Self Leadership Skills - The Base Required For Success

by Jim Cathcart

If you can't lead yourself then you aren't ready to lead others.
Stated more positively: When you learn to lead yourself the world is yours!

In 1977 I formed Cathcart Institute for the expressed purpose of "Helping People Grow."
Since then I've worked with psychological researchers, organizational development specialists, managers, authors, poets, trainers, olympic athletes, philosophers, historians, scientists and motivators to determine how people can gain more control over their lives and more capacity for self direction.

My assumption has been that by empowering others to lead themselves effectively I will expand the contributions they make to the world and all of us will ultimately benefit. When I'm hired as a motivational speaker my task is not to motivate others but rather it is to show them how to continually motivate themselves. If I only motivate them from the outside then they remain dependent on others to get them going. But by showing them how to sustain Self Leadership, they are free to grow on their own.

For Managers, the best thing they can do for their employees is to teach them to manage themselves. As each person becomes more self-managed, their supervisor is freed to apply energy to other opportunities.
I have often informed my new employees that I expect them to continually learn and grow on their own, to become more valuable to my company and their career with each passing day. Yes, I support their learning in some ways, but the responsibility to learn and improve is theirs, not mine. I let them know that just as they expect me to grow the company, I expect them to grow themselves. If either of us stops growing then we should part company.

For Parents, the task of getting children to complete their homework is often a decades long assignment, and an unpleasant one at that. But if they can cultivate in their children a love of learning, they may never have to worry about homework again. The kids don't do homework on their own unless they feel a personal desire to do so. Outside pressure only creates a temporary stimulus. Show them the benefits and joys of learning. Show your own love of learning through your actions and teach them techniques to make learning more enjoyable and easier, then you can stand back and watch them grow.

In Sales, the sales managers that teach their representatives to become their own sales managers are freed to focus on producing more and better sales. Those who do not are saddled with the eternal duty of keeping their team motivated. Share the information freely and hold people accountable for taking initiative. Keep the numbers of what is working and what is not obvious to everyone. Things that are measured tend to improve.

There is an underlying concept here: Responsible TO vs Responsible FOR.
If I'm responsible FOR you then all things have to begin with me. When I don't act then you don't act, but you get to blame me for your inaction.
On the other hand, when I'm responsible TO you to provide direction, support and encouragement, then if I don't do my part, you are still in the drivers seat. I'm just a resource. That is as it should be.

Examine your own patterns. Do you condition others into the posture of waiting for your lead or do you expect and allow them to take actions on their own? Often our own policies and practices can work to defeat our desired effects. For example: if people are instructed to not take any creative action without your prior approval then creativity will not happen. But with the freedom to use their own best judgement they are allowed to explore best solutions. We only get new ideas when there is enough room to experiment.

Trust your people enough to give them some room. Allow them enough margin for error that they can take chances, but not so much that you put the entire enterprise at risk. Teach standards of performance, core values, best practices, and legal limits, but leave room for innovation. At least allow them to stumble and possibly fall as they progress toward your goals. Teach them how to Fall Forward when they experiment.
Don't encourage them to be "Risk Takers" instead teach them to be "Opportunity Seekers." Show them how to explore within reasonable limits of risk.

For Self Leadership to emerge, there must be: Trust, Support, Open Information Flow, Clear Guidelines, Resources and Compelling Goals. People step up when they have a reason to do so (the root word in Motivation is "Motive") and when they have permission to act on their own.

For more on Self Leadership Skills, go to www.selfleadershipskills.com.