There are a few reasons that self-leadership (really, deep self-leadership that focuses on much more than finding one’s strengths and weaknesses) today must be given a special role. First, we are still in the midst of a severe global leadership crisis. This catastrophe was primarily caused by a flawed model that did not emphasize self-leadership as the starting point of one’s leadership development journey. Self-Leadership (largely neglected for eras) is that rock-solid foundation that all individuals need to establish since it represents a logical and correct progression of a true leadership development model. Many, including those already in leadership posts, have missed this foundation before assuming positions that require them to, among other responsibilities, lead people, leaving them without the fundamental experience or preparation to become successful leaders. Second, leadership curriculums and programs have created managers not leaders, thus contributing to the on-going leadership crisis we continue to experience. The past and current leadership development curriculums and programs unfortunately, have failed to deliver the leaders companies had expected even after organizations worldwide invested billions of dollars annually for so many years. Once again, many programs devoted minimal, if any, attention to self-leadership.

Third, our world has long been subjected to ineffective and irresponsible leadership. Hence the state of our global economic, business, social, and ethical climate. We need to ensure that this never occurs again. Fourth, our hyper-VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) environment demands that we all exercise leadership in some capacity. Many professionals (or non-leaders) and leaders, unfortunately, are not prepared to assume leadership roles and responsibilities even in a non-volatile and stable world, let alone a highly chaotic one that shows no signs of slowing down in the future. Those leaders who have undergone some schooling used, intentionally or unintentionally, an illogical and therefore, a flawed starting point to begin their leadership development journey. As a result, their growth and effectiveness as leaders were limited from inception. The final driving force behind the importance of self-leadership today is that corporations are setting up their non-leaders to fail rather than succeed. Organizations are assigning leadership roles and responsibilities to non-leaders (who comprise 80% to 90% of a company’s population) even when they know that their workers do not possess any experience or preparation to do so.

As an example, responsibilities like leading multi-cultural teams, making decisions on, and implementing critical projects, etc., that were once reserved for upper management have now descended to lower echelons of organizations. This is facilitated by our world’s rapid evolution, especially in the last two to three decades, with the advent of frequent large-scale disruptions, new technologies, mergers and acquisitions, new competitive threats, etc. These activities have compelled many companies to delayer and operate with a flatter organizational structure (doing more with less people) so that they can get to the market faster than their global competitors, thereby decentralizing decision making power in the firms.

Big Data also serves as another example of non-leaders not being ready for leadership roles and responsibilities. Big Data, depending on your perspective, is one of the contributors and/or consequences of the VUCA environment. Considering the volumes of data available and captured by an organization, executives can only do so much to absorb, analyze, and quickly turn them into strategic decision-making information on their own (even with the aid of technology) and quickly respond to marketplace demands before their global competitors do. So, naturally, these heads need help. As a result, these leaders’ duties have started to cascade down to lower levels of the organization, leaving non-leaders accountable for deciphering volumes of data, the decisions they make and the outcomes they generate in addition to leading a team(s) of people (without any experience) to accomplish their objectives. Many, unfortunately, find themselves ill equipped to cope with, let alone succeed, in their newly found roles overnight. These individuals, whether they realize it or not, have been hurriedly “appointed” as leaders. This dramatic and shocking shift has already started to become the new norm of the corporate world. These non-leaders though must learn leadership the correct way – that is by beginning to first lead themselves before leading others. Otherwise, they will just perpetuate the ineffective leadership development model and its consequences (which we continue to endure today). Establishing a foundation of effective personal leadership therefore becomes even more vital for them and their organizations’ ability to achieve their intended goals and successes.

The goal of self-leadership then is to prepare these individuals before they find themselves in this predicament of being suddenly thrust into leadership positions or roles. Self-Leadership can therefore set these individuals to successfully assume and fulfill their newly found functions by providing a much-needed base to begin their leadership development journey. As our life and business environment continues to become more uncertain and tumultuous, we will likely see more professionals end up in these positions sooner rather than later.

What is even more surprising though is that current leaders are not primed to lead themselves, their staff, and organizations in this new era of constant disruptive change that continues to flatten organizations, precipitate change in organizational leadership (and therefore a shift in strategy/direction), create greater need for leading virtual and cross-cultural teams, clamor for adaptability, force firms to constantly innovate, etc. Yet, ironically, businesses are expecting their non-leaders to successfully deliver on projects that their own leaders are finding difficult to accomplish despite receiving extensive leadership development training.

Disruptions, though, present enormous opportunities. They, however, cannot be addressed nor taken advantage of without good leaders. To create effective leaders then, professionals and leaders need a solid foundation of self-leadership – the correct pathway of leadership development. Installing a foundation of comprehensive and deep self-leadership can pave the way for professionals to realize their optimal leadership potential. Even those already in leadership positions will also be able to provide more valuable leadership to their staff and organizations.

Operating in a hyper-volatile environment then requires new leadership models, behaviors and skills since past and current leadership approaches have proven to be inappropriate, ineffective, and outdated to meet the demands of future work and challenges. As a result, our work enables individuals to begin with 5 fundamental behaviors to establish a strong foundation of self-leadership. Self-leadership can facilitate breakthroughs in an individual’s life and career, and it is the true path to sustainable leadership of self and others. Ultimately, self-leadership enables us to better navigate ourselves and others to create our desired individual and collective futures in this ever demanding and unforgiving business environment.

Are you ready then to become your own best personal leader so that you can ultimately become a valuable leader of others (that the world is in desperate need of today)? The world awaits your decision.

Finally, for the betterment of all, I invite you to please join our movement to revolutionize and democratize leadership development. Thank you.

My best wishes for a productive and soulful journey.

Alpesh Fadia