Self-leadership is the unsung hero of your organization’s success. As I discussed in a recent article, practicing Self-leadership means consciously actualizing your highest potential. It’s choosing a life of pleasure and purpose and sustaining the subsequent behaviors needed to live it and live it well. Once you truly embrace and invest in Self-leadership, you’ll receive an energetic gain in your performance, productivity and overall well-being. You’ll then project that energy onto others. Self-leadership is contagious in both practice and example, and will not only benefit your team, but will determine your organization’s success. Yep, it’s true, Self-leadership and work engagement go together like peanut butter and jelly, lycra and leggings, and dogs and treats. So, how do you begin making Self-leadership work for you and your workplace culture?
Self-Leadership for Women in the Workplace
Self-leadership is about how you lead your own life. It’s how you set your values and set your course. It’s how you follow your vision and how you modify and course correct as you go. We know all too well that life and business are intertwined. Your work is a part of your life, it’s a part of your path. In the fabric of life, Self-leadership includes how you work with clients, colleagues and customers and how well you manage these relationships. For women, Self-leadership in the workplace can be difficult to reach, maintain and justify – through no fault of our own, especially now.
According to Women in the Workforce 2021, “one in three women says they have considered downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce this year, compared to 1 in 4 who said this a few months into the pandemic. Additionally, 4 in 10 women have considered leaving their company or switching jobs—and high employee turnover in recent months suggests that many of them are following through.” Well, no wonder!
When someone feels uninspired, unmotivated and unheard, they’ll register close to zero on the productivity scale. When someone feels misunderstood and unsupported, they’re less likely to seek connection and look for opportunities to solve problems creatively. It’s understandable. But, when women feel important, empowered and heard, their production levels are off the charts! When women tap into their inner strength, embrace Self-leadership and gain confidence in the significance of the unique role they play, they elevate their performance, their engagement, their collaboration and their productivity – dramatically. Empowered women play a pivotal role in the success of your organization.
The Impact of Self-Leadership on Work Engagement
There are plenty of missteps leaders make that cause their company and culture to remain status-quo. One is in thinking that Self-leadership is something team members should do on their own time. But, these leaders need to understand the impact Self-leaders have on an organization’s bottom line – that it is tangible and measurable.
Self-leaders play a crucial role in your organization for two reasons:
- “Leaders”, in the traditional sense, cannot be truly successful at managing or leading others until they can effectively manage and lead
- Organizations need capable, self-directed and motivated individuals to carry out the vision of the executive team. After all, an organization’s vision is only as impactful and successful as the execution of that vision.
We all feel better when we feel heard, right? When an individual or team embraces Self-leadership, everyone wins. We learn how to use our voice, to speak our truth, to honor another’s truth, and in so doing, we earn respect. How do Self-leadership and work engagement go hand in hand? Once the workplace culture welcomes and advocates for Self-leadership, employees tend to:
- Achieve their goals, often exceeding the responsibilities of their role
- Productively respond to difficult or strained situations
- Demonstrate accountability and confidence
- Work more creatively and productively
- Be intentionally aware of their emotions and behaviors
- Communicate effectively and build stronger relationships
Improve Your Workplace Engagement with Self-Leadership Programming
Workplace engagement can be hard to achieve. But, it is important to understand that the engagement challenge has a lot to do with how an employee feels about the work experience and how the employee is treated in the organization. Once you implement a process, a program and environment that advocates for Self-leadership, you’ll find a happier team, a healthier team and a more productive team.
If you’re ready to embrace Self-leadership and workplace engagement improvement, let’s chat! Our classes, Mastermind program and keynote presentations are designed to help you create a Self-leadership mindset and improve workplace engagement!
