Self-Leadership

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Steve Jobs address Stanford University's 2005 graduating class; it is a powerful speech and everyone should listen to it from time to time. If interested, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

I believe he offered important messages for leaders.

Jobs did not become an effective leader overnight. He expanded his abilities only after some setbacks, and the most notable was being fired from Apple, a company he had founded; he said it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. In translation, being an effective leader does not spring from reading a book (or a blog) but instead from experience and time. In fact, in Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell claims mastery occurs only after 10,000 hours of experience.¹ But certainly it is not just putting in the time. Like earning a college degree, it is not the piece of paper that matters but the effort, energy and attention one exerted while attending. So it goes with being an effective leader, and reaching mastery is about learning something along the way.

If it is about pushing oneself forward during those 10,000 hours, then what needs to be done?  What is the starting point or path that needs to be followed to gain mastery in leadership?  The primary message conveyed from Jobs, while not explicitly stated, is that becoming an effective leader starts with self-leadership; that is, leading others begins at home. Self-leadership is defined as the 'process of leading oneself.' ^{2 (p. 5)}

Early leadership theories hypothesized that leaders held magical characteristics and connected them to special "traits, qualities and abilities."^{3 (p. 20)} Even so, research was unable to confirm a consistent set of qualities. Nonetheless, three characteristics stand out today and, when present, seem to demonstrate a leader's ability to develop into effectiveness⁵ and become adept self-leaders.

The first is emotional intelligence. "Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a person's ability to (1) perceive emotions in self and others, (2) understand the meaning of these emotions and (3) regulate one's emotions accordingly..." ^{4(p. 112)} While researchers are not convinced of the veracity of this model, it offers a very important skill set. That is, leaders need self-awareness to recognize and interpret what is happening within oneself and extrapolate to the type of behavioral response it can cause. This is vital since leaders are always on stage and their behavior provides a view screen for mimicry from followers. "For better or worse, it is not unusual for a company to unwittingly internalize and reproduce the personality and behavioral patterns of its CEO."^{5 (p. 11)} This fact increases the importance of understanding and then regulating one's behavior.

The second characteristic of self-leadership is social intelligence. Social intelligence is about the effective management of relationships: "...think of 'Social Intelligence' as a shorthand term for being intelligent, not just about our relationships but also in       them."^{6 (p. 11)} Since leadership is about guiding individuals or groups of individuals, managing these relationships is crucial; it includes being aware of the social interactions and a keen sense of the direction the interface is taking and responding in a way that leads to a desirable outcome; it includes one's ability to communicate and interact effectively.⁶ There is no doubt of its importance to leaders and leadership; this is a learned skill.

The final component bridges the two characteristics -- EI and Social Intelligence -- and is called self-monitoring. Self-monitoring is a "personality trait that measures an individual's ability to adjust his or her behavior to external factors." ^{4 (p. 141)} Adaptability is a central component of effective leadership; it enables a leader to adjust his/her approach to different contexts and followers. While a typical leader will tend to behave based on what is comfortable -- perhaps a task focus over that of a relationship focus -- he or she cannot afford to lead the same all the time; the consequence can be poor results.

During Jobs' speech, there was also another action underlying his message. That is, he became an observer of his own results – the outcomes he received from what he did – and used this information to incorporate new approaches in the future. In previous publications, I described a model that can structure this review. The model is called "Action - Observation - Reflection" (AOR) ^{7 (pp. 52 - 62)} and is an essential discipline enabling one’s ability to learn and grow from mistakes.

Steve Jobs' message essentially was that effectiveness is about living life fully and in a certain way. Leaders must start by building self-leadership skills and the associated characteristics: emotional intelligence, social intelligence and monitoring. Only on the path to mastering oneself can one garner the ability to lead others.

Feel free to make comments.

References

¹ Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

² Manz, C.C., & Neck, C.P. (2004). Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

³ Daft, R.L. (2008). The Leadership Experience (4th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Southwestern.

⁴ Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2013). Organizational Behavior (15th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

⁵ Goldman, A. (2009). Transforming Toxic Leaders. Stanford: Stanford Business Books.

⁶ Goleman, D. (2006). Social Intelligence: The Revolutionary New Science of Human Relationships. New York: Bantam Dell.

⁷ Hughes, R.L., Ginnett, R.C., & Curphy, G.J. (2009). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Irwin.