What Forty Years of Research Reveals About Leadership
There’s a sobering truth every leader needs to come to terms with.
The state you’re in as a leader has more impact on your leadership than your core values, aspirational goals, technical knowledge, training, or even your leadership style.
This isn’t just a personal hot take — it’s one of the major findings from a four-decade review of self-leadership literature.
Your Leadership Is the Overflow of Your Lifestyle
We like to imagine our leadership as the polished philosophy we bring to a job interview, the carefully revised statements from a retreat, or the best collection of quotes and quips from a conference speaker or best-selling author.
It’s not.
Leadership is most accurately predicted by your ability to “regulate one’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts — especially under pressure,” according to the research.
It’s not about style or credentials. It’s about the skill of self-regulation — managing the battle within.
When we accept that reality, leadership development becomes much more practical. Grow in self-regulation and you grow as a leader. Manage your inner life well, and you’ll give yourself a shot at leading well.
How to Flourish
This is why I get excited about leadership studies like this. They reinforce what Marcus and I write about weekly, and what I teach every morning on Flourishing Minds.
If you and I can learn how to flourish, we can broker transformational experiences. When we live with a high level of internal well-being, we can bring meaningful change to our “twenty square feet.” Personal flourishing fuels leadership impact.
To flourish is to be at your best — mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. To be mentally present, emotionally agile, physically rested, and spiritually rooted. And when we’re flourishing in these four dimensions, self-regulation becomes not only possible but sustainable.
According to forty years of self-leadership literature, this is not a side note. It’s central to leading well.
A Challenge for You
What would happen if you took these findings seriously?
How would your life change if you leveraged your circumstances for growth instead of constantly reacting to them?
What would a 10% improvement in self-regulation do for your leadership, your team, and your organization?
How would you say you are training to be a better leader?
If you can’t point to specific training, it may be time to change that.
If you’re a leader in athletics and want to train with like-minded athletics leaders, I’d love for you to join our next Flourishing Leadership Cohort beginning the week of September 15.
Click here for more information and to reserve your spot.
Stay The Course,
