Leading with Character: Leading Self
My New Year’s Day blog was “Resolve to be Worthy.” That’s a resolution anyone can make, regardless of their status as a leader. In fact, leadership starts with “leading self.” In that context we’re all leaders.
Learning to Lead Oneself
Resolving to be worthy starts with knowing oneself and learning to lead oneself. Sounds almost ridiculously easy, right? But it’s not. If it was, everyone would be a good leader. Learning to lead oneself requires dedicated effort and reflection. At the US Coast Guard Academy, the James M. Loy Institute for Leadership enables cadet leader development. The 200-week (four-year) journey begins with “leading self.” Cadets experience leadership first-hand on the waterfront, through their professional military development, in the classroom, and on the athletic field. They are assessed and measured in seven competencies:
- Accountability & Responsibility
- Aligning Values
- Followership
- Health & Well Being
- Self-Awareness & Learning
- Personal Conduct
- Technical Proficiency
Over the course of the program, the cadets gain some level of mastery of the “leading self” competencies, and move on to the next stage, “leading others.”
Lifelong Learning
Looking back on my 40 years with the US Coast Guard, including four years as a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy, I realize “leading self” is not just for younger people or aspiring leaders. It’s an enduring element of leadership at all levels. The more I reflect, the more it seems I learn about myself, and how to better lead myself. I think it’s important that leaders, as they grow more senior, with more influence, never stop going back to the basics of leading themselves. Such a practice keeps a leader grounded and humble, empathetic and compassionate.
A good test of whether or not you’ve succeeded in learning how to lead yourself is to ponder the question, “would I want to follow myself?” Only then are you ready to move to the next stage of “leading others.”
Look in the mirror. Are you worthy of leading others?
Please join me again next week for more on Leading with Character.
If you enjoyed this post, please visit my website where you can buy my book, Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters, and sign up for my mailing list: https://sandrastosz.com/book/breaking-ice-and-breaking-glass/
