Developing self-leadership and responsibility and moving away from egocentrism

Abstract To lead others, successful leaders must first, be able to lead themselves. Hence, self-leadership is an important element of leadership development for university students. In this paper, the definitions of self-leadership and responsibility are introduced. Their impacts on effective leadership are also addressed. In addition, the concept of egocentrism as a barrier to effective leadership and adolescent development is highlighted. To facilitate the development of self-leadership and responsibility in adolescents, a lecture on self-leadership, responsibility, and egocentrism is designed in the curriculum of a university subject entitled “Tomorrow’s Leaders”. The objectives, intended learning outcomes, lecture outline and materials are presented in this paper. Issues surrounding this lecture are discussed.