In today’s complex and uncertain environment, effective leadership draws on their personal source of ideological knowledge, values, and beliefs to guide decisions and actions. A challenge of leadership frequently overlooked is that ability to lead oneself. Zeilinska writes
The hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself. When you can lead yourself through the challenges and difficulties, you will find that leading others becomes relatively straightforward. By being authentic and true to your beliefs, you can unite people around a common purpose and a set of values and empower them to step up and lead.
Self-leadership in the context of peace development reflects
1. positive self-regard of one’s strengths and weaknesses with humility
2. the courage to protect the integrity of internalized values and beliefs once challenged by adversaries
3. a defined personal vision and purpose
4. a willingness to accept the personal consequences of difficult decisions
5. courage to faces challenges as opportunities and failures as learning experiences
6. trust and credibility through actions that adhere to a high set of ethical standards of internalized values and beliefs.
Self-leaders influence peace development more through who they are than what they do. In the context of peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding, leading with a vision and purpose in a cross-cultural environment presents individual leaders with four unique complex challenges.
An apology consists of a guilty party taking responsibility for its actions in a heartfelt and truly remorseful way
A successful apology can begin to heal deep psychological injuries. Without apology, people stay locked in emotional situations that cause conflict
The central question is: ‘what kind of leader does one want to be’? Why should anyone follow you as a leader in a post-conflict environment? How do transitional leaders resolve conflict through forgiveness and reconciliation? How does a peace leader integrate reconciliation into the track one and track two and track three diplomacy?
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