Self-Leadership: The Hardest Part of Entrepreneurship

Takeaways from the National Small Business Growth Cohort: Week 4. This week we covered "You are the Leader".

Working as a sole proprietor and often independent contractor, it is so easy to lose sign of the fact that I am still a leader. It can be harder to see the areas we need to improve within ourselves. With no traditional manager or supervisor to point it out, we have to be even more aware and intuitive!

In last week's content for the Goldman Sachs Small Business Module 4, we focused on personal leadership development. Here's a summary:

Leading Yourself Well: This module emphasized the importance of self-leadership as the foundation for effective leadership of others. It delved into self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills as key components of personal leadership.

Assessing and Understanding Your Leadership Style: Participants were encouraged to assess their leadership styles, considering factors such as communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and delegation. Understanding your leadership style is crucial for leveraging strengths and addressing areas for improvement.

Identifying Your Motivating Factors: The module explored the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how they influence leadership behavior. We learned to identify what truly motivates us, whether it's a sense of purpose, personal growth, recognition, compensation, or other factors.

Clarifying Your Values: Understanding personal values is essential for aligning actions with beliefs and principles. Our exercises helped to clarify our core values, which serve as guiding principles in decision-making and behavior.

Components and Purpose of Mission and Vision Statements: Finally, we discussed the significance of having a clear mission and vision statement for oneself and the essential components of each. A mission statement outlines the purpose and direction of one's endeavors, while a vision statement articulates the desired future outcome. We learned how these statements can provide focus, motivation, and alignment for personal and professional goals.

Overall, this module aimed to empower participants with the self-awareness, clarity, and motivation needed to lead ourselves effectively, setting the stage for successful leadership of others and our entire business.

Categories: Nurse Business, Nurse Consulting, Nurse Entrepreneur