Why self-leadership matters in any career change: 3 practical tips to lead yourself in your new role.

Whether you’re exploring a change, already applying or you’re just about to step into something new one thing is true: the job title might change but your patterns of working often follow you.

Changing jobs can really feel like hitting refresh, which is so needed for many of us who are craving more meaning, purpose and connection to our work. Whether you’re exploring a change, already applying or you’re just about to step into something new one thing is true: the job title might change but your patterns of working often follow you. 

These patterns might be the exact reason that you decided to look for a new job in the first place. So, it’s vital that you address them whilst you step into something new, to avoid falling into the same trap and risk repeating the same cycles. Second guessing yourself, overcommitting to things, feeling like you’re an imposter and putting pressure on yourself to prove you’re worthy, to the point of exhaustion. 

Because a new role, especially an impact-led one, is meant to be engaging, exciting (of course let’s be realistic there will be times of stress or busyness) but overall, it’s supposed to be a positive experience and change for you!

So this article will help you understand what some of the common mistakes and traps people fall into are, and how to create a strategy to consciously approach the change. 

At the core of all of this, is self-leadership. 

What actually is self-leadership? 

Gone are the days of leaders being just those with a management job title. In fact, everyone is a leader. Everyone has the ability to show up and lead themselves, influence others and that has a ripple effect on leading and influencing change more widely. 

Self leadership can be defined as the ability to self-influence, leading oneself toward higher performance through self-awareness, self-regulation, clear goal-setting and accountability.

To truly let go of some of the unhelpful patterns that might have shown up for you in work in the past, you need to focus not just on what it is that you’re doing, but how you are doing it. 

How you: 

  • lead yourself through challenges and uncertainty
  • set boundaries
  • work best
  • regulate your emotions

At it’s heart, self-leadership helps you move from feeling like you are reacting to situations, always on the back foot and struggling to spin all the plates, to a proactive intentional approach to every decision, task and project you have within your work. It’s about gaining a deeper self-awareness so you can work with yourself to thrive in your new position, not battle against self-doubt.

With that said, here are 3 ways you can lead yourself in your new role: 

Set boundaries early

The start of a new job can feel like you have to say yes to absolutely everything, and this is often the biggest pitfall that starts the cycle again. It’s much harder to do a U-turn than it is to set clear boundaries from the start and you don’t need to earn your right to protect your energy.

Many people shy away from setting clear boundaries because they don’t want to risk being seen as ‘awkward’ or ‘difficult’. I get it, setting boundaries can feel really hard, especially when you want to show how capable you are to your new team. But the thing is, there are plenty of ways to set boundaries without it coming across this way. In fact, a good employer will see setting boundaries as an excellent demonstration of self-leadership, and the broader leadership potential you can bring to their organisation. 

If you are someone who can establish clear expectations around ways of working, you add an extra layer of protection to the risk of burnout, which is an extremely favourable factor for businesses. The associated costs with burnout are huge and so if you are someone who can manage your own workload effectively and protect your well-being in the process, you are a brilliant asset to any team. 

Watch your self-talk

If I could have £1 for every time I hear a new client tell me I’m not sure whether I’m actually good enough’ I would be extremely rich. It’s so easy to get sucked into a negative inner narrative when you start something new. 

From a neuroscience perspective, this is completely normal. New = unknown, unknown = risky 

We have evolved with an automatic system to keep us safe from risks and threats and therefore that system is hyper-triggered in a new situation like a job. This means that your inner-narrative is likely going to be quite loud at the start, saying things like: 

I don’t belong here

I’m going to mess everything up 

Everyone is going to think I’m stupid

They are going to question why they hired me

This job change was a mistake 

This self-talk is aimed at trying to get you back inside your comfort zone because that is where safety is. But as you can imagine, this is extremely unhelpful for your self-confidence at any time, let alone when you’re just starting a new job!

Tracking how you are speaking to yourself and then reframing your thoughts is a really powerful mindset shift to ensure that you turn the volume down on this negativity bias and turn the volume up on all of the reasons why you do deserve to be in that new role…because you do! 

Define your version of success

A new role means a fresh start. However, the default would be applying what you did before to this new situation. Great if you were happy before! Not so great if the reason you got a new job in the first place was because you were unsatisfied, stressed or disconnected from your work. 

Arguably the most important step is to carve some reflection time before you start the new role to think about what your version of success will look like.

  • Ways of working
  • Boundaries
  • Environment
  • Schedule 
  • With your team 
  • Communication

Defining this early on will help you to create it, intentionally, from the very beginning.

If in the past you resorted to thinking that being busy was better or working longer equalled working harder then take a moment to reflect on the impact of that mindset. This is your opportunity to rewrite the script and choose a new approach, maybe one where sustainable growth = success rather than the number of hours you have worked. 

It’s true, a new job can be a real catalyst for growth, a fresh start and connecting to a more aligned path. It’s how you choose to lead yourself within that new role which will have a huge impact on whether you ultimately feel like it’s a success or not.

It’s so easy to forget about these factors in the busyness of everything that comes with starting a new role so here is your reminder to give yourself the space and time to prioritise these steps of self-leadership, in the knowledge that this little bit of effort, can go a long way for yourself. 

Start small, this doesn’t have to be a huge grand plan, but creating an intentional and conscious strategy for your boundaries, self-talk and your version of success could be the key difference in whether this new role is more of the same old pattern or the start of something different.

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