Leading yourself to success

This Boss's Day, management expert Christopher Neck provides a different perspective on what it means to be a leader.

Professor of Management Christopher Neck has run over 100 marathons since taking up long-distance running in the fourth grade and credits his lifelong hobby with preparing him to study the topic of his most recent book, Self-Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Personal Excellence.

"I practiced a lot of mental tools in my long-distance running, and then studied those tools when I entered academia," says Neck. "I learned that we all practice self-leadership but often practice it in dysfunctional ways."

When it comes to leadership, most people think of external or participative leadership styles, or top-down approaches that teach people to lead others. Self-leadership, which focuses on empowering oneself to achieve personal excellence, can be applied autonomously by anyone regardless of their leadership status within an organization. Self-Leadership equips readers with the strategies they need to achieve independence and growth in their personal and professional lives through self-observation, positive self-talk, goal-setting, stress management, and practical applications. The book also highlights how successful leaders and entrepreneurs have leveraged self-leadership to achieve success.

Some of Neck's leadership studies are training-based. Neck and his colleagues pre-test a group of people, train them in self-leadership for up to eight weeks, and re-test the group to determine how their habits have changed. Following the training, participants keep a journal to monitor their daily stress levels for two months.

"We hope to see the stress levels decrease based on what the participants learned during the initial self-leadership training," says Neck.

In recognition of Boss's Day, we caught up with Neck to find out how we can harness self-leadership to lead ourselves to happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

Question: How can people use self-leadership to take charge of their growth and development in the workplace or classroom?

Answer: Let's focus on the mental side. Think back to a time you were stressed or anxious. What were you telling yourself? Oftentimes, the negative emotion we feel is something we're creating based on what we're telling ourselves. By adjusting that self-talk, you're not going to feel the same amount of stress or anxiety. Managing self-dialogue is a huge component of self-leadership.

I've learned that as soon as I start feeling tension in my body or a negative emotion — typically stress or anxiety — I ask myself, 'What am I thinking?' Usually, it's dysfunctional, and often the things I'm stressed about don't end up happening. By taking back control of my emotions, I demonstrate self-leadership.

Q: Why is it important to master self-leadership before leading others?

A: Self-leadership is the process of influencing yourself to overcome obstacles to your goals. We all have goals in our organizations and personal lives, but by taking the initiative to accomplish your goals within your organization, you enable external leaders to focus less time on managing you and more resources on strategic goals. According to a Qualtrics survey, 54% of U.S. employees said they’d be willing to take a pay cut to work for a company with a better boss. This shows how important it is for people to feel supported and have a positive relationship with their manager — sometimes even more than just earning a high salary. It suggests that having a great leader is worth more to many employees than extra money.

This study also underscores why companies should encourage self-leadership among their employees. When individuals are empowered to lead themselves they become more engaged, take greater initiative, and foster a positive work environment. By promoting self-leadership, companies can help employees build the kind of internal motivation and responsibility that leads to better performance and, ultimately, a more positive organizational culture.

Q: How does self-leadership influence self-fulfillment?

A: I like being in control: The more control I feel over a situation, the more fulfilled I am. I remember feeling frustrated in high school because there were days I felt up and days I felt down. I started running because I wanted to control how I felt and realized that by combining exercise and diet, I could ensure I felt happy and alert. Everyone is different, but practicing self-leadership in these ways gives me a sense of fulfillment and improves my mental state making me a better professor, husband, and father. From the economy to the weather, there is so much we can't control, but I can control what I eat, what I think, and how I move my body.

There is also so much that goes on in the workplace that we can't control, including other people and an organization's leadership. Studies have shown that people who apply self-leadership in the most difficult of situations are the ones who see the most benefits. If you can control how you view a situation, you will be more successful than someone who views a situation negatively.

Q: What are some actionable ways people can infuse self-leadership into their work or studies?

A: Enroll in my class! Since self-leadership is a foundation of leadership, we talk about it extensively and discuss the principles of management and leadership in MGT 300.

I recommend observing yourself and tracking your habits. Write down everything you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed for two weeks. At the end of that time, decide which items are catalysts toward achieving your goals and which items are ambivalent. Then begin cutting down on the habits that are holding you back.

Using this same tactic to track your emotions is also helpful. Record every time you feel a negative emotion like stress, anxiety, loneliness, or fear, then write down what you are telling yourself at that moment. Over a week or so, you will probably observe that you're performing some dysfunctional self-talk when feeling negative emotions. The next step is changing that self-talk, but like any new habit, you will need to practice it for several weeks before it becomes habitual.