Self-leadership is a person's ability to manage their skills and behaviors to achieve their professional and personal goals. Through it, the professional assumes responsibility for his career, seeking tools to develop it. Self-leadership is an initiative that must come from the professional himself, but that can be encouraged by the company. However, according to the People Management Trends report (Great Place to Work/ 2022), 39% of companies notice a gap in the development of behavioral skills in their employees. The pillars for the development of self-leadership are self-knowledge, self-motivation, self-responsibility, self-determination and self-awareness. Therefore, to develop your self-leadership, you need to reflect on the skills, competencies and knowledge necessary for your successful career. Carry out an in-depth internal investigation to understand your needs in light of the possible challenges that await you. Self-knowledge must always be the compass that will guide the entire journey in search of self-leadership. He is the one who makes you understand what you really want and hope for your future. And establish some guidelines that direct your actions and commitment towards values ​​that are in tune with your personal and professional life project. This deep knowledge will lead you to seek a better balance between your passions and the possibilities of making them part of your career. Also, discover the best way to maintain balance in extreme and challenging situations in order to properly face the exercise of leadership. Knowing yourself is also gaining the independence to manage moments of crisis in the best ways, without the need to externalize the blame or seek solutions in other people. Self-leadership provides several advantages for the employee, who starts to manage his professional growth, cultivate healthier relationships in the team and have more satisfaction at work. Professionals who manage themselves tend to be more agile in making decisions and have an analytical view of work and the business. As leaders, by developing self-leadership, they are able to impact the organizational environment and encourage others to follow the same path. Also, they manage an emotional stability, security to decide and resilience, characteristics that stand out in front of the teams. Therefore, the knowledge acquired through self-leadership enables professionals to better understand the needs and behaviors of others. And thus extract the best from each one for the benefit of the whole. For these reasons, self-leadership is essential for anyone who wants to lead high-performance teams, especially those who have to deal with constant pressure in search of results. As a cascading effect, this practice also brings benefits to competitiveness and business results. The team becomes more creative and innovative; decisions are faster and more assertive; there is greater engagement and a more hardworking and collaborative group. Finally, there is a clearer definition of objectives and results. It is clear that self-leadership is a skill that will help people to correctly direct their career paths. After all, the greater the professional growth of the person, the greater value he will have in the job market. However, the benefits are not just personal. They are also for the company. For the organization, professionals with self-leadership promote the formation of high-performance teams, significantly impacting the organization's results. Therefore, developing self-leadership needs to be a concern for both the employee and the company, as joint efforts will benefit both sides.
Édila Souza is an Executive Educator and columnist for Gente Mais Portal.