There’s a hard truth most organisations tiptoe around: you can’t lead others sustainably if you can’t lead yourself first. Not with a shiny title. Not with a lanyard full of access privileges. And definitely not with a laminated card describing your “type,” “colour,” or “spirit animal” according to the latest corporate profiling fad.

Real human leadership—the kind that lasts beyond the quarterly cycle and doesn’t collapse under pressure—starts with self‑leadership. And self‑leadership starts with the courage to look inward before you look outward.

Why Self‑Leadership Matters More Than Ever

We’re living in a world where humans are overwhelmed, overloaded, and quite frankly over‑managed. The instinctive response from organisations is to throw more frameworks, more models, more competencies, and more “leadership pathways” at people.

But here’s the kicker: none of that sticks if the human underneath hasn’t done the work.

Self‑leadership is the practice of:

·     Letting go of the need to be the expert 

·     Taking responsibility for your behaviour

·     Understanding your impact on others

·     Managing your emotions instead of outsourcing them

·     Being aware of your blind spots

·     Choosing curiosity over certainty

·     And—this is the big one—being willing to change yourself before demanding change from others, by identifying and embracing ‘your part in the mess’.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not easily packaged. And it can’t be completed in a two‑day offsite with a trust fall and a buffet lunch.

But it’s the only leadership that’s sustainable because it’s built on something real: you.

The Absurdity of Corporate Crystal Balling

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the training room: the lazy overuse of profiling tools.

You know the ones

·     The colour charts.

·     The four‑quadrant personality boxes.

·     The “spirit of the eagle” archetypes.

·     The ones that claim to reveal your destiny as a leader based on 48 multiple‑choice questions you answered between emails.

I call this Corporate Crystal Balling.

(PICTURE HERE)

Does that trigger you? You’re welcome!

It’s the modern organisational equivalent of reading tea leaves, except it’s wrapped in pseudo‑science and sold at scale by lazy consultants and google-eyed HR teams looking for the path of least resistance to labelling or categorising their people.

The problem isn’t that these tools exist. The problem is how they’re used:

• As shortcuts to understanding humans

• As labels that become excuses

• As ways to categorise people instead of connecting with them

• As a substitute for the hard work of genuine human leadership

When a leader says, “Oh, I’m a Red, so I’m just direct,” what they’re really saying is, “I’m outsourcing my self‑awareness to a colour code.”

When someone says, “She’s a High D, so that’s why she’s like that,” they’re not understanding her—they’re stereotyping her.

Humans are not colours.

Humans are not letters.

Humans are not spirit animals.

Humans are messy, complex, contradictory, confused evolving beings.

And that’s the whole point.

Self‑Leadership Is the Antidote

Profiling tools try to simplify humans.

Self‑leadership helps humans understand themselves.

And it takes time – more time that the first 40 minutes of a ‘rinse and repeat’ leadership program that serves to stifle the challenging ‘mirror’ work that is required.

In fact at marklebusque.com we believe strongly and design our experiences based on a 2:1:1 ratio – twice the amount of time on self-leadership, no gimmicks, no corporate crystal balling or categorising into corners of the room.

It’s not easy work, but change and self leadership isn’t easy but very easily avoided.

That’s because we know 

Profiling tools categorise.

Self‑leadership humanises.

Profiling tools give you a label.

Self‑leadership gives you agency.

When leaders do the inner work—really do it—they stop needing shortcuts. They stop needing to hide behind frameworks. They stop needing to pretend leadership is a technical skill rather than a deeply human one. They sit uncomfortably with their mirror and look hard into it to understand their fears and opportunities if they shift their beliefs and behaviours.

They become:

• More grounded

• More adaptable

• More empathetic

• More accountable

• More capable of leading others without burning out or burning them

And that’s what sustainable leadership looks like.

The Future of Leadership Is Human, Not Programmatic

If organisations want leaders who can navigate complexity, build trust, and create environments where people thrive, they need to stop searching for the next magic model and start investing in the humans themselves. It should start with the Executive Team holding their mirrors up and experiencing the real discomfort that comes with the work of leading self.

Self‑leadership isn’t a packaged module.

It’s a mindset.

It’s a practice.

It’s a ‘hang on for dear life’ experience

It’s a lifelong commitment to being the kind of human others want to follow—not because they have to, but because they choose to.

And that’s the kind of leadership the world is starving for.