Why Successful Business Leadership Starts with Effective Self-Leadership

You just scheduled a chimney repair with Brickworks when you get a call from a new client. They are seeking advice in which you don’t have an answer to. In turn, this makes you question your value as a business leader. It’s important to understand that even the most successful business leaders don’t have the answers to everything.

There are many elements that go into making a successful business leader and having all the answers isn’t one of them. Instead, we’re going to talk about why successful business leadership starts with effective self-leadership. 

Know What You Don’t Know

Positive self-leadership requires you to guide yourself in ways that help you grow into a better person – not just a leader. Successful leaders know that they are always learning, and that they aren’t the experts of everything. They can acknowledge that their views might not always be correct. In this way, they embrace not knowing what they don’t know. They use this as fuel to understand the world around them and within them.

The ego takes a backseat when it comes to effective self-leadership. Instead of walking around as if they have all the answers, these leaders’ question everything including their beliefs, ideas, and values. “Am I sure about this?” is something successful leaders ask themselves often.

Practice What You Preach

Lead by example is a common phrase we’ve all heard. This is especially important when it comes to business leaders. After all, clients wouldn’t want to seek financial advice from someone who can’t even budget their money correctly. Yet, it goes even deeper than that.

People want to follow someone for whom they can trust. Instead of using manipulation tactics to get clients, positive leaders live a life in which they don’t have to use the means of manipulating others to take their advice. They live a life guided by the principles they share with others.

Authenticity in the World of Business

What does it mean to be authentic? For effective business leaders, this means that they are transparent and honest with themselves and others. They have the awareness that they are human with faults and experiences of their own. Instead of trying to hide this, they live in a way that nurtures and emphasizes authenticity.

Self-leadership requires people to take accountability for who they are. This doesn’t mean they harshly judge themselves, but instead work towards being someone they aren’t afraid to show to the world. They allow themselves the compassion to lead with integrity – in turn, this encourages those they lead to do the same.

Approach Life with Self-Awareness

Self-awareness goes hand-in-hand with self-leadership. In order to self-lead, successful leaders know that they have to understand the reasoning behind their actions and beliefs. This means they are consistently observing what’s going on internally. They approach life with mindfulness and awareness.

This is why it’s so important that if you want to be an effective business leader that you have a high degree of self-awareness. You aren’t tempted to steer off course with self-limiting or unconscious beliefs. Instead, you embrace self-awareness which opens the door for creativity and new ideas to emerge.