Latest updated: 14 July 2023

Self-leadership is one of the most important traits in today's workplace, and will become even more important in the future. As the work environment becomes less hierarchical, it becomes increasingly important for each employee to master the art of leading oneself. Developing good self-leadership is an excellent way to prevent stress, and is also the first step towards becoming a good leader for others.

There are several reasons why the concept of self-leadership is more relevant today than ever before. In the past, the work environment was strictly hierarchical, with managers giving orders and employees carrying them out. Today, it looks different - employees are expected to take a great deal of personal responsibility, solve problems independently, make their own decisions, and often exercise informal leadership towards each other. This makes the job more meaningful and motivating, but also places higher demands on the individual employee's competence and character.

There are also other factors that make self-leadership more important than ever. In today's work environment, we are almost drowned in information and communication that is constantly coming at us with the help of new technology. This means that we ourselves must know how to relate to the constant flow of communication. The new technology has also made it possible for more flexible working methods such as remote working and hybrid working, and it hardly needs to be pointed out how important self-leadership is for such working methods to function.

Self-leadership is therefore a trait worth investing in, whether you are an individual who wants to develop yourself, or a manager or employer looking for new ways to develop your employees.

What do you or your employees need to train on to develop good self-leadership? Let's look at three basic factors that can lead in the right direction.

Develop your self-awareness

Self-leadership is about the ability to understand one's own thoughts, emotions and actions, in order to be able to influence and manage them in different ways, in order to achieve one's goals more easily. This means that one must develop self-awareness and self-insight. This can be done by asking oneself questions and reflecting on who one is and what one can do, what strengths and weaknesses one has as a professional and as a person, what needs one has, how one reacts in different situations and what fundamental personality traits characterize one's behavior and attitude.

One can reflect on this by answering these questions in writing, which can lead to a deeper and more accurate reflection than just thinking about it. One can also take personality tests or other tests based on self-assessment. If one has the opportunity to talk to a coach, that is also good, and it is generally useful to get help from someone outside. Feedback from other people can be very useful for increased self-awareness, although one should remember that one person's opinion is not the final word.

Finding your own way to self-control and discipline

The goal of self-leadership, or at least one of the goals, is to achieve a high degree of self-control and discipline, as one wants to be able to guide oneself towards the goals one has set. But self-control is very difficult, so it is important that you find your own way and not set the bar too high. A good tip is to identify a specific area in your workday or in your life where you want to increase your self-control and focus solely on it.

A concrete problem that many struggle with today is distractions. Today it is incredibly easy to be distracted, because distractions are always in the computer and mobile phone, ready to destroy our focus. It is said that a single ping in the mobile phone destroys our concentration for at least 15 minutes, even if we are already absorbed in focused deep work. But it is also common that we ourselves seek out distractions, for example if we are stuck a bit in the work.

How can you reduce the power of distractions over your workday, and increase your self-control? This is a typical question that you can start with if you want to find a specific area to improve. Ask yourself questions like: What are the factors that trigger the distraction? Is it fatigue, boredom, lack of inspiration, or something else? How can you avoid or mitigate these triggers? What can you do instead of seeking out distractions? And so on.

It is also important to find a way to measure your progress and reward yourself for small successes. Self-leadership, like any other skill, requires practice and patience. You will not be able to control yourself perfectly from the first day, but it is important to start somewhere and not give up.

Make self-reflection a habit

Last but not least, self-leadership requires that we constantly reflect on ourselves and our behavior, as the two points above show. All good leaders, including self-leaders, have habits and routines for regular self-reflection.

It is important to remember that self-reflection should not only be about the big questions, but also about small events in everyday life. Therefore, it is good to have a routine for daily reflection, for example by ending each day with an evaluation, preferably in writing. Ask yourself what you have done during the day and what it actually meant, try to see yourself and your behavior from the outside. Reflect also on what has made you happy and what from today you want to take with you to tomorrow.

Additionally, of course, you should also reflect on the big questions, preferably in relation to the small, everyday events. The big questions are about your inner motivation, your meaning, vision or mission in the world. If these are to have any significance, they must be brought down to your everyday level, and for this to be possible, good self-leadership is required.