Self- Leadership: A Key Competency for Health Coaches

Every one of us is a leader. Daily, we are called to be of service to others in all aspects of our lives—as parents, employees, community volunteers, leaders, partners, friends, and neighbors.

At the Bakken Center, we hold that self-leadership is an essential component of being of service to others and a key competency for an effective health coach.  

Self-leadership may simply be defined as the ability to nourish ourselves daily, in order to replenish and care for our wellbeing and resilience. It is the capacity to wisely monitor and fill our “personal wells,” so that we may in turn be of service to others. It is often described as leadership from the inside out.

Crucial elements of self-leadership include self-awareness, self-efficacy, and the intentional alignment between our values, daily actions, and in-the-moment choices that lead to enhanced effectiveness and wellbeing for ourselves and others. 

Perhaps most importantly, self-leadership acknowledges the powerful ripple effect that our daily behaviors and choices have on our relationships and those we serve. Health coaching is rooted in a desire to positively impact individual and community wellbeing as well as to support and empower a client’s capacity for personal change and transformation. When we can walk our talk, and model our humanness along the way, it can shine a light to others on what’s possible, here and now, even in the midst of the most challenging times. 

Two Tips to Support Your Capacity for Self-Leadership

1. Leading and Learning Outside Your Comfort Zone: Practice Integrative Awareness. Leadership expert McKinsey & Company suggests practicing integrative awareness to expand your ability to stay calm, optimistic, and less reactive when experiencing challenging times and daily stressors. 
   • Throughout your day, when you notice you are feeling distracted, stressed, or overwhelmed, take a breath and give yourself a moment to mindfully tune in. Become aware of what you are taking in from the world around you and how you are responding to that stimulus in the moment: internally, emotionally, and physically. Although we all receive constant input—internally and externally—we can be unaware of it in its presence or its impact on us because of our personal conditioning, life experiences, biases, etc. 
   • Neuroscientists tell us we have an innate ability for both “exteroception” (sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body) and “interoception” (sensitivity to stimuli originating inside the body). Practicing integrative awareness allows us to mindfully pause and avoid overreacting to challenges or jumping to conclusions. We are able to recognize and more compassionately address internal and external discomforts, allowing for a more helpful reframing of our experience to emerge.
   • Over time, we can also learn to trust our intuition, or our inner knowing. We shift from viewing stressors and challenges as roadblocks to seeing them as problems to be solved, and then as circumstances that can lead to lifelong learning and growth. 
2. To Help Develop Integrative Awareness, Practice S.T.O.P.  S.T.O.P. can be used as an in-the-moment practice anytime you are feeling distracted, stressed, or simply uneasy. The more time you have, the more time you can give the practice to help you slow down, check in, and soothe a weary heart, mind, and body.
   • Slow down: allow a momentary stop in your day to care for yourself. 
   • Take a breath: take a few deeper, satisfying breaths with a bit longer exhalations.
   • Observe: whatever is present (body sensations, thoughts and/or emotions) with an open curiosity and kindness.
   • Process Possibilities: proceed with a new perspective, perhaps rooted in what matters most, such as the values you choose to guide your life and your daily actions and behaviors.