Leading Oneself

A leader is always a role model, both in his positive effectiveness, but unfortunately also in the negative. This applies to all behaviour and communication, the latter also when I remain silent as a reaction to an intolerable behaviour of an employee. A leader must always be aware of this and this requires the ability of self-awareness with the questions: how do I appear to my employees? Am I aware of who I am? How good am I at leading myself? A leader must possess this important skill of reflection because one must be able to lead oneself in order to lead others. It starts with a leader always actively facing the imponderables and basically being an optimist. Pessimists are not allowed to be leaders. When faced with problems, an excellent leader always sees the three alternatives of “change it” – solve the problem, “leave it” – run away from it, or “love it” – embrace it when the first two alternatives are not possible or wanted. Putting yourself in a victim position and whining is not an alternative. Leaders are not class representatives. As a leader, I am also clear to myself about my mission in life and I focus my priorities consequentially. Employees sense this and thus perceive their leader as an authentic personality. The second, very important dimension of self-leadership is my behavior in dealing with other people. Above all, there is a great capacity for empathy, and this is where opinions differ. There’s no room for narcissists and egocentrics. In a world with advancing globalization, empathic behavior is the key to success. Finally, exemplary self-leadership includes the ability to self-reflect, as it is a prerequisite for personality growth. At the end of this chapter, basic features of existential analysis are also presented, and in particular the four basic motivations of life. They offer a very good frame of reference, especially before deciding on a new leadership role.