Master Yourself

Why it matters

You can't lead others if you can't lead yourself.

This is the foundation everything else is built on. Without self awareness, every other move in this methodology falls apart. You can't regulate your team's emotions if you can't regulate your own. You can't manage your team's energy if you're burning through yours.

What it looks like in practice

The best technology leaders know their strengths, acknowledge their gaps, and manage their energy like a resource. They understand their triggers. They know what happens to their decision making when they're stressed, tired, or frustrated. And they've built systems to compensate.

Self awareness isn't navel gazing. It's the practical skill of knowing how you show up in a room, how your behaviour affects your team, and what you need to do differently when the pressure is on.

How to develop this

Start by paying attention to your patterns. When do you make your best decisions? When do you make your worst? What triggers your reactive behaviours? What drains your energy fastest? Once you can see these patterns, you can start to manage them instead of being managed by them.

Think about the last time you were under serious pressure. Did you pull the team closer or push them away? Did you get more detailed or more strategic? Did you communicate more or go quiet? Your default stress response tells you a lot about where your self mastery needs work.