Personal Leadership

What is personal leadership?

Personal leadership is a leadership philosophy that emphasizes the importance of self-worth, personal development, and self-management in effective leadership. Rather than focusing solely on the role a leader plays within an organization, personal leadership looks inward—towards the leader’s character, principles, and abilities.

Personal leadership involves a deep understanding of one’s core values, strengths, weaknesses, and leadership style. It also requires a commitment to constant self-reflection and self-improvement. Through this process, leaders learn to take responsibility for their actions, make decisions aligned with their values, and create a personal vision that guides their leadership.

It is also important to note that personal leadership is not just about the leader themselves, but also about their relationships with others. An effective personal leader can build authentic and trusting relationships with employees—helping to foster a positive and productive work environment. By being authentic, honest, and accountable, leaders can create a culture that supports collaboration, innovation, and high performance.

Personal leadership is also about helping others find and realize their potential. This means that leaders do not only focus on developing their own skills but also support their employees’ growth and development. This can be achieved through mentoring, coaching, and by creating opportunities for learning and advancement within the organization.

In summary, personal leadership is a comprehensive approach to leadership that focuses both on the leader’s personal development and on creating a positive and supportive work environment. It is a philosophy that recognizes effective leadership begins with knowing—and leading—yourself before you can lead others effectively.

Why should you work on your personal leadership?

Working on personal leadership is a central part of being an effective leader. It is about understanding and developing yourself, building authentic relationships, and creating positive influence in your organization.

First and foremost, self-awareness is key to effective leadership. By understanding your strengths and weaknesses, you can leverage what you do well and address areas for improvement. Focusing on your personal leadership helps you make better decisions, manage stress more effectively, and improve your ability to resolve conflicts.

Personal leadership also helps build authentic relationships. Employees respond positively to leaders who genuinely care about their well-being and communicate openly and honestly. By developing your personal leadership, you can build stronger, more trusting relationships with your team—which increases engagement and productivity.

On a broader level, working on your personal leadership enables you to create positive impact in your organization. A leader with strong personal qualities can inspire and motivate their team to perform at their best, support innovation, and foster a work culture that values respect, inclusion, and collaboration.

Finally, personal leadership is crucial for your professional growth. By continually investing in your own development as a leader, you open up new opportunities for advancement and achieve your career goals.

In short: working on personal leadership is essential for being an effective leader—it improves your ability to lead yourself and others, strengthens relationships, and helps you create positive influence throughout your organization.

LEAD’s approach to developing personal leadership

At LEAD we see personal leadership as a necessary component of effective management and organizational success. We have developed an approach aimed at strengthening leaders’ abilities in self-management, relationship-building, and positive influence within the organization.

Our work with personal leadership begins by building deep understanding of each leader’s unique strengths, weaknesses, and style—using comprehensive diagnostics including conversations, observations, and profiling tools.

We support leaders in developing their capacity for self-insight and self-regulation—placing strong emphasis on self-awareness and reflection over one’s own behavior patterns. This forms the foundation for genuine development and transformation.

Relationship-building is also a key focus—we help leaders develop communication skills so they can build strong trust-based relationships with teams and stakeholders.

Finally, we emphasize the importance of exercising positive influence throughout the organization—helping leaders inspire teams, drive innovation, and create an inclusive culture of respect.

We believe in an individualized approach: our support is always tailored to each leader’s unique needs and context. Our goal is not only to strengthen individual capabilities but also to help leaders develop an authentic style that resonates with their values, personality, and organizational setting.

LEAD’s approach to personal leadership is therefore a deep—and deeply personalized—process that can lead to lasting change and significant improvement in how you lead.

How we can help you

We offer leadership and organizational sparring sessions, research-based education and presentations on personal leadership as well as training programs specifically focused on equipping you with general management competencies. See examples of our services here:

Presentations

Inspirational research-based presentations on personal leadership for all levels within your organization.

Sparring

Advisory related to developing your organization or supporting key decisions/initiatives.

Workshops

Facilitation of active workshops focused on competence development at management or executive level.

The consulting team working with personal leadership

Maja Nyboe Bjerrehuus

Chief Consultant

Kim Martin Nielsen

Partner

Mickey Klysner Riis

Chief Consultant

Contact us for more information about what we can do for your organization

Are you facing organizational change? Do you need strategic advice or a cultural development program?

Contact us so we can tailor together a program that develops precisely those competencies and structures needed to strengthen and future-proof your organization.

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

Managing Director & Partner

Master of Law

Mobile: +45 22 42 18 11
Email: aba@lead.eu