Becoming A Personal Leader

Personal Leadership & The SilkeyWay of Life

What is Personal Leadership?

Have you ever wondered why, despite all your hard work and despite all your achievements, you still feel far from that life you were dreaming of? Are you wondering why despite following what parents, employers, media and our culture tell and advise us to do, you never seem to be truly happy and fulfilled for long?

The answer is both simple and powerful. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to meaning, fulfilment and happiness. Until we consciously tailor our life path to align with what matters most to us, we follow others’ recipes or commercially driven one-size-fits all approaches. What we need instead is a truly Personalised Compass to the unique life path that is best for us, that is aligned with our own deepest values and our own unique definition of what constitutes life success.

Naturally this will differ from person to person. Committing to taking this personalised route to life requires a commitment to Personal Leadership, a personality-tailored approach to leading fulfilling and meaningful lives from the inside out that will set you free. This approach will not just save you a lot of pain and frustration on the way, it will also guide you in every decision and make you enjoy the journey of life. Personal Leaders are rewarded by enjoying their SilkeyWay of life, the authentic life path that is guaranteed to bring you joy and fulfilment.
After all there is nothing more tragic than only realising at the end of your life that the ladder you have been so busy climbing all your life was leaning against the wrong wall.

I define Personal Leadership as

Pro-actively and consciously choosing to lead life on your own terms in alignment with your personal values thereby creating deeply meaningful experiences; effectively drawing on the clarity and power of inner knowing and the resilient mind agility to grow, connect and create results even in uncertainty while taking full responsibility for your actions (or lack thereof)  and the beautiful life you are creating.

In essence, becoming a Personal Leaders is about becoming a proud and confident pilot of your own most fulfilling life, a life aligned with what matters most to you. Self-awareness and pro-active value-aligned forward movement are two core strands running through the life of Personal Leaders.

Your SilkeyWay

Once you choose Personal Leadership you will begin to live on your SilkeyWay, the authentic life path that is guaranteed to bring you joy and fulfilment. It’s a way of life, a beautiful authentic personal leadership way of life, and your personal unique, authentic most fulfilled life path. How do you know you are on it? Here is how people have described it….

 

  • You feel your true self - confidently authentic, aligned and congruent
  • You feel connected - to your inner compass, a new sense of power and others
  • You feel light and free - navigating life with ease, finding yourself smiling often
  • You feel home - as if you found or remembered your way home
  • You feel adventurous - purposefully creating life adventures you are proud of
  • You feel radiant - illuminating your own path while giving light to others
  • You feel joy and a love of life - even on an average day

What is it like to become a Personal Leader?

Every Personal Leader is different and freely creates their own unique fulfilling life path by following their Inner Inner Compass. All Personal Leaders have a few things in common though.

AUTHENTIC
* Focused on creating meaningful lives aligned with their values and what matters most to them
* Keen to connect and work with others on a respectful, deep and non-superficial level

FULLY ALIVE & GROWING WITH OPEN-MIND
* Committed to own growth and development
* Embracing new insights, being curious and open-minded (about themselves and others)
* Highly self-aware and reflective (aware of their impact on others)

DRIVEN
* Pro-active, forward moving and open to change
* Eager to take responsibility (rather than blaming others or circumstances)
* Internally driven, motivated and self-actualising

RESILIENT
* Increasingly resourceful and creative in navigating obstacles/challenge
* Not afraid of failure and judgment

The supreme quality of leader-ship is integrity. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Personal leaders are life-long learners and develop the ability to flexibly and confidently deal with uncertainty in a pro-active forward movement. The reward for living in alignment with personal values is a meaningful life on the SilkeyWay of life.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What does it mean to live like a Personal Leader?
    Personal Leaders don’t just live life, they feel empowered to create life on their own terms like you would create a piece of art, write a novel or create a movie - not just once but repeatedly. Sure of their deepest values and what matters most to them, they have the courage to be authentic and extraordinary. They feel increasingly independent of external pressures and are proud to walk their own path rather than following the norm. They become exceptional auto-biographers. By intentionally designing and creating exciting and fulfilling life segments aligned to their values, they create invigorating life adventures full of meaning and purpose, full of growth and connection. They are proud of the rich stories they are creating, proud of who they are and have become. They feel deeply fulfilled, alive and connected. They feel pure joy. By inadvertently inspiring others in a myriad of ways, they feel their life matters. By consistently showing up as their true self, aligned with and loyal to their deeply held values, they radiate strength and trustworthiness. By living their personal values with such courage and commitment, they are easily recognised by others who share similar values, forging deep connections, inspired bonds and sparkling interactions.
  • Who can become a Personal Leader?
    In the first instance Personal Leaders possess an inner leadership compass that guides their actions and decisions. Personal leaders might not even be aware of having this compass. Their life experience and subsequent reflection led to the creation of their compass. With some dedicated effort and professional guidance anybody can develop an inner compass. To guide you to find your inner compass I have created my course IVALYOO. Take control and choose to start your jour journey to becoming a Personal Leader today. It’s a choice. It’s YOUR choice. When ordinary people choose to become Personal Leaders, magic happens in their lives. They suddenly gain clarity about what truly matters, feel alive, driven, resilient and begin to shape and enjoy life on their own terms, whilst remaining fully authentic. Experiencing life as truly meaningful elicits a sense of joy, and fulfilment.  Not many people know what it means to choose the path of a Personal Leader. Even fewer know where to start their journey. But while hidden from sight, the route is open to all of us. I will give you the tools and signpost every step for you. All you need to do is to choose to walk the path. I hope this page will inspire you to join me and others on the Personal Leadership journey. I am here to support you.
  • What happens if I choose not to become a Personal Leader?
    Not being a personal leader means your life remains governed by external circumstances, feeling more like surviving than thriving. You are wasting your full potential and precious time in your life. You might feel trapped and hide your true self from yourself and others. You might even feel forced to pretend to be somebody or something you are not for the quick fix of approval, only to feel empty and lonely again when the feeling wanes. I have been there and know how frustrating it can be. Unfortunately, I recognised the issue too late; cancer was my wake-up call. Let this page be your wake-up call! We don’t need more suffering in this world. Your efforts should be aligned with your values and true self and rewarded with a great fulfilling life on your SilkeyWay. Personal Leadership is your ticket.
  • What is my first step on becoming a Personal Leader?
    Step 1 and arguably the most important step is to clarify your values and then re-organise your life to live in alignment with these values, i.e. what matters most to you personally. You can do this in multitude of ways: a) on your own through reflection, self-coaching and/or reading; b) through guided interaction in specially designed workshops or courses or c) when working with a specially trained personal leadership, developmental or co-coach. I have designed my IVALYOO course to help you not just gain full clarity but also empower you with practical strategies and tools. These will allow you to apply your values to your everyday life with immediate impact on your level of fulfillment overall, at work, in relationships, in decision making etc. The importance of getting your value compass right can not be overstated as you will guide your entire life by it (and I can show you how). It is precisely because most people don't know their values, have only a partial or vague understanding or unawarely follow other people's values that so many still lack the happiness they deserve.
  • How does Personal Leadership impact on my career?
    Choosing Personal Leadership transforms life on a personal, relational and societal level. Not only do Personal Leaders experience more fulfilment, meaning and joy in their lives. They’re superior self-awareness and inspirational authentic way of life is also attractive to others, e.g. employers. Sharpening the soft skills that are part of personal leadership will set you apart in a competitive world. As if creating a meaningful life wasn't incentive enough, employers are keenly seeking people who demonstrate personal leadership.
  • Where can I find out more about Personal Leadership?
    When you start working on becoming a Personal Leader you start your way from what Harvard professor Robert Keegan calls a 'socialised mind' to the next level of a 'self-authoring mind', leaving behind feeling like a victim and becoming more empowered. While Keegan isn't using the term Personal Leadership, this is how I phrase what happens during that shift. Another useful model to understand more about Personal Leadership and the personal power increase that happens as you develop Personal Leadership is Janet Hagberg's 'Six Stages of Personal Power' (2003).
  • How can I find others on the SilkeyWay or Personal Leadership Development?
    I have been looking for others on this path all my life and have connected with some most amazing people through my work. Once you have enrolled in my course you will be invited to become part of our group of (developing) Personal Leaders as I invite you to join the Develop & Grow Personal Leader membership. In the membership we continue to support each other on our extraordinary life paths. You can join the membership anytime after completing your first course.

Your Coach

Silke Rehman

Personal Leadership Coach
CPCC, MBA, MSc

You will work with me, Silke Rehman (MBA, MSc, CPCC). I am an international certified professional co-active coach (CPCC), passionate online course designer and multilingual motivational speaker with decades of experience helping people across the world to reach their goals and ambitions. During my 15 years of working in International Marketing/Brand Management at Procter & Gamble in Germany, UK and Switzerland, and the following decades in the Middle East, Germany and UK I most enjoyed helping people to learn and grow, grow into the person they want to be and create the life that has true meaning for them and fulfils them. I love empowering people to succeed, whatever their definition of success. I believe in diversity and there being many ‘right’ paths.

Read My Story