Reflections on Leading Self
The company I work for (in case you've forgotten, its no longer MINDEF) recently launched a Leading Self programme at the corporate level. Even though I've only been in the company for 4 months, I'm thankful that I'm able to work with our partner (which is a consultancy company specialising in this area) to scrub the programme and plan the roll out. On a personal basis, I must say there's tremendous resonance between what I believe and what I'm doing.
In my younger days, I really believed that life was just about going with the flow and being happy. I used to laugh at those who led purposeful lives thinking that they were slaves to their goals and objectives. But I've come to regret (in ways that are too expensive for most people) that I was being downright unwise. Life is short and no matter what your religious beliefs are, its really not about you. It's about living a purposeful life so that you can make a difference to your family, friends and others.
And how do you have a purposeful life if you cannot lead yourself. In an earlier entry, I talked about how John Maxwell's book opened my eyes to the fact that leadership is for everyone. The first person you lead is yourself and the first thing you master is your mind. This is such an obvious truth but a lot of people are blind to this. When bad things happen in their lives, the first thing they do is to blame others. Very rarely do they look within themselves. I used to do that - I used to blame my parentage and lack of patronage for my being disadvantaged in life - and I still struggle with this, but the fact is I'm responsible for everything in my life. Except for accidents and acts of God, everything else is my doing. This means I can do the correct things to set my life on the right course. I'm not a victim of my circumstances and conditions.
And this is why the Leading Self programme strikes a chord within me. Its about having personal effectiveness and learning practical habits to allow us to better balance work and life. Its about being the best that we can be and achieving our potential. And a big part of that is about taking control to start making changes and to take ownership of our self development. Of course, this needs a shift in mindset as John Maxwell correctly stated. We need to check our thinking for negative and destructive thoughts and mindsets. We need to realise that our thoughts create our reality. How do you expect to live a good and fulfilling life if you believe that people are bad in nature, that you're not good enough and that you'll never amount to anything. Henry Ford once remarked that if you think you can or you can't, you're right. So we should be very careful of what we read, who we listen to and what we dwell on everyday if we are to lead ourselves!
In my younger days, I really believed that life was just about going with the flow and being happy. I used to laugh at those who led purposeful lives thinking that they were slaves to their goals and objectives. But I've come to regret (in ways that are too expensive for most people) that I was being downright unwise. Life is short and no matter what your religious beliefs are, its really not about you. It's about living a purposeful life so that you can make a difference to your family, friends and others.
And how do you have a purposeful life if you cannot lead yourself. In an earlier entry, I talked about how John Maxwell's book opened my eyes to the fact that leadership is for everyone. The first person you lead is yourself and the first thing you master is your mind. This is such an obvious truth but a lot of people are blind to this. When bad things happen in their lives, the first thing they do is to blame others. Very rarely do they look within themselves. I used to do that - I used to blame my parentage and lack of patronage for my being disadvantaged in life - and I still struggle with this, but the fact is I'm responsible for everything in my life. Except for accidents and acts of God, everything else is my doing. This means I can do the correct things to set my life on the right course. I'm not a victim of my circumstances and conditions.
And this is why the Leading Self programme strikes a chord within me. Its about having personal effectiveness and learning practical habits to allow us to better balance work and life. Its about being the best that we can be and achieving our potential. And a big part of that is about taking control to start making changes and to take ownership of our self development. Of course, this needs a shift in mindset as John Maxwell correctly stated. We need to check our thinking for negative and destructive thoughts and mindsets. We need to realise that our thoughts create our reality. How do you expect to live a good and fulfilling life if you believe that people are bad in nature, that you're not good enough and that you'll never amount to anything. Henry Ford once remarked that if you think you can or you can't, you're right. So we should be very careful of what we read, who we listen to and what we dwell on everyday if we are to lead ourselves!
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