You have to be a selfish leader at times so you can be successful. It’s not uncommon to get pushed and pulled in multiple directions as you navigate your career path. Friends, family, and competing demands at work can cause your plate to fill up to the point of being overwhelmed. You won’t find success as a leader when you allow the demands of other people to distract you from caring for yourself. And that is why it is OK to be a selfish leader.
Whenever you say yes to one thing, you say no to another. More often than not, what you say no to is making yourself a priority. When success is always just out of reach, it is time to become a selfish leader.
You wouldn’t neglect your health to avoid feeling selfish. You have to be a selfish leader so you can tend to your emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. Otherwise, you are always giving and as a result, you become an overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed leader. And those are not traits of a successful leader.
Even more, you can’t give what you don’t have, and that is what too many leaders try to do – unsuccessfully. Here are five ways leaders can become more selfish so they can be successful.
Selfish leaders dedicate time to make themselves a priority
Start by building in time to work on things you enjoy that also help you grow as a high-performing leader. What good does it do to climb the ladder of success when climbing the ladder results in nonstop work? To be your best, you have to feel your best. Here are ways selfish leaders make themselves a priority.
- Work out because exercise offers tremendous benefits
- Work on a passion project because it will energize you
- Learn new skills so you can stay ahead of your peers
Whatever those things are that you enjoy, schedule them in between blocks of your day. Selfish leaders protect these blocks of time and don’t say yes to something if doing so means they are saying no to the things they enjoy.
Selfish leaders start each business day with self-learning.
Self-learning is a process by which leaders take the initiative, with or without assistance from others, to diagnose their learning needs, formulate learning goals, identify resources for learning, and evaluate learning outcomes.
Too often, un-selfish leaders wake up and immediately open their phones to review and respond to notifications. Starting their day this way is unproductive because leaders forget about their needs. As soon as you respond to one message, another one arrives right behind it.
Instead, selfish leaders start their day with self-learning priority time. Here are easy ways to begin each day with self-learning.
- Read a chapter of a book
- Review your industry or market news
- Listen to a podcast
- Subscribe to a blog
Selfish leaders don’t fall into the trap of responding to the urgent requests of others. The urgent requests can wait until 8 am. Make your self-learning time a priority because focusing on your learning will help make you a successful leader.
Selfish leaders fiercely defend their time – all day long.
Successful leaders wouldn’t allow another meeting to get scheduled over a board meeting. They wouldn’t allow someone’s urgency to prevent them from missing an important client meeting either. Furthermore, selfish leaders don’t say yes so much that they sacrifice their personal fulfillment.
Selfish leaders fiercely defend the time they’ve blocked off to make themselves a priority. As a result, they say no to most things that involve a time commitment. Become a more selfish leader by saying no, so you have the time you need to focus on accomplishing your goals and building your career.
Take deliberate, intentional action
Every day brings many tasks and many people vying for your attention. It is easy to get overwhelmed and, even worse, bogged down by other people’s problems. As a result, un-selfish leaders fail to accomplish anything productive.
Make sure every action you take is intentional and deliberate by exercising self-discipline. Ask yourself these questions:
- How will this action help me further my goals?
- Is taking this action urgent or important?
- What is the impact of not taking action right now?
Selfish leaders carefully weigh the answers to these questions before allowing a task or person to derail their plan for the day.
Every day presents a new opportunity to become a selfish leader. You have to be strategic, focused, and committed to habits that support your goals, health, and learning mindset. Doing so requires you to know when to be selfish. Developing into a successful leader starts with your self-care and personal fulfillment. Become a selfish leader and get closer to success.
