From Self-Criticism to Self-Trust: How to Lead Yourself Like You Mean It | EP 56
Send us Fan Mail You don't need a team, a title, or a single employee to be a leader. You're leading someone every single day: yourself. Self-leadership is one of those skills that can easily get overlooked when you're building a business. It's easy to focus on how to lead a team, grow your business, or become a better leader for other people while forgetting to ask a much simpler question: How am I leading myself? When you're an entrepreneur, there isn't always someone assigning your priorities, checking whether you followed through, or holding you accountable when you don't do what you said you would. That freedom can be great. It can also expose where your own self-leadership needs some work. This episode explores what it actually means to lead yourself when you're responsible for setting the direction, making the decisions, following through, and creating the accountability you need. It also digs into the difference between accountability and shame. Holding yourself responsible for a commitment doesn't mean constantly criticizing yourself when you fall short. One helps you adjust and move forward. The other can keep you stuck. Another important piece is self-trust. Sometimes what looks like a lack of confidence is actually a lack of trust in your own ability to make decisions, follow through, and figure things out along the way. More research, more opinions, and another course might feel like progress, but sometimes what you really need is evidence that you can rely on yourself. That evidence can come from something as simple as keeping a small promise to yourself consistently. The episode closes with four reflection questions designed to help you take an honest look at your own self-leadership, including what you're avoiding, where you're struggling to follow through, and what would make your commitments easier to sustain. What to listen for in this episode: Accountability vs. shame: Why holding yourself accountable and constantly criticizing yourself are not the same thing, and why shame doesn't create better leadership. Self-trust vs. confidence: Why you may not need more confidence, more research, or another person's opinion. You may need to trust yourself enough to make a decision and move forward. The power of small commitments: How keeping small promises to yourself can build evidence that you're someone you can rely on. Four questions to evaluate your self-leadership: Questions like "What am I avoiding?" and "What would make this easier to sustain?" can help you recognize where your self-leadership is strong and where it may be breaking down. Before you build a bigger business, a bigger team, or a bigger title, ask yourself: If you were your own employee, would you trust the person leading you? Support the show Whether you’re looking to grow your visibility through Pinterest Marketing or streamline your Podcast Operations and Team Management, we help business owners and creatives build sustainable systems that work for them, not against them. Want to learn more about how this can work for you and your business, reach out to us! Connect with Entrepreneur Encounter: Your Free Gift: 20 Min Clarity Map https://entrepreneur-encounter.kit.com/clarity-map Entrepreneur Encounter Spotlight: https://forms.gle/UMfhMqPQSXDXbU828 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/entrepreneur-encounter/ Host Sara Lowell: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/youarerembertllc/ Website: https://www.youarerembertllc.com/ Host Dana Johnson: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-m-johnson/ Website: https://ddvirtualmanagement.com/