We have all met a ‘Bo’. Bo spends her day complaining about work, even though she has been in the same role at the same company for 6+ years, never bothering to make a change. She has never taken a course to brush up on her skills, gone to a networking event, or explored career advancement because she believes this is just how things are.
We have likely also met a ‘Jo’. Jo is someone who can always get the job done, no matter how overworked she is, and she often does it with a great attitude. She is the first to offer innovative solutions to problems and is always looking to level up her professional skills because she knows only she is in charge of her career. Over the course of her career, Jo has had several promotions / raises / responsibility changes and has volunteered with industry associations outside of work to stay well-connected.
(‘Bo’ and ‘Jo’ are obviously fictional individuals, but you get my drift 🙂 )
One of the world’s most influential management thinker Peter Drucker said “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.”
But today I want to talk about a new paradigm of leadership:
Self-leadership.
Jo is the definition of what it means to master self-leadership.
Self-leadership is having the ability to lead ourselves FIRST before we go ahead and lead anyone else.
It is being the captain of your own ship.
It is taking charge and being the CEO of your own life.
As leaders, we need to be able to influence ourselves towards a certain outcome and bring about the necessary change that we want in our own lives, before we can convince other people to follow us.
Over the next 6 weeks I will be sharing tips to improve your self-leadership game at work. Make sure you’re signed up to the email list so you don’t miss a post.
Do you know a Jo? Someone taking charge and exhibiting strong self-leadership in their career?