1. The Essence of the Statement
“Leadership is Knowing & Designing Yourself” means that before leaders can inspire, mobilize, and transform others, they must deeply understand who they are (knowing) and intentionally shape who they want to become (designing).
- Knowing yourself = Awareness of your values, strengths, weaknesses, emotions, triggers, biases, and aspirations.
- Designing yourself = Strategic, conscious action to align your habits, skills, mindset, and environment to your vision of leadership.
They are inseparable — awareness without design leads to stagnation; design without awareness leads to misalignment.
2. The Strategic Process of “Knowing Thyself”
This is not a vague philosophical suggestion; it’s a disciplined, evidence-based process backed by consulting firms, neuroscientists, and leadership development programs worldwide.
Step 1: Self-Audit
- Tools:
- SWOT Analysis (personal version) — identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.
- 360° Feedback — gather input from peers, team, mentors.
- Psychometric Assessments — MBTI, CliftonStrengths, Hogan, DISC, Big Five.
- Values Clarification Exercises — e.g., Barrett Values Centre framework.
- Why it works: McKinsey research shows leaders with high self-awareness are 4× more likely to succeed in transformative roles.
Step 2: Emotional & Cognitive Mapping
- Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Goleman’s model): Self-awareness → Self-regulation → Motivation → Empathy → Social skills.
- Cognitive Bias Mapping: Identify where you fall prey to confirmation bias, overconfidence bias, or risk aversion.
- Neuroscience link: Leaders with balanced prefrontal cortex activity make better long-term decisions under stress.
Step 3: Purpose & Identity Definition
- Ikigai Framework (Japanese concept of “reason for being”) — balance between:
- What you love
- What you are good at
- What the world needs
- What you can be paid for
- Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why”: Great leaders operate from purpose first, strategy second.
Step 4: Continuous Self-Reflection
- Daily journaling (Harvard Business Review calls this a “CEO-level decision-making accelerator”).
- Weekly “After Action Reviews” (adapted from the US Army & Bain consulting) to track alignment with purpose.
3. The Strategic Process of “Designing Yourself”
Once the “knowing” is done, design is about engineering your leadership identity to meet your goals.
Step 1: Vision Casting
- Create a Leadership Blueprint:
- Desired leadership style (transformational, servant, visionary, strategic).
- Legacy you want to leave.
- Core leadership principles you’ll never compromise.
Step 2: Capability Building
- VRIO Framework (Value, Rarity, Imitability, Organization) to focus on developing skills that are:
- Valuable to your role & mission.
- Rare among peers.
- Hard to replicate.
- Well-supported by your environment.
- Example: A leader might build rare negotiation skills + deep cultural intelligence.
Step 3: Environmental Design
- McKinsey 7S Framework for personal alignment: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, Staff (mentors, networks).
- Build networks that reinforce your leadership style (Harvard studies show “networked leaders” are more resilient).
Step 4: Behavior & Habit Architecture
- Atomic Habits approach (James Clear) + BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model:
- Start small, reinforce wins, anchor habits to existing routines.
- Example: If you want to be a “present listener,” start with 2 minutes of mindful breathing before every meeting.
4. How Knowing & Designing Complement Each Other
- Feedback loop: Knowing reveals the gap → Designing bridges the gap → New experiences deepen knowing.
- McKinsey Leadership Circle Model: Leaders who iterate between reflection (knowing) and intentional growth (designing) show 2–3× higher performance ratings.
- Ancient wisdom parallel:
- Bhagavad Gita: “Self-control and self-knowledge are the foundations of wisdom.”
- Greek philosophy (Socrates): “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
- Chanakya Neeti: The wise assess themselves daily before leading others.
5. Knowing Thyself as Analytical & Critical Thinking
Self-knowing isn’t intuition alone — it’s structured thinking.
- Critical Thinking Cycle:
- Gather data (feedback, metrics)
- Analyze patterns (strength-weakness trends)
- Evaluate biases and blind spots
- Form hypotheses about what drives your success/failure
- Test changes and measure outcomes.
- Design Thinking Adaptation for self:
- Empathize (with yourself)
- Define (your leadership gaps)
- Ideate (new approaches)
- Prototype (small behavioral experiments)
- Test (measure change in influence, decision quality, trust).
6. Leaders: Born, Made & Sustained
Born: Some traits (temperament, risk tolerance) have genetic links (Harvard twin studies).
Made: 70% of leadership capability is developed through deliberate practice (Center for Creative Leadership).
Sustained: Continuous feedback, reinvention, and resilience keep leaders relevant.
- Deloitte research: 83% of high-performing leaders reinvent themselves every 3–5 years.
- BCG studies: Sustainable leadership demands adaptability more than charisma.
7. Case Studies — Knowing & Designing in Action
- Mahatma Gandhi:
- Knowing: Deep understanding of his values (truth, non-violence).
- Designing: Crafted his public persona, communication style, and movements to reflect those values.
- Steve Jobs:
- Knowing: Recognized his perfectionism and visionary instincts.
- Designing: Built Apple’s culture, design standards, and presentation style to match.
- Satya Nadella:
- Knowing: Realized Microsoft needed an empathy-driven culture.
- Designing: Shifted leadership model, focus on “learn-it-all” vs. “know-it-all.”
8. The 360° Leadership Self-Design Framework
A. Knowing Stage
- Self-Awareness Assessment (SWOT + 360° Feedback)
- Emotional Intelligence Mapping
- Purpose & Value Clarification
- Bias & Blind Spot Identification
B. Designing Stage
- Vision & Legacy Blueprint
- Skills Development (VRIO-focused)
- Environmental Alignment (McKinsey 7S)
- Habit & Behavioral Engineering
C. Sustaining Stage
- Quarterly Self-Audit
- Mentor & Peer Review Panels
- Life-Work Integration Experiments
- Renewal & Adaptation Cycles
9. Final Thought
Leaders who know themselves without designing themselves remain philosophers, not changemakers. Leaders who design without knowing themselves risk becoming misaligned achievers.
The real power emerges when knowing fuels designing in a continuous cycle — where self-awareness drives intentional action, and intentional action deepens self-awareness.
Or, as Peter Drucker said:
“We can only manage what we measure — and the first thing we must measure is ourselves.”
Anupam Sharma
Coach I Mentor I Trainer
Counselor I Consultant