How Self-Leadership Can Revitalize Your Career

Last month I wrote about the power of putting a name to something that previously went unnamed. A word, a name, is powerful: it can encapsulate many ideas at once, concurrently making the concepts more concrete and manageable. 

A word that recently made a big splash in my neuro-liquids is self-leadership. To me, it's a synonym for "empowerment" but without the rah-rah vibe or political associations. 

This month we're talking about self-leadership and how it can help you take control of your career. As the famous leadership guru John C. Maxwell once said, "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." But before you can lead others, you must first learn to lead yourself.

To dive deeper into the topic of self-leadership and its relevance to you, I've invited two expert coaches, Kim Tice and Jennifer Schwartz, to share their insights based on their experience with Create Your Leadership, a self-leadership program for creatives.

Take it away, Kim and Jennifer!

Q: Let's start with the basics - what exactly is "self-leadership," and how can it help someone take control of their career?

Self-leadership is the agreement to yourself to shift control of your life and career back to you.

All too often, we see employees relinquishing control of their careers to their bosses, leaders within their organization, or even their clients. They let their career paths be dictated by external factors and create stories about why they're not getting promoted, receiving raises, or being overworked.

With self-leadership, you learn to take back the reins and advocate for yourself. You get clear about what you want and ask for it in a powerful way. You proudly share your wins and contributions, and chart a path that aligns with your vision for your career.

Self-leadership allows you to recognize your own value and worth, and to assert that value confidently, without relying on external sources for validation.

Q: What are some signs that I could benefit from employing self-leadership?

1. When you feel powerless over your career and even perhaps place blame or judgment on your situation. There are always going to be factors out of your control, but it’s about how you respond that really matters. 
2. When you’re disengaged and feel yourself pulling back. For example, say you’ve asked for a promotion and are told it’s not going to happen now but will soon. What can often happen in this moment is feeling frustrated, powerless and defeated. An act of self-leadership would be to counteract that and step up even more. Maybe it’s asking for feedback of expectations to gain the promotion and setting actionable goals with the decision maker or even creating a strategic actionable plan for when you step into that promotion, showing that you are not only capable of the role, but dedicated to success in it.
3. You find yourself hesitating, avoiding, or feeling anxious to speak up and advocate for yourself. This could be in situations like asking for a raise or promotion, or simply expressing your needs and wants.

Self-advocacy is typically the opposite thing you want to do when feeling powerless, but it’s the thing that can shift your mindset the most.

Q: What are some common misconceptions about self-leadership, and how do you address them in your work?

Misconception #1: “Squeaky wheels” are annoying.

• Some people believe that self-advocacy means being pushy or irritating, but that's not the case. As a leader, you need to be comfortable with the unknown and firmly grounded in your "why." When you do the inner work to understand not just what you're asking for, but why, you can speak up for yourself confidently and effectively.

Misconception #2: “I shouldn't have to tell my boss what I want. They should know already. They’re my boss.”

• Your boss can't read your mind, and it's not their job to guess what you want. Self-leadership means taking ownership of your own career path and speaking up for yourself. When you advocate for yourself, you not only benefit yourself, but you can also benefit your team and the organization as a whole.

Misconception #3: “Leadership doesn’t even know what I am working on. I get no face time or visibility.”

• Waiting for someone else to notice your contributions and hard work can be a recipe for disappointment. As a self-leader, you need to be proactive in communicating your achievements and progress to your superiors. If visibility is important to your advancement, you can't wait for permission to be seen - you need to create the platform yourself.

Misconception #4: “Bragging is obnoxious.”

• Some people may feel uncomfortable sharing their achievements because they don't want to come across as arrogant or boastful. However, self-advocacy requires you to be confident and proud of your accomplishments. As Rich Litvin, our mentor and advocate for self-leadership, says, "It's not bragging if it's true." Say the truth and when someone’s impressed, following up with “thank you” is the only exclamation point you need.

Q: Can you share a specific self-leadership strategy or tip that has been particularly impactful for your clients?

1. Get clear about what you want and are asking for. Many people hesitate from leading or advocating for themselves because they have no idea what they want and need. This is not an empowered approach.
2. Self-leadership requires proactivity, not reactivity. Spend time to deeply understand what you want and define language that makes what you are asking for crystal clear. Practice saying it out loud before presenting your request, and make sure to follow up in email or chat to avoid misinterpretation.

Q: As a coach, what's the most surprising career transformation story you've witnessed, and how did self-leadership play a role in that transformation?

We worked with a client who felt that her job was out of alignment with her values in many ways. She worked for a large established marketing organization and she wanted to prove herself in this role but ultimately felt stuck and powerless.

In all previous roles, she was seen as a thriving and praised team member, highlighting this mismatch with her manager’s style in her current role.

Through our Create Your Leadership Program, she learned about self-leadership and how to advocate for herself in a way she had never done before. With newfound confidence, she shared her concerns and desires with her manager and ultimately made the difficult decision to resign from her role.

However, less than a week later, her manager's boss reached out to her directly, inviting her back to the company in a new department and role that aligned perfectly with her values and skills. This time, she would lead a team, a role that was her dream job.

Self-leadership played a critical role in this transformation. It empowered our client to speak up for herself and take control of her career, even when it meant making a difficult decision to leave her current role. By doing so, she opened up new possibilities and opportunities for herself that she may not have otherwise had the chance to explore.

Thank you, Kim and Jennifer, for sharing your wisdom with us. Can you tell us more about how you transitioned from advertising professionals to executive coaches?

Kim:

In late 2019, I was at a career crossroads and I myself hired a coach. After 18 years as a successful advertising account executive, I lost my spark. I felt burnt out, undervalued, and lacked direction. My years of being considered “a superstar” were gone. I was just going through the motions of work and my heart wasn’t in it.

With my coach's guidance, I quit my job and planned to travel for six months to figure things out. However, the pandemic disrupted my plans, and I enrolled in a coach training program instead. The program's focus on self-reflection made me realize that I had relinquished control of my career, relying on others to determine my worth and future. I was simply in the back seat of my career, cruising to a destination that I didn't really want.

That’s when I decided I wanted to work with people to take back control of their careers and help them step into their self-leadership.

Jennifer:

In my last job as a Creative Director, I remember being burnt out beyond what I thought possible. I had come off of a project, working 18-hour days and being scooped up into another project where the expectation was more of the same. I remember being on a call with my manager at the time sharing how “done” I was and looking for some validation and relief. She said that people who thrive at this level crave the thrill of working 18-hour days and get a high from it.

There was something that shifted in me on that call, which I’d now name as self-leadership. This was the moment I took my power back and knew that if that’s what it took to thrive here in my career, I had to go find my thing that I could do for hours and feel lit up by.

This comment made me realize that I needed to take ownership of my career and find what truly motivated me. I asked myself what I loved most about my job, and it was coaching and mentoring. This was the start of the real pivot into coaching.

Where can readers learn more about you and your work?

You can find us at Create + Lead where we partner with agencies and companies on powerful group coaching programs focused on leadership principles, emotional awareness, balance, and empowerment.

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Vanessa is an executive coach and founder of V & CO Coaching where she leads individual and group coaching programs around workplace confidence and empowerment.

You can follow her work on Instagram | LinkedIn and get bonus material by subscribing to her free monthly e-newsletter.