Personal Leadership
TEAMUPNOW - ACTING
Many ideas support the notion of personal leadership.[i]In TeamUpNow, you learn about both personal leadership (in the Acting module) as well as "self-leadership" (in the Encouraging module).
Requirements for Personal Leadership.
In terms of Acting, personal leadership means, first and foremost, being present and engaged and also staying in touch with your values. These ideas were introduced in previous modules. In the Well-Being module, you learned that Presence and Engagement is one of the key dimensions that you assessed in yourself and in your work-climate ("I am present at work and committed to doing a good job"). Also, in well-being, you were introduced to Principle 3: Hold values that guide and inspire. In the Centering module, you learned skills for being able to stay present and engaged when under stress.
Definition of Personal Leadership.
A simple definition of personal leadership is a "willingness to do things that move oneself and the group toward a greater capacity for health, to raise the standard or set-point." This definition follows from the question: What "leads" you to take action? Ultimately, the answer depends on your values. Choosing behaviors that follow from your values is a sign of leadership; something that can be called "value-based action." When you act form a place of personal leadership,your actions are proactive and also show compassion, caring, kindness, generosity, and even love. When you choose to respond this way, you thrive and it creates a positive work environment. In this way, anyone can be a leader.
Responsiveness is the Core or Cardinal Quality of Personal Leadership.
It is often more value-based to act in a responsive way than to tolerate (minimize, ignore, or put-up with) a problem or to stigmatize (judge, label) those who may be the seeming cause of the problem. Being responsive means actions that show personal leadership qualities and that approach rather than avoid the situation.
Basic Tools for Personal Leadership.
The Acting module introduces tools to help you cultivate leadership and take action to do the right thing. Images associated with these tools are shown in the side-bar.
Knowing your level. In well-being you looked at levels of health from problem to resilient. In centering you reviewed levels from distressed to thriving. During the day take note of how much time you spend in negativity, judgment (stigmatize), tolerating, being responsive, and showing love and compassion.
Moral Compass.One way to define moral compass is any guide that you have -- usually internal, in your mind -- that keeps you pointed toward higher levels (see previous tool). What guides your decision to be proactive on a daily basis?
Civic Virtue and Policy.You can know your own level and have a moral compass but the rubber meets the road when you act your level and values WHEN INTERACTING WITH OTHERS IN SOCIETY! Civic virtue keeps you focused on the greater good. Policy, if it is effective, provides external guidelines that your group agrees to follow to help you all be proactive.
[i] We acknowledge four main source for the idea of personal leadership. We encourage readers to check these out. See following article
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.See these links: (1)Tools(2) Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (3) Book (4) Videos
Logo-therapy (Victor Frankl). See these links: (1) Introduction (Wikipedia) (2) Dr. Frankl's quotations (3) Logotherapy Institute
Concept of "Right Action" (Buddhism) (search on your own)
Concept of "Golden Rule" (search on your own)