It all starts with self-leadership
The great Greek philosopher, Socrates had once said – “no man can lead others, who cannot lead himself”.
To become a good leader, one must be a great follower first. One who can listen, with compassion and openness. One who can trust the credibility of what he/she is listening and seeing. One who picks the emotion of the speaker and senses the passion. One who understands the logical reasons being explained. Only then a leader can lead in the direction where followers feel heard and cared.
Now if I follow Socrates, these leadership concepts of Ethos (credibility), Pathos (emotions) and Logos (logic) must be applicable within a person too. One must be able to trust him/herself(ethos), be passionate(pathos) and logical(logos) in the direction where one wants to ‘consciously’ move towards. That’s what I call Self-leadership. To listen to thyself.
The concept of self-leadership has become far more important in the current realm as we enter the third year of pandemic. It is just not limited to our political/health/work leaders. Worldwide lockdowns have forced us to live mostly within our homes and connect with the outside world, including work, through digital screens. Now this situation has its own benefits like saving time and fuel, but the traps are exposed now. At least I can share the traps that caught me. Switching from one online meeting to another made it very easy for me to start working way more, stuck to work agendas and forgot the humane angle experienced at coffee corners and lunch tables, even forgot breakfast or lunch at times and moved a lot lesser. I boasted all this led to being more productive. Does it ring a bell? You might be trapped too! Because slowly it starts feeling disconnected to the outside world and eventually a disconnect within. Remember what Socrates mentioned - Listen to thyself. It’s time to acknowledge and bring the ethos back. Acting with integrity by being able to recognize if we think, feel, and speak the same is key to bringing trust within. Our values and purpose guide us to keep this ethos alive.
Keeping the connect with own self during these challenging times calls for discipline and commitment. Recently my leadership coach told me something very valuable – “The more complex your work or any other life situation gets, the more you increase self-investment”. Here are my top ten self-investment disciplines that creates stronger bond within:
Move – We all know exercise is healthy for our body, mind, energy, and we should do it regularly. What I realized that just working out three or four or even six times a week is not enough while rest of the time we are sedentary (due to work). Taking frequent breaks to get up from our chairs and move is crucial. Taking small walks or cycling to do the groceries or doing small home chores through out the day makes it count as an active lifestyle!
Journal – Dumping our thoughts, ideas or feeling are therapeutic to the mind. A systematic check-in during day start and/or day end along with sporadic moments of watching our own thoughts can lead to higher self-awareness.
Meditate – Science has proven that our brain activities become slower when we regularly turn inwards and connect with ourselves. This means increased peace of mind and energy. Who doesn’t want that?
Quality time with your circle – Our social circle plays a vital role in maintaining our pathos and logos. Hence hanging out with minds and hearts who inspire us to be a better version of ourselves is key to keep our personal passions alive.
Spend time in nature – An under-rated discipline but vital to keep our happiness quotient is spending time in the nature. Be it walking the dog, running in the open air instead of treadmills or taking a cold dive, Mother Earth is a healer.
Hobbies outside work – A way to spend quality time with own self is to do things that give us joy. And I mean things beyond work. Even if it doesn’t feel like to start, having the discipline to invest time in our favorite hobbies can be source of immense energy.
Read – Books are a great way to entertain and relax the mind. They trigger our imaginations and take us to another world. Hence reading inspiring contents just not relax us but also boost our energy levels.
Don’t work outside office hours – Tough to follow when we are home bound but that’s the reason self-leadership is all about discipline for a bigger goal to reach. There is no hard bound mandate to leave the office space after it gets dark or when colleagues leave the meeting, in fact it’s entertaining or the ‘productive trap’ that makes it so seductive. But that’s the exact reason why many are getting burned out after two years of non-stop work.
Fixed space to work – To avoid the above trap, its important to have fixed workspaces in our home, even it’s a single room home. Having a dedicated work chair corner makes it easier to bring work energy around and leave it when the corner is left. Hence giving an energetic closure to the work time.
Habit to ask help – This is probably the most important lesson I learnt in the last two years. The courage to ask for help from experts in the areas where the society expects us to function efficiently. The mind, heart, relationships, career, money, complex situations are some examples where we are expected to know-it-all! Even if we know it, having a third person validate our ideas and helps us take accountable actions to heal can be investment worth for a lifetime.
