Self-Leadership (by Andrew Bryant)

Author

Andrew Bryant

Cluster

Traits and Competency Based Models

Source

Practitioner

Created By

Sergio Caredda

Created Date

Oct 4, 2024 11:15 AM

Last Modified

Mar 24, 2026 4:31 PM

Source Link

https://www.selfleadership.com/what-is-self-leadership

Visual Model

Bibliographic Reference

Bryant, A. and Kazan, A.L. (2012). Self-leadership : How to Become a More successful, efficient, and Effective Leader from the inside out. New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Description:

In this declination by Andrew Bryant, Self-Leadership is composed by three important individual capabilities:

Intention (having a 'why') precedes any purposeful action (behavior). Actions have an impact that the self-leader evaluates via feedback. Intention is an inner narrative about why achieving an objective is important. Intention is the drive to be a better version of oneself and to make the world a better place as a result. Whether leading yourself or leading others, it is essential, to begin with ‘Why’. Intentional action is like a laser, whilst unintentional action like hitting everything with a hammer.
Self-awareness is about knowing your intentions and values, as well as knowing your personality, what can ‘push your buttons’ and derail you. There are clear correlations between self-awareness and effective leadership, so developing self-awareness must be a constant habit. When coaching your team, transformation occurs, when you increase self-awareness about what drives behaviors, rather than just trying to modify behavior.
Self-confidence comes from knowing your capacity and strengths. As we take action and develop skills, we become more confident. Often people sabotage their confidence by self-judgment and ‘discounting’. Self-leadership is about being grounded and realistic about what you are good at, and what needs improving, this leads to true authenticity and humility (self-leadership blog: false humility will kill your career)
Self-efficacy is the belief that whatever comes our way, we can handle it. We can take the feedback, Accept, Adjust and Advance. With self-efficacy, we can be more creative and innovative. When our inner game is good, our outer game becomes more efficient and effective through influence and impact.
Influence is the result of intentional action. Through self-awareness and self-confidence, we increase our capacity to Influence. Because we are grounded in ourselves, we can focus on others, and what is best for them. We can therefore positively influence ourselves and the world around us to facilitate change.
Impact is how intention and influence are measured in the world.

Notes:

Bryant's model is notable for foregrounding Intention as the starting point — aligning with Simon Sinek's Start with Why framework. The inner narrative of why precedes any effective action.
The model bridges self-leadership and leadership of others: once a leader's "inner game" is solid (self-awareness, self-confidence, self-efficacy), the capacity for influence and impact on others naturally follows.
Self-efficacy as a construct draws directly on Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory — the belief that one can handle whatever comes is a learnable, trainable capacity, not a fixed trait.
Closely related to Authentic Leadership (George) — both frameworks emphasise genuine self-knowledge and grounded confidence as the basis for effective leadership of others.
Bryant founded Self Leadership International, which offers coaching, assessment tools, and certification programmes based on this model.
The model has been applied widely in executive coaching and leadership development contexts, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets.

Related models in this collection: Self-Leadership (overview), SOAR Self-Leadership Model, Authentic Leadership (George), Intelligent Leadership.

Other Sources:

Books:

Bryant, A., & Kazan, A. L. (2012). Self-Leadership: How to Become a More Successful, Efficient, and Effective Leader from the Inside Out. McGraw-Hill.

Online:

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Description:

In this declination by Andrew Bryant, Self-Leadership is composed by three important individual capabilities:

Intention (having a 'why') precedes any purposeful action (behavior). Actions have an impact that the self-leader evaluates via feedback. Intention is an inner narrative about why achieving an objective is important. Intention is the drive to be a better version of oneself and to make the world a better place as a result. Whether leading yourself or leading others, it is essential, to begin with ‘Why’. Intentional action is like a laser, whilst unintentional action like hitting everything with a hammer.

Self-awareness is about knowing your intentions and values, as well as knowing your personality, what can ‘push your buttons’ and derail you. There are clear correlations between self-awareness and effective leadership, so developing self-awareness must be a constant habit. When coaching your team, transformation occurs, when you increase self-awareness about what drives behaviors, rather than just trying to modify behavior.

Self-confidence comes from knowing your capacity and strengths. As we take action and develop skills, we become more confident. Often people sabotage their confidence by self-judgment and ‘discounting’. Self-leadership is about being grounded and realistic about what you are good at, and what needs improving, this leads to true authenticity and humility (self-leadership blog: false humility will kill your career)

Self-efficacy is the belief that whatever comes our way, we can handle it. We can take the feedback, Accept, Adjust and Advance. With self-efficacy, we can be more creative and innovative. When our inner game is good, our outer game becomes more efficient and effective through influence and impact.

Influence is the result of intentional action. Through self-awareness and self-confidence, we increase our capacity to Influence. Because we are grounded in ourselves, we can focus on others, and what is best for them. We can therefore positively influence ourselves and the world around us to facilitate change.

Impact is how intention and influence are measured in the world.

Notes:

Bryant's model is notable for foregrounding Intention as the starting point — aligning with Simon Sinek's Start with Why framework. The inner narrative of why precedes any effective action.

The model bridges self-leadership and leadership of others: once a leader's "inner game" is solid (self-awareness, self-confidence, self-efficacy), the capacity for influence and impact on others naturally follows.

Self-efficacy as a construct draws directly on Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory — the belief that one can handle whatever comes is a learnable, trainable capacity, not a fixed trait.

Closely related to Authentic Leadership (George) — both frameworks emphasise genuine self-knowledge and grounded confidence as the basis for effective leadership of others.

Bryant founded Self Leadership International, which offers coaching, assessment tools, and certification programmes based on this model.

The model has been applied widely in executive coaching and leadership development contexts, particularly in Asia-Pacific markets.

Related models in this collection: Self-Leadership (overview), SOAR Self-Leadership Model, Authentic Leadership (George), Intelligent Leadership.