Refocused Leadership

Self-management will always trump leadership as a productive focus that creates forward movement and growth. Leaders who don’t self-manage well don’t lead well, whereas those who self-manage effectively can lead others from any position without the requirement of a title. If we’re to lead ourselves effectively first, then managing our own mindsets and disciplining our actions are far more worthy focuses than the inadequacies of others.

When we focus on the external world and other people, we view only things that we can’t control, leaving us feeling, well…out of control. When we choose to focus on our internal grounding first — the things that exist within us and those which we do control — we start to recentre ourselves. From there, we can look outward with renewed strength and resolution, measuring what happens around us with a clearer perspective and assigning it the respect and priority it deserves.

The world around us can get busy and loud, not to mention that its constant changes divert our attention quite effectively. It’s a necessary part of self-leadership to call our focus back to our internal selves on a regular basis to regain that grounding that the external world threatens. When we spend all our time looking outward and taking in what others are doing and how they’re doing it, we’re eventually left feeling depleted and lacklustre. We feel unfocused on what it is we’re trying to achieve ourselves (funny that!)…