‘We cannot live better than in seeking to become better.’ Socrates, 470-399 BC.

For most organisations leadership development is about the process of building leaders of people through whom results can be delivered.

Typically a leadership development programme may include topics such as leadership models, strategy, planning, decision-making, and delegation to name a few.

Unfortunately, most of the leadership development that takes place is built upon a poor foundation, for it is rooted in the flawed assumption that people can effectively lead themselves.

In reality many people cannot and this begs the question: ‘If a person cannot lead themself how can they be expected to effectively lead others?’

This may go some way to explaining why many organisations have found that their return on leadership development is below their expectations – they are trying to build leaders of others before they have built leaders of self. They are building upon sand.

Yet, leadership remains popular whilst self-leadership doesn’t.

What is self-leadership? Why is it important?

Self-leadership is about individuals who have a developed sense of whom they are, what they can do, and where they are going. Their daily life is rooted in positive beliefs about both self but also about others that is externalised through their attitude, behaviour, and communication.

Unfortunately, many people do not come ideally packaged as leaders of self, let alone leaders of others.

Fortunately, self-leadership can be cultivated but it is challenging, for it starts by changing mindset.

An individual’s mindset is a fixed mental attitude or outlook stemming from their beliefs that predetermines how they think about and interpret situations; their emotional reactions; the decisions they make; and the actions they take.

A person’s mindset not only impacts those around them and so determining the quality of the relationships and the interactions they have but crucially in the context of leadership, it influences the way they lead others.

Many people have a predetermined attitude to their role as a leader and what leading means frequently founded in beliefs many of which are often historical, potentially negative, and accordingly not pertinent to leading themselves let alone the leading of others.

Whilst the mindset of an individual may only affect the few people working alongside them the impact widens as a person rises as a leader up through the organisation on their route to the top.

Leaders at any level set example but those at the top, have through the externalisation of their mindset, a powerful influence upon the culture of the organisation and the people they lead.

Dominance is a biological universal among all social mammals with hierarchies being common throughout the animal kingdom and the model of the leader being embedded in the human psyche[1]. As such we look to and tend to follow leaders in organisations in both professional and cultural ways that strongly influences the behaviour, the way things are done, and in particular the organisation's capacity to learn, change, and perform.

Unfortunately, most leaders are no different to the average person; they are poor self-leaders. When it comes to leaders at the top few leaders choose to surround themselves with people who will tell them the truth about their behaviour (let alone anything else). They, like many people, live in the belief - a false confidence - that they know themself well.

Research, however, shows that this self-confidence is ill founded and that many people’s self-assessments ‘are often flawed in substantive and systematic ways’[2] with the least competent people often being the most confident in the abilities.

All humans have ‘blindspots’ about themselves with the psychologist Daniel Kahneman observing that ‘human beings possess an almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.’[3]

Social psychologists refer those who are deluded about their own capabilities as being in the grip of ‘The Better than Average Effect’[4] – the illusion that one is more superior to another.

Confronting the false beliefs that support the delusion of ‘The Better than Average Effect’ is vital and the key lies in self-awareness: The ability to see ourselves clearly; how others see us; to understand who we are; and how we fit into the world around us.

Poor self-awareness cost organisations highly.

Research shows that where organisations are filled with people with low self-awareness the price can be high: Increased conflict by an average of 30%; team performance capabilities reduced by 36%; and the coordination - the leadership - of people negatively impacted by some 46%.[5]

It is important to recognise that whilst improving self-awareness is crucial, self-leadership embraces much more. Self-awareness is but a part of the greater self-knowledge we need to helps us understand and develop our mindset for it is this that is underpinning minute-by- minute how we behave, communicate, influence others, learn, and significantly how we approach and lead others.

The more effectively people are in leading themself the more effective they will be in leading others.

Organisations cannot expect to get the payback on their leadership development investment unless they first build on the solid foundation of leaders who can firstly effectively lead themselves.

[1] Nicholson, N. (2000) Managing the Human Animal’ Texere, London, pp 98-99

[2] Dunning, D., Heath, C., & Suls, J.M. (2004) ‘Flawed self-assessment implications for health, education, and the workplace’ Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5.3, pp 69-106

[3] Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow’ Macmillan, NY, p 201

[4] Alicke, M.D, Dunning, D.A., & Kreuger J.I. (2005) ‘Studies in self and identity: The self in social judgement.’ Psychology Press, NY, pp85-106

[5] Dierdoff, E.C., & Rubin, R.S. (2015) ‘Research: We’re not very self-aware, especially at work’ Harvard Business Review, March 2015.