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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Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I need to work on adaptability. When the proceedings lack harmony with my perspectives, I need to adapt so that I can move foward with the vision in the bigger picture.
Regular reflection can help build reputation (how others experience me), so that my mind discovers further harmony with those I work with.
@Fristo
it's true, regular reflection helps to build reputation.
@Heather225
The area where I need to improve is problem solving. I would improve it by not avoiding problems. I would try my best to solve them and take advantage of it❤
@LovetoGod
That really important skills: problem solving.
@blindHeart12
Yup 😊
@LovetoGod
Yes. Your problem solving skills improve as you practice solving problems and learn.
@peacefulIris56
Yup 😊
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I scored low on recognizing self-fatigue. I will improve this by practicing more self-care.
2. Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread!
Yes.
@peacefulIris56
yes, it's very important to practice self-care
Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in.
An area I scored low on my self-awareness check-in is boundary setting.
What is one thing you will do to improve?
One thing I will do to improve is identify where I set poor boundaries and try to be more mindful of my behaviors going forward, particularly when I’m participating in group chats. I will also ask com mods (who have been my informal mentors) to give me feedback on how I can improve as I work closely with them.
@richuyulin
Ahh! I should have written boundary-setting as well, it's something I need to focus on too. Well written, Richuyulin!
@Heather225 One area where I scored low would be quick thinking I tend to freeze sometimes in difficult situations but the person I wrote down doesn't so I think that area needs a bit of work. I will slowly start practice solving problem
Every winner was once a loser who got up and gave it one more shot
@mamtasha22 Yes. Maintain focus and be proactive.
@mamtasha22
Good that you're self-aware of this!
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I tend to overthink the worst case scenario because of which, I have lost the chance to know more people, hear their stories, share my thoughts and build stronger relationships. I had missed so many opportunities because of it. So, i will try to stop overthinking or negative thinking and will try to live in the moment.
@shallowWater7547
Living in the moment is so important. When we try to exercise control over the future (like preparing for a test and checking what content will be assessed), we're literally envisioning ourselves in what we think it will look like. And if you haven't experienced something often, your thoughts will run wild turning the scenario into whatever it wants. And then it's like you're genuinely within that future you envisioned, which is often scarier than the real thing. It's a side-effect of our human ability to look towards the future and try to anticipate it...
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I really need to work on respecting my own time and having healthy boundaries with other people. I tend to overdo things and take needless responsibility for myself. Perfection is something I might chase and have some unrealistic expectations of myself. Doing so would mean overburdening myself and getting burned out. One thing I will do to improve this is to set time boundaries and try not to act on every idea I get. Sometimes I will sit with some thoughts and not try to rush in with the implementation.
You can't give your life more time, so give the time you have, more life.
@lueurspace Hope you continue to improve !
@lueurspace Best of luck with this <3 Hopefully by improving on this you will also have more time for things like self-care
@Heather225
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in and one thing you will do to improve?
I lack the determination to do something. When i dont see success after a significat amount of time, i lose hope. My passion dies. I need to work on my patience. I need to understand there will be times when failure is due, or the results might be a bit far away than expected. I need to avoid getting impatient every now and then. That's one of the biggest things that troubles me. Hopefully i can improve it soon enough.
2. Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread!
Done!
@DigitalKnight This is so important! <3 Remember that failure can be good as it can show us how to improve :D
The one area I scored low on was planning effectively. I tend to be vague when planning and not have an actual plan. That creates a problem in future. Also not effectively estimating the time required. I keep a pretty strict schedule which is difficult to achieve. I need to be flexible with my schedule so I don't feel much pressure.
@helpfuldipper
I hope you can work on planning more efficiently! I have found I am able to plan but not follow through with it, haha. I can understand not being able to estimate the right time can be troublesome as well! I wish you the best of luck with having a flexible schedule! I am sure you are doing the best you can 
Best wishes with the program too!
You blossom under kindness, don't you? Like a rose.
@helpfuldipper I hope you are able to improve on this so that you're able to more flexible and feel less pressured! <3
1. Share one area where you scored low on your self-awareness check-in
One area I scored low on is that I can sometimes take on too many tasks. This is bad as it means I do not have enough time for self-care and personal growth..
2. What is one thing you will do to improve?
To improve I will go forward making sure that I allow myself enough time for personal growth and self-care before I commit to any tasks. I will also take only one task on at a time, gradually increasing my workload over time so that I can assess my time.
@IcedEthan
Hello!
I really liked that you pointed out the fact that multitasking can be overwhelming. That is something that a lot of us do that can lead to burnout. I am glad that you are making us aware of how this could be an issue.