It is common to find entrepreneurs sharing their success secrets. They relish the chance to share their experiences and journey. And often, the narrative includes their decision making processes and how they lead their teams to victory.
But, I’ve realized that one key aspect of entrepreneurship is hardly addressed: leading you first. Leadership is an element in the entrepreneurial endeavor and it can be complex. And one simple place to start the leadership journey is to lead you first.
Leading yourself is one of the toughest things you will ever do. But, it can be done. And when accomplished, the results are simply amazing. It’s one of the most rewarding things you can do. These three principles would your journey.
Responsibility – Leading you requires skill. You would have to learn to be effective at it and this is the first key: take full responsibility. That is the first step. If you can’t do this, leading yourself won’t work.
To take full responsibility means that, first, you understand that you are a major actor on the stage of life and that your role affects everything. This doesn’t mean that you take responsibility for the choices and actions of others, but for your actions and choices. Taking full responsibility means that you’ve made a firm resolve that the buck stops with you.
Correction – Taking full responsibility opens you up to the next key: love correction. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. But, the fact that no one is perfect has become an excuse for some people not to grow. It’s become their default setting – hence, their disinterest in knowing where they went wrong and finding ways to fix it.
Self-leadership is effective when you learn to recognize your mistakes, own them and accept correction. When you are above correction, your growth is hindered and your progress delayed. Correction is designed to help you make adjustments and quick changes that improve your journey.
Instruction – We live in a selfie culture where self is worshipped. Social media proves this. Consequently, it is easy for people to believe that the world revolves around them. This poise blinds them to the instructions that govern life and success.
But the wise love instructions because they understand that every success level is unlocked by a set of instructions. And those skilled at valuing and following instructions enjoy good success. What is your attitude towards instructions? How do you react? Your response to instruction determines the effectiveness of your self-leadership.
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