One of the magical words in the business world at the moment is Leadership. Also in politics the call for leadership is widely heard. And rightly so! Many people in leading positions, like managers, aren't getting the point. An example that springs to mind is the way Silvio Berlusconi is dealing with losing the Italian elections.

Being a leader of people is not something you do because you want to, it is something you do because other people want you to. In order for other people to want you to, you have to show them that you can lead yourself. Leading is about making decisions. Make good decisions for yourself and others will ask you to make decisions for them. Step one in making your own good decisions is knowing what is going on. You have to be able to watch yourself doing while you are doing. Fortunately this is a skill that can be learned.

Start paying attention to what you did and then shorten the time between doing and evaluating. Sounds easy? It is, but you have to do it, and do it for a while. And suddenly you'll be realizing that you're observing and evaluating while doing. And of course this means that you can change what you're doing. Be your own coach. See what works and what doesn't and change the latter.

Keep doing this and you'll get better at it up to the point it becomes automatic. Ahh mastery, sublime leadership is within your grasp.

More on developing inner leadership can be found at http://sublimeleadership.com

Rob Bout is a trainer and personal coach, specialized in inner leadership development.