ARTICLES BY DR. ANDY NEILLIE, CSP

The First Job of a Leader is Self-Leadership

I’ve shared on several other blogs earlier this year the importance of a leader leading himself or herself first.   Much of self-leadership has to do with personal integrity, character and living by a moral compass.  But some of self-leadership simply has to do with living in a competent, disciplined way.  I use five tools to help me keep the promises I make to others (and myself).

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We moved a few years ago. We left behind a half-acre yard and steep hills. In its place: a yard that can be mowed in 30 minutes. Front and back. From putting my gloves on, getting the mower out of the shed, filling it up, firing it up,  emptying the grass-catcher a few times, wiping it down and putting it away, I’ve spent no more than half an hour.  Read on to see what that has to do with leadership.

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Discipline is hard – harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can’t even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.

– Dr. Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things done right, p. 183

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