Self Leadership and
The New Leadership Playbook
Blog by Andrew Bryant

In nearly twenty-five years of writing about, speaking about, coaching and facilitating leadership, clients often ask me, ‘What is the best leadership book?’ or ‘If I was to read one leadership book, what would it be?’

Best is subjective and depends on where a leader is on their journey. For me, leadership always starts with self-leadership or personal mastery. After all, how can you lead others if you can’t lead yourself?

Prior to writing, ‘Self Leadership – How to be a more successful, efficient, and effective leader from the inside out (McGraw Hill 2012’, I would have said the best self-leadership book would have been ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. 7 Habits is still a must-read for self and time management.

But what about the best leadership book? There are so many, and each covers different definitions of leadership; some are more strategic focus, whereas others are strictly about management. I would...

The world, as we know it, is in a spin. Assumptions we made about life and business have been upended by a tiny virus that has had a massive impact on the Global Economy and individual lives. Typically, when we receive feedback on our actions, we make a course correction and carry on, but in this unprecedented time – we need to challenge our assumptions and apply double-loop learning.

 What is Double Loop Learning?

Argyris & Schon (1974) proposed a double-loop learning theory that promotes learning to change underlying values and assumptions. The following diagram explains it:

In single-loop learning, we receive feedback from our actions and adjust our behavior accordingly. In double-loop learning, we take a ‘step back’ and challenge our assumptions, beliefs, and values about why we behaved that way in the first place. Double loop learning is really ‘disruptive thinking’. 

Double Loop Learning Strategy

As with any learning strategy, using...