is very subjective and prone to bias. However, I would say my teamwork could be improved. I am a leader and tend to be a lone wolf in team situations. It gets the job done, but inter-personal relations are important to ensure smooth working :)
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I'm not 100% sure what the rationale was behind the self-awareness check-in, since it is very subjective and prone to bias. However, I would say my teamwork could be improved. I am a leader and tend to be a lone wolf in team situations. It gets the job done, but inter-personal relations are important to ensure smooth working. I would begin by improving communication within the team, and ensure that no one is left behind :)
@gigantCloud92
Thanks for sharing, sometimes it feels much quicker and easier to work alone, I'm glad you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and try to improve communication within the team
@Heather225
One area which I scored low on is 'indecisiveness'. I have difficult times when I am making decisions, especially if they are simpler, meaningless things. I can improve on this area by practicing to make quick decisions and asking for feedback. Communicating with the peple who know me well is the key to improving this area. I may ask them why they think I have trouble making decisions and incorporate their opinions while making an effort to improve my decision-making skills.
@UnicornsCottonCandy
Proud of you for facing your weakness headon and already found a step-by-step solution to change it.
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
Emotional regulations: Sometimes my frustration and impatience get in the way. When I'm too stressed out, I might lash out at teammate or express negativity in the workplace. In order to tackle this, I would make sure to have a more work-fun balance schedule and make sure that my emotional gas tank is always atleast 70% at work. if it's below, I should start recharging instead of socialising.
2. Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread!
Done!
@kindLemonade
I can relate! Emotional regulation is super important and I like how you shared that sometimes emotions can really get the best of us and make us lash out 
so we definitely need to make sure we're charged and rested during work/volunteering!
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
One area I scored low on is open and effective communication. This was expected because I've been struggled with talking with the members in the group when any problem arises. I usually chose to go the easier path which is just me correcting the problems myself without consulting the members and would inform them later so they can check back. But I would really want to change that because it doesn't seem like this method would work in the long term, especially in more professional settings. I think I can start by getting to know the members personally first to get comfortable around them, then I can create something like a group chat so that messages can be sent quicker and just to overcome my fear of speaking to people at first.
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
A: I need to be actually are self-aware. I do not like gray lines!
@loveagape
Having self-awareness will help you with your not liking grey lines
@loveagape Yeah specificity always help !
@loveagape
totally valid, I think that everyone has their own analysis and their way of seeing themselves, and many do not like to share it and it is totally valid <3 thank you very much for giving your point of view
