Islamic Principles of Self-Leadership

Abstract

Self-leadership is an alternative to traditional leadership in which individuals can motivate themselves by embracing self-leadership rather than the traditional leading approach of external reinforcement. Internal self-regulation is more conducive to organizational development more than external obligations. Islamic teaching emphasizes internal regulation and accountability. Thus, the study aims to investigate Islamic principles that encourage the implementation of self-leadership. The deductive content analysis method was used to investigate and interpret the principles of self-leadership in Islam. The findings demonstrated seven principles for self-leadership intuition, ordering priorities, self-awareness, directing psychological and physical behaviors, expanding knowledge, avoiding overburdening oneself, and purification from corruption. The principles of self-leadership can be obtained and strengthened by practices on an individual level. More practical strategies are needed to assist in applying and practicing each principle of self-leadership.