12 Steps of Self-Leadership

Two Canadian leadership coaches map out a process to cultivate inner awareness and outer effectiveness in this personal/professional development guide.

Differing from past leadership guides that “tended to focus on plans and solutions that are externally applied and measured,” this manual provides a “path to meaningful change and success as a leader,” one that “demands much more of you and begins deep within.” Drawing on the 12-step models of Alcoholics Anonymous and most particularly Joseph Campbell’s hero journey, the Lesters, operators of Ontario-based coaching firm Eagle Tree Leadership, offer discussion and then takeaway “footholds,” “stepping stones,” and “travel tips” on how to reflect and respond to their series of personal growth steps. These steps move from simply accepting the invitation to become more self-aware (Steps 1 to 3), exploring this awareness (Steps 4 to 5), and preparing to use it (Steps 6 to 7), to applying it to your external world (Steps 8 to 12). As part of this process, they direct readers to their online quiz to assess DMQ™ (Difference Making Quotient), or a person’s commitment/awareness level regarding self-leadership, at the start and end of the “quest.” Readers also must determine, via values ranking and other exercises, FISC™—“your own ‘royal treasury’ of Facts, Influences, SoulDNA™, and Characters that make you ‘you’ ”—while respecting the FISCs of others. By following these steps, “Shift Happens,” leading to Transformational Leadership (Step 11) that will “inspire, engage, empower, and facilitate transformational change in the world—individually and collectively.” Finally, Keeping It Fresh (Step 12) involves ongoing journaling and learning. In this volume, the Lesters (who are married) fall into the common coaches’ trap of too many jargon handles. But their overall approach, leveraging Campbell’s journey just as Hollywood often does, is both dramatic and inspiring, encouraging readers to see themselves as having the “courage to answer the call.” While 12 steps may seem like a lot to get through to some, this allows for important sustaining concepts—not only that final, cycling refresh step, but also the very welcome Step 7, the “Integral Pause: I regularly engage in times of pause, retreat, and reflection.”

An engaging personal growth “script,” casting the reader as a questing hero.