295 | Self-Leadership: The Foundational Skill Every Leader Needs to Build a Thriving Culture

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron kicks off our Summer of Leadership series by spotlighting the most overlooked but foundational leadership skill: self-leadership. As leaders rise through the ranks, many realize they were trained to be led—but not necessarily to lead themselves. Jenni unpacks the personal and organizational impact of this shift, emphasizing how self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and disciplined routines form the bedrock of effective leadership.

Through honest insights and practical strategies, Jenni challenges leaders to own their growth, model a growth mindset, and align daily behaviors with core values. You'll learn why organizational culture is shaped by how leaders show up every day—and how leading yourself well is the first step to leading others with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

Whether you're stepping into a new role or seeking to deepen your leadership influence, this episode will inspire you to take meaningful ownership of your development—and remind you that growth is contagious.

Key Takeaways:

• Self-leadership is the foundation of effective leadership.
• Leaders must shift from being led to leading themselves.
• Daily leader behaviors shape organizational culture.
• Growth mindset and ongoing learning are non-negotiable.
• Taking ownership of your development drives team success.
• Strong self-leadership boosts morale and retention.
• Growth is contagious—lead yourself to lead your team.

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Transcript

Hey, leaders, welcome to the Lead Culture podcast. I'm your host, Jenny Catron, CEO of the 4Sight Group. And we're a company dedicated to helping leaders develop thriving teams. Each week, I'll be your guide as we explore practical strategies to equip you with the tools you need to lead with clarity, confidence, and build unstoppable momentum in your organization. 

My mission is to be your trusted coach, empowering you to master the art of self-leadership so you'll learn to lead yourself well so you can lead others better. Each week we take a deep dive on a leadership or a culture topic. You'll hear stories from amazing guests and leaders like you who are committed to leading well.

So let's dive in and keep learning on this leadership journey together. 

So friends, welcome back to the Summer of Leadership series. We're doing a fun series all about leadership. And last week we started our journey through the eight essential skills that every culture carrying leader must develop. This week, we're gonna start deep diving into those skills and we're talking about

One of my favorite topics, self leadership, which is the foundational skill that unlocks every other leadership capability. See friends, before you can lead anyone else well, you have to lead yourself well. You've heard me say it a zillion times. This is the starting point for leadership and the true key to culture transformation.

See, here's the problem that we're kind of faced with as leaders. Most leaders are conditioned to be led, not to lead themselves. Like think about this for a minute. From birth through early adulthood, we're conditioned to be led. Parents tell us what to do. Teachers guide us. Coaches instruct us. And systems dictate the rules, right? Like it's all kind of mapped out. And then suddenly, you're in the work world and that expectation flips except you don't know that. You're supposed to lead yourself, but you're still waiting for everyone else to lead you. And so what we find is that we're really not equipped or prepared or even aware of this shift. I can't tell you the number of times that I'm working with an organization and there's this rustration within the team, this high expectation from younger team members who have these expectations of senior leaders and that the organization should be mapping out their precise pathway for growth and development. And the leaders are like, you're supposed to be doing that. there's a, in my opinion, there's a good in between. I think that as organizations, we should be helping define pathways for growth, but more importantly, we as leaders need to own the responsibility for our growth. We as individuals, whatever our leadership influence looks like, we need to own the responsibility for our growth. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership shows that 60 % of new leaders struggle with the transition from being directed to directing themselves and others. So again, this is a common problem.

It's a common issue. So if you're feeling it already, you're like, Ooh, wow. Ooh, ouch. That was me. Or you're seeing it in some of your team members. This is, this is common. And this is why we want to elevate it. This is why we want to raise it because many leaders plateau or lose momentum because they're waiting for someone else to chart their path forward. Right? I bet you can relate to that frustration that you feel stuck or you feel plateaued and you're waiting for somebody else to tell you what to do.

but you have to own your growth, your development. You have to lead yourself. No one else is responsible for it. You might have the gift of somebody who sees that, wants to call that out in you and helps map that out, but friends, that's not common and I don't want you to wait for it. You need to lead yourself. So let me take you back, give you a little more context for why this is such a passion point for me.

Jenni Catron (04:54.613)
My early leadership was marked by really a misunderstanding of what it means to lead well. And I've told you other stories like, guys, I was just a mess as a young leader. following the path I had seen from others before me, I expeditiously climbed the corporate ladder. I read all the leadership books. I barked orders and I bulldozed my way to success. Like I was going to make it happen. In a way, I was leading myself. Well, I was leading myself. I don't know how well I was leading myself.

but I thought that's what it meant to lead. Like just bulldoze your way at all costs, just do whatever it takes to get ahead. But I soon realized I wasn't having the influence that I hoped for, right? Like that is one way to chart your course, but it's not an ideal way, right? And I was becoming increasingly aware that I needed a different set of skills for leadership. My problem was that...

I had a hard time keeping up with the rapid rate of growth and change required by my industry. It's funny how every era we see rapid change and growth, different things that are impacting our, where we work, serve, lead, et cetera. So I was making leadership decisions that were more about my survival than they were about the welfare of my team or the organization. So I was making very selfish decisions.

We were talking about self leadership, but don't confuse that with selfish. I had the tools to grow things rapidly, but I lacked the emotional and intellectual health to sustain it. Catch that. I had the skills or the tools to grow things rapidly to succeed, if you will, but I lacked the emotional and intellectual health. And in working with...

leaders all over, know a lot of you wrestle with this as well, right? Like sometimes our skills and our capability outpace our emotional stability. In fact, I remember one particular Saturday morning during that season, and guys, it should have been a relaxing day without a big agenda. Like I didn't have a tongue going on, which is a bit rare, but I woke up in a ball of stress, torn between spending time with my family,

Jenni Catron (07:10.197)
or using the time to catch up on the mountain of work kind of lingering in my mind. You know how the to-do list is never done, right? And so it was just back there, just brewing. And my husband picked up on my stress, you know, and he's like, what in the world? And he says, well, what do you want to do, Jen? Like, it was actually a very positive question. And he was trying to help kind of move me out of this little stress ball I was already becoming. And you guys, I kind of thought it was a dumb question.

I thought, I don't have the time to think about what I want. I was leading a rapidly growing organization, overseeing a multimillion dollar building project. I was writing my first book. There was no time to think about what I wanted. There was barely time to do everything I needed to do. Leaders, have you felt that? Like that just like constant pressure that you just can't escape. And my husband's question triggered an avalanche of emotions that kind of took me a lot of counseling to crawl my way out of, not his fault at all.

But what emerged was a realization of how disconnected I had become from myself. Like I wasn't paying attention to what I needed. I was lacking self-awareness and it was impacting every area of my leadership. Now, we're talking about self-leadership because we have to have some self-awareness to lead ourselves well. In next week's episode, we're gonna talk about emotional intelligence where self-awareness shows up again. So you're get kind of a double dose of self-awareness because it is the foundation for healthy leadership.

And what I realized in that moment was that the hardest person for me to lead is me. Like I was, you know, even doing a lot more in leadership in general. I wasn't quite the bulldozer that I had been. And it was kind of proud of my leadership ability. But what I recognized is that I wasn't leading myself well. And I read this quote from a woman named Dr. Pamela Butler. She's a clinical psychologist and she says, there is a person

with whom you spend more time than any other, a person who has more influence over you, and more ability to interfere with or to support your growth than anyone else, this ever-present companion is your own self.

Jenni Catron (09:23.307)
And her words just awakened in me the importance of self-leadership. There is no one you spend more time with than you. There is no one who has more influence over you than you. There is no one who can interfere with or support your growth than you. And to me, this realization was both incredibly empowering and quite terrifying, if I was honest, because I take me into every situation.

One of the most challenging and most liberating things we can learn in our leadership journey is that the one thing I have control of in every situation is me. Oftentimes there are so many things beyond my control, but what I can always control is how I respond, how I engage, how I show up, how I pursue growth. Friends, that's self leadership.

Emotional intelligence expert and psychologist Daniel Goldman defines self-awareness as having a deep understanding of one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest with themselves and with others. And what I discovered was in that season of my life, I wasn't being honest with myself or with others about my

capacity and my limits, I wasn't leading myself well. And as a result, instead of succeeding, which I was so desperately trying to do, I was floundering. My relationships were strained. I was short tempered with my team. Time with my friends was non-existent. I didn't have the right, I wasn't leading myself well. I didn't have the right boundaries in place. And a crash course in self leadership opened my eyes to the importance of it.

It really is friends, the secret weapon of successful leaders. When I have a deep understanding of what's going on with me, I can be more conscious of how I impact others and therefore be more intentional in all that I do. So that was a little bit of the story, the backstory, of that inciting incident that made me go, okay, this is a big deal. Self-awareness is critical and it's also essential for culture building.

Jenni Catron (11:46.114)
Leaders, culture is not created by mission statements or posters, although those things can have a place in it. It's created by the daily behaviors of leaders. Let me say that again. Culture is created by the daily behaviors of leaders. In fact, I define culture as who we are and how we work together to achieve the mission, the how we work together. That's the values, beliefs, and behaviors that are showing up day to day. That is shaping your culture.

So if leaders don't prioritize their own growth, why would anyone else on your team? Like if you don't have a culture of growth and development, if you're frustrated because other members on your team are not seeking out ways to grow and develop, you have to first ask yourself, am I modeling that? Self-leadership aligns your actions with your values and your vision, which builds trust and emotional ownership on your team.

Harvard Business Review found that leaders who model self leadership create teams with 25 % higher engagement. Friends, we've been talking about this engagement piece and how I shared with you last week in Gallup's report. Engagement is at an all time low. So we've got to look for the things that we can do. And one of the simple things, not necessarily easy, but simple things we can do as leaders is demonstrate self leadership.

25 % higher engagement if leaders model self-leadership.

And this is so key. I talk about this in culture matters because leaders, you are the key to your culture. When you lead yourself well, your team follows. So whatever sphere of influence you have, maybe you're leading a volunteer team, maybe you're over a department or ministry area. Maybe you are the head of the company, whatever seat you're in, that's your span of control, your sphere of influence. And when you lead yourself well, those people you influence will follow that.

Jenni Catron (13:46.637)
Like they will take their cues from you. You are setting the culture.

Jenni Catron (13:53.218)
So let's look at just my definition of self leadership, the definition of self leadership we use here at Foresight. And I'm gonna give you just a couple of ways we can grow or things we can do to lean into this more. So here's my definition of self leadership. It's a commitment to consistent growth, discipline.

and doing the right thing for the sake of those you lead. So we're gonna look at a couple of things here from that definition. The first one is growth. Self-leadership is about ongoing learning, curiosity, and actively identifying your own gaps, right? We all have gaps in our growth, and especially as we continue to grow, we continue to find the gaps. There's always an opportunity for us to grow and develop.

So self leadership is about this commitment to ongoing learning, this commitment to growth, right? That you are a lifelong learner. Friends, just embrace that. We don't stop learning. It's part of what we do, especially as leaders. Research from LinkedIn Learning shows 94 % of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning. Now, I want you to think about this. If you're in a leadership seat,

Obviously you want to be committed to your own growth, but you want to create a culture of learning and growth and development. And so when companies are diligent in creating avenues for growth, % of employees would stay there. Like it is a retention strategy. So that alone is a good reason to invest in development and growth. consider what are some simple but powerful ways you can grow every day?

Simple but powerful. I've, I've shared with you before examples of, I am an avid reader. Like I love to read now. I'm an introvert. So that also kind of adds to my desire to get away with a good book and learn, but I am very disciplined about just spending about 30 minutes every morning reading because it is such a helpful thing for me to get out of the things that I feel like I need to do. Like before I get into my work world,

Jenni Catron (16:12.171)
I want to learn, I want to take in before I do my work. So what does that look like for you? What are some simple ways you grow? Maybe you listen to podcasts. So if you're on a morning walk or run, if you're at the gym, listen to podcasts that challenge you, motivate you, spark curiosity, help you grow and think. They challenge you in some way. That's a great resource. Mentors.

Like, do you have some people that you just highly respect and that maybe you take them to coffee once a quarter? Like, this doesn't have to be, sometimes we think of mentorship and we think of this really laborious, we meet every week and it's like this massive commitment. Take the pressure off. Mentoring relationships can, don't have to be overly scripted or structured.

sometimes it's just episodic. Like I've got something that I'm wanting to learn and grow from. And I think of somebody who I'm like, I need to reach out to them. I was on a call today with one of my team members and we were talking about a part of Forsyte's work that I was like, I just need to go talk to a few people to get their perspective on this. Cause it's an area I need to grow in. And right off the bat, I rattled off two or three names of people that I was like, you know what? I can call them and get some advice.

Those are mentoring relationships. They don't have to be overly structured. It's just leaning into who can I learn from and how can I grow? So what are some of those things that help you grow and how can you put them into your everyday? Which goes hand in hand with number two, which is discipline leaders to lead yourself. Well, you've got to be disciplined, creating rhythms and routines that supports your mental and physical health, your intellectual health, your growth overall.

because leadership stamina matters. Like we need you healthy and thriving. That is physically, that is mentally, that's spiritually, that's intellectually. Like you need to have good rhythms and disciplines for your growth. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that regular routines improve resilience and reduce burnout risk. Like having a regular routine, like there's something for me that's really comforting about that. So my routine in the morning,

Jenni Catron (18:29.829)
is and not everybody's a morning routine person. So I want to like also like just put a little pause there and say, I'm not suggesting you have to develop your morning routine. Like there are a lot of people that that works really well. Some of you, might have routines that are different parts of the day, but figure out what are they? What are the things that bring you a sense of stability and help you have the disciplines that help you lead yourself well? So my routine is I am up every morning between five and five 30.

I am relatively early person, but I get up and I immediately work out and I know in advance what my workout is. know my rhythm for the week of whether it's a weight training day, a walk day, a run day. Like I have varying things that I do throughout the week and, but every day I'm up and every day I do it. And it doesn't matter if I'm home. It doesn't matter if I'm on the road. doesn't matter what time zone I'm in. I still get up between five and five 30. That is like just a given. And some people ask me, how do you do that when you're, you're on the road? Because I travel so much.

I'm like, I just don't think about it. It's a decision. It's a discipline. It's just part of my routine. And that routine brings comfort. So I get up and I do that. And then I come back and course a shower. And then I have quiet time. have like time for spiritual growth and prayer and journaling. And then I have reading time. Now, sometimes that might be an hour for all of that. Sometimes that might be 20 minutes. That kind of depends on what the rest of my schedule looks like for the day. But

It is part of my day and I'm eating breakfast while I'm doing that. So that's like those things go hand in hand. And then I jump into my day. So I have very consistent rhythms that foster the things that help me. So in what's happening in those quick couple hours in the morning is my physical health because I'm working out, my spiritual health because I'm taking time for prayer and reflection and my intellectual health because I'm reading something that

is inspiring me, is making me think. So in just those quick couple of hours, I am taking care of me before I jump into everything else I'm doing. Now again, your rhythm might look different. Maybe you have a house full of kids and mornings are chaos, but after you get them in bed at night, you end your day with some of those rhythms. Whatever that looks like, maybe you don't have the luxury of a full hour. Maybe it's like, you know what? I've got time for 10 minutes of reading.

Jenni Catron (20:55.883)
great, like start there, but just create the discipline, create the rhythm. So I want you to think about what rhythms have you seen make the biggest difference for you or for other leaders? Maybe it's the morning routine, maybe it's blocking focused time, maybe it's boundaries on meetings of like when you do meetings or what type of meetings you do at what time of day, sometimes we have control over that, sometimes we don't, but knowing the things that

bring you energy or give you life. I know that I can't record podcasts at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoons. I'm not gonna give you good energy, because it's the end of the week and I'm ready to kind of be done. So even though that's usually a lighter time on my schedule, it's not a great time for me to record a podcast. I'm not recording this on Friday, by the way. So hopefully you don't feel like you're getting the leftovers. But what are those rhythms?

that you've seen make a difference. Okay, and number three, ownership.

taking responsibility for your own development instead of waiting on someone else, instead of waiting on your leader, HR, the circumstances, like, you've got to lead you. You've got to take ownership for your growth and development. Just, that's the hard truth.

And so I want you to be conscious of the fact that sometimes people get chosen or noticed because they are intentionally pursuing growth and development. Like sometimes we wait and we hold back waiting for somebody to notice us. And I know that feels really good when they do, but guys, you've got to make yourself stand out, not in a, abrasive aggressive way. I'm not, I'm not suggesting bulldozer.

Jenni Catron (22:43.777)
I'm just saying, hey, when people see you're hungry to learn, to grow, to contribute, to be a part, you will get noticed. It will create opportunities. Gallup says that employees who take ownership of their growth are three times more likely to feel engaged at work. Right? So as you lean in, you're going to feel more engaged. It's going to create more opportunities. And then the last thing I would say, number four, is influence. The ripple effect.

of self-leadership on team morale, culture, and retention is huge. When you lead yourself well, you are modeling it, it is setting the tone for your team, it is creating a culture of growth and development and learning and a commitment to lead ourselves well, and that leads to retention. When every team member is leading themselves well, engagement and commitment levels rise across the organization. I said that in Culture Matters.

When every team member is leading themselves well, engagement and commitment levels rise across the organization. see it time and time again. The influence of self leadership can't be overstated. It fuels trust alignment and momentum. You think about this. If you think about some of the best leaders that you've worked with, I bet you can look at it and say, yep, they led themselves well, right? They were committed to growth. They were disciplined in

all aspects of life, but particularly in their growth and development, they owned it, they demonstrated ownership, and they were intentional about their influence. So friends, want you to just reflect honestly, this is just between us, like reflect honestly, where are you coasting or maybe waiting for permission? Maybe, and this might be very subconscious, that you're just kind of like coasting and you keep thinking somebody else will prompt you.

Where is that? And then what's one thing you can implement this week to grow? Again, doesn't have to be big, doesn't have to be, you know, this massive shift or change. What's just one thing you can do to implement this week that will help you grow? What's one area where you could take more ownership of like just recognizing, you know what, I got to own that. I can't wait for anybody else. I need to lead me.

Jenni Catron (25:09.409)
So maybe here's a couple ideas, maybe block 30 minutes this week for intentional growth, reading, podcasting, journaling. is a, I know 30 minutes might sound like a lot, but frankly it's amazing. Like if you audit your week, like pay attention to your week and go, where does my time go? You'll find 30 minutes in a hurry. Maybe it's not all together, but maybe it's 10 minutes, three days this week. Just where could you find 30 minutes for intentional growth?

Could you create a routine that energizes you? Maybe it's a morning, maybe it's the evening, maybe it's right after work. I don't know. You figure out when it works for you, but just to get what rejuvenates you. What do you need to rejuvenate you? I know that I need to get outside first thing in the morning. That's a big thing for me for self leadership. Like I love the outdoors. If I could record every podcast from my front porch, I would, but it would be so noisy.

There'd be so much going on because the birds and the lawnmowers and all the things happening in the neighborhood. But I love being outside so much. And I know that I'm leading myself well when I get out and get some fresh air and get some exercise. That's a huge one for me. What is it for you? You know, you know what brings you life and what brings you energy. You need to create a routine that helps energize you. Ask a trusted peer or a coach for feedback. That's something you might do this week of like, Hey,

Give me some feedback. Where do you think I could be pursuing growth more or how could I lead myself betters or anything I'm unaware of? You'll know what questions to ask. Another idea might be just to read 10 pages of a book this week that challenges your thinking. Again, sometimes we're like, oh, I can never pick up the book because I never have time. You absolutely can pick up the book. You can pick it up and you can read 10 pages. And in 30 days, you'll have read a 300 page book, right?

It's just those little micro decisions that lead to massive impact. And that's how we lead ourselves well, is just figuring out what are the simple things I can do consistently that can lead to better outcomes, more growth. So I hope this got you thinking today. Next week, we're gonna explore emotional intelligence, a leadership skill that can't be automated or outsourced. This is a big one, especially in the age of AI.

Jenni Catron (27:31.402)
Emotional intelligence, you guys, is still a differentiator. So we're going to dig into that. And I want to encourage you, if you're growing yourself, you're already building better culture because growth is contagious. So just by listening to this episode, you're demonstrating a desire to grow. You're modeling self leadership. So keep leaning into it because as you grow, you're helping invest in the culture of your team. We have also designated or designed

the Summer Leadership Institute to help you grow these skills that will help you lead better. So if you want coaching, structure, and real world application, I want to encourage you to join us in the Summer Leadership Institute. The Institute is for people managers, team leads, and culture builders who want to lead better right now. So that's a specific program that is really, it's a coaching program designed to help you kind of a sprint, a little coaching sprint.

of in addition to the podcast series, a course and one-on-one coaching that will support you in your growth. So if you want to go a little bit deeper, you want a little more support, just reach out to me at jennicatron at getforsight.com, J-E-N-N-I-C-A-T-R-O-N at getforsight.com, G-E-T the number four, S-I-G-H-T dot com. Just shoot me an email and we will get you more information about the Summer Leadership Institute coaching program. Leaders, self-leadership is the starting point of all leadership. You don't need permission to grow. You can start today. Nobody else needs to tell you what to do. I gave you a lot of ideas though. I was a little bossy. So I did kind of give you some, some sparks here, but do it. Lead yourself well this week. Commit to leading yourself well. Your team needs the healthiest, most grounded version of you.

because you are the key to your culture. Let's start with you. So keep leading well. Friends, if you found this episode helpful, would you share it with a friend? Maybe there's somebody else you're like, hey, let's go on this leadership growth journey together. And then would you rate and review it? Your reviews, your ratings all help people know, hey, this is a podcast worth listening to. And it also just encourages me. I'm an Enneagram three. I love some feedback. So.

Jenni Catron (29:56.417)
Rate and review, tell us how we're doing and how we can support you better. And I will see you next week.