Leadership Starts With You

By Glenn Azar, Mental Skills Coach

When people think of leadership, they often imagine influencing others—giving direction, setting a vision, managing teams, or inspiring change.

But real leadership starts long before you influence another soul.
It starts in the mirror.
It starts with your capacity to lead yourself.

You can’t expect to hold others accountable if you let yourself off the hook. You can’t ask someone to give 100% while you’re only giving 70. And you can’t push people to grow if you haven’t made growth your personal standard.

The principle is simple:
Don’t demand of others what you refuse to demand of yourself.

This is the cornerstone of leadership.

So how do you lead yourself first?

Here’s a short plan to help you build that internal leadership muscle:

1. Own Your Gaps

Leadership begins with self-awareness. Be honest about where you’re dropping the ball. Do you:

• Hit snooze when you promised yourself you’d get up?

• Avoid hard conversations?

• Blame others for your lack of progress?

Owning your weaknesses isn’t weakness—it’s where growth begins.

2. Set a Non-Negotiable Standard

Decide what you stand for—and hold the line.
Whether it’s integrity, discipline, consistency, or service—make your values your daily benchmark.

This is about who you are when no one’s watching.

3. Catch Yourself Quickly

No one is perfect. You’ll fall short. You’ll slip. But elite self-leaders notice it fast and course correct even faster.

They don’t justify failure or blame external forces. They adjust, own it, and keep moving forward.

4. Stop Trying to Change Everyone Else

You can’t control how others think, act, or show up.
But you can influence—and that influence starts by embodying what you expect.

Lead yourself with such consistency that your actions speak louder than any speech or instruction ever could.

5. Commit to Growth Under Pressure

The world doesn’t get easier. But you can get stronger.
Adaptability, composure, and grit are all forged when you choose to grow through life’s challenges—not retreat from them.

Make growth a lifestyle.

Final Word:

If you’re serious about leadership—start with the one person you’re fully responsible for: You.
Because how you show up for yourself sets the tone for how you show up for everyone else.

The standard you walk past in your own life… is the standard you accept.

Glenn Azar
Mental Skills Coach
Building Better Humans Project