Self-Leadership: 8 Strategies to Become The True Leader of Your Own Life

In the 21st century, the organizations need to break up with the traditional concepts and they need to build flexible, competitive and innovative organizations to keep up with the rapid economic and technological development and change. This change in perspective brought positive psychology to the fore and has led to the development of new leadership models such as the model of self-leadership.

In this article I wrote about the different leadership theories so that you can gain a wider perspective of the different leadership styles and why they are important if you want to become an effective leader in different situations. You need to apply different leadership styles in different situations and work together with different teams so it is essential to understand how these theories and principles generate different results in your business environment.

While the leader-team and leader-employee interactions are crucial, I believe that true leadership starts with self-leadership. In this article, I write about why you need to understand the model of self-leadership first if you want to apply all the other models effectively.

We’ll be covering

• The journey from dependence to independence to interdependence
• What is self-leadership?
• What is the difference between self-leadership and self-management?
• Introducing the eight primary strategies of self-leadership and examples on the application
• Potential outcomes of self-leadership
• Put the self-leadership strategies into practice

The journey from dependence to independence to interdependence

There is one widely known social exchange theory which emphasizes the three levels or stages of individual development and social interactions. It is also called the ‘Three Stages of Wisdom’.This theory has a significant role in how leaders engage the organization and form different leadership cultures depending on which level the leader and followers operate.

Dependence: In the first phase of this theory we can find the level of Dependence. Probably we all know or have experienced this stage. It is called dependence as we are dependent on others, of our environment or our workplace. Those people who are stuck in the level of dependence haven’t created their value system yet, they didn’t take the time and effort to consciously choose their path or direction in life. They are following the generally accepted social norms. Hence, we call this level the culture of dependent-conformers. In the culture of dependence, the employees of the organization think that success depends merely on the people in authority. The employees are conformists and tackle the challenges and change hardly. Traditional organizational cultures are built on the concept of dependence.

Independence: When you ‘upgrade’ to level two, you will find yourself in the level of independence. Here self-leadership comes! On this level, you consciously choose and create your standards and values. You gained clarity of your life purpose and you know how you provide value to society in a way you don’t have to lose yourself. You are responsible for your actions and you know how you can lead yourself optimally so that you become more productive. You have your own time and work schedule and you are enthusiastic as well. In a work environment usually, you are the manager or the leader of an organization. You set your own goals and priorities and work for them, you have the inspiring mission. In the culture of independence, you can find a group of individual achievers and experts: the decision-making is decentralized and the individual performance is highlighted. This culture can adapt to change easily and there is room for improvement both on the individual and organizational level.

Interdependence: Interdependence is the third and highest level in this theory. You have already mastered the first two phases and you want to provide value to others and exchange these values with other independent leaders of the society. You understand the importance of partnerships. You know that partnership is far more powerful than domination. Effective and inspiring communication takes place. In the culture of interdependence, you will find a group of self-leaders who collaborate so new opportunities, structures, and solutions can emerge through the collective work. This is also called as the collective leadership. Individual and organizational improvement and feedbacks are essential and this is a culture of open-minded, mature, and conscious individuals who work together with an impact-focused perspective to make a difference in others’ lives.

Ponder on the following questions:

• Which level are you or your organization right now?
• How can you use this theory to enhance effectiveness in your business or your own life?
• Do you use any strategies to be more productive and effective?
• How do you manage your time and resources?
• Can you describe your value system to a stranger?

Read more to find out the eight self-leadership strategies that will enable you to maximize your potential and to become the conscious leader and manager of your own life and/or team.

What is self-leadership?

According to Manz and Neck (2004): “Self-leadership is a process through which individuals control their behavior, influencing and leading themselves through the use of specific sets of behavioral and cognitive strategies.”

In other words, self-leadership is a set of strategies which help you achieve that self-direction and self-motivation which is necessary if you want to reach your desired goals and vision. Self-leadership consists of three categories of behavior-focused strategies, natural reward strategies, and constructive thought pattern strategies.

What is the difference between self-leadership and self-management?

The concept of self-leadership first emerged in the mid-1980s (e.g. Manz, 1983), as an expansion of self-management. Although the two terms are related, they are not the same. Self-management emphasizes the extrinsic rewards (rewards and outcomes coming from the environment such as praise or recognition) while self-leadership focuses on the intrinsic motivation (e.g. Deci and Ryan’s (1985)) and the natural rewards such as the performance of an activity itself (Manz and Neck, 2004).

Introducing the eight primary strategies of self-leadership and examples on the application

We can differentiate the three main categories of self-leadership.

I. Behavior-focused strategies

Behavior-focused strategies improve an individual’s self-awareness to facilitate behaviors related to necessary but unpleasant tasks (Manz and Neck, 2004). Behavior-focused strategies include self-observation, goal setting, self-reward, and self-cueing. Let’s see what these strategies mean and how you can embrace them to improve your self-leadership.

1. Self-observation: It means that you increase your self-awareness to notice the patterns and schemes behind your behavior. Self-observation helps you change or eliminate those type of behaviors which are not productive or effective in your life. It is a useful technique if you even take notes of your observations. If you observe your current behavior you can gain useful information and you improve your self-knowledge.

2. Goal-setting: Goal-setting is the second strategy that is essential if you would like to manage your own life. There is great science behind goal-setting and you can find numerous workshops, training session where you can learn more about goal-setting. You can also consult a coach or an expert in the field of goal-setting. There are online tools as well to help you extend your knowledge on this topic. One of the most popular goal-setting methods is the SMART method. Setting challenging and specific goals significantly increase individual performance (Locke and Latham, 1991).

3. Self-reward: It is important to celebrate our successes! Just as goal-setting, self-set rewards also increase performance and the chance of accomplishing the goals as well (Manz and Neck, 2004). There are two types of self-rewards: intangible and tangible self-rewards. When we talk about intangible self-rewards I refer to something simple such as being proud of ourselves after we managed to finish something important such as a business project, or a challenge. Tangible rewards can be anything concrete or specific, for example, a vacation to the desired destination, or enjoying a wellness day, or buying something you have longed for a while.

4. Self-cueing: Environmental cues can be effective forms of enhancing the desired self-leadership behaviors, too. Your environment has a significant effect on your way of thinking and acting, hence, it is important to create an environment around yourself which is encouraging you to work on your goals. Environmental cues foster constructive behavior. Think of your environment: your social circle, your friends, the events you attend, your home. What do these tell about your future and your goals? How can you change your environment to support your journey of improvement? You can start it with something simple such as choosing another screensaver, or setting up inspiring reminders on your phone.

II. Natural reward strategies

With the application of natural reward strategies, you create situations where you are naturally motivated and inspired because you practice inherently enjoyable tasks and activities. You generate situations where you become motivated and inspired because you do inherently enjoyable tasks and activities and you solve inherently interesting and exciting problems and challenges. There are two primary natural reward strategies. Both of these strategies generate the feelings of competence and self-direction which are the two main mechanisms of intrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 1985).

5. Seek the positive! The first strategy helps you incorporate more enjoyable features into a seemingly boring task or activity so the task becomes inherently rewarding. For example, while you are doing your mandatory administrative work or other monotonous tasks you can listen to podcasts or your favorite songs. This way your brain will tie these two activities together so you will look forward to performing the tasks because — in the given example — you can’t wait to listen to the newest episode of your beloved podcast series.

6. Focus on rewarding and pleasant aspects! If you use the second strategy within this category you form your perceptions in a way that you redirect your focus from the unpleasant parts of an activity to the pleasant and interesting aspects. For example, if you do your workout routine, focus your attention on the feeling of the endorphin boost you experience during your workout.

III. Constructive thought pattern strategies

Constructive thought pattern strategies facilitate a constructive way of thinking that can positively impact performance and well-being (Manz and Neck, 2004). There are two main strategies which include identifying and replacing the dysfunctional beliefs and patterns with solution-focused and constructive patterns.

7. Positive self-talk or inner dialogue: You can observe and analyze your thought patterns not just your behavioral patterns. Self-talk is defined as what you tell to yourself. If you apply this strategy you recognize and observe your negative or irrational thought patterns and consciously replace them with positive processes and thoughts. You can replace these dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs and assumptions with affirmations.

8. Visualization: Visualization is a proven method that is used both in business and sports psychology. Try to visualize the desired outcome you wish for as vividly and rich in details as much as you can. Do this at least 15–20 minutes per day and see what happens. After a few weeks, you will realize that you can notice more opportunities in your environment that support your goals. You become more inspired and motivated, as well. You can boost this method if you practice visualization while listening to upbeat music. Those people who envision the successful performance of activity can perform more successfully in real-life situations, as well (Manz and Neck, 2004).

Potential outcomes of self-leadership

You can apply the self-leadership strategies both in your private and professional life as well as on an individual and group level. I encourage you to try and practice one or all of the methods mentioned above. Test them and experiment! The self-leadership research suggests that there are several possible outcomes of the application of self-leadership.

1. Increased commitment: If you practice the self-leadership strategies you will experience an increased sense of ownership over your tasks and work processes. You will be more committed and dedicated to your projects, activities, and team or organization.
2. Independence: You will also experience greater control and autonomy which will support you in decision-making situations. It will be easier to make firm decisions. Research shows that those people who don’t apply the self-leadership strategies are more dependent on the external influences of their environment (Houghton and Yoho, 2005).
3. Creativity and innovation: Those who apply more self-leadership strategies in their lives experience a higher level of creativity because the higher need for independence is connected to the need for creative and innovative endeavors. This means that the application of self-leadership is improving the performance in innovative organizations and innovative organizational cultures, too.
4. Effectiveness: Self-leadership is a crucial component in self-managing teams with no formal or informal leaders. Individual and team effectiveness are increasing if people are able to use the strategies. You will be more productive and you can manage your time and resources more effectively after you have learnt the self-leadership strategies.

Put the self-leadership strategies into practice

The best-selling author, coach and entrepreneur John Assaraf says that “the habit is more important than the intensity.”

When you are trying to apply the strategies above, it is important to note that practicing consistently and tracking your progress is crucial to success. If you would like to succeed you need to incorporate these strategies into your daily life.