Love in Action How to Best Manage Yourself Before You Lead Others with Margaret C. Andrews
Episode recap:
Marcel sat down with Margaret C. Andrews to discuss her book "Manage Yourself to Lead Others: Why Great Leadership Begins with Self-Understanding." Margaret discussed leadership derailment and self-awareness, emphasizing that the factors that got leaders to their current positions may not be sufficient for future success. She shared six key questions to help leaders understand themselves and highlighted the importance of self-management, noting that many leadership training programs focus more on technical skills than interpersonal skills.
Bio:
Margaret C. Andrews is a seasoned executive, academic leader, speaker, and instructor. She teaches leadership courses and professional and executive programs at Harvard University and is the founder of the MYLO Center, a private leadership development firm.
Quotes:
- We judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people judge us by our behaviors.
- Leadership emerges from your life story and your unique portfolio of experiences, not from a checklist of best practices.
- What got you here won’t get you there, especially when you move from individual contributor to leading others.
- People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care about them as human beings.
- We are all a work in progress, continually riding new learning curves as we grow into the leaders we want to become.
Takeaways:
- Self-understanding is the foundation of effective leadership, and without it, all the standard tips and tactics remain shallow.
- Career derailment often happens right after a promotion when leaders fail to realize that their new role requires different behaviors, not just more effort.
- High achievers commonly struggle with interpersonal relationships, team-building, and adaptability, which can ultimately sabotage their success.
- Asking deep questions about who shaped you, what you value, and how your behavior impacts others is essential to building self-awareness.
- Leading with love and care means treating people as human beings, not resources, and consistently managing your own behavior to match your best intentions.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Welcome, episode setup, and introduction of Margaret C. Andrews
2:59 – Margaret’s origin story and wake-up call about self-awareness
7:20 – How lack of self-awareness derails high achievers and careers
17:39 – Six foundational questions for self-understanding and self-management
25:39 – Roadblocks, vulnerability, and why leadership training must go deeper
28:24 – The MYLO process and what it means to lead with love in action
31:32 – Final lessons, being a work in progress, and where to find Margaret
Conclusion:
Today’s conversation showed that great leadership doesn’t begin with a job title or a promotion. It begins with you, with understanding your own story, your values, and even your blind spots. Margaret reminded us that we are all a work in progress, learning and growing as we practice new behaviors and step into the leaders we want to become. The challenge is simple to say but hard to live out: get honest about who you are, manage yourself with intention, and notice how your relationships and results start to shift.
Links/Resources:
Book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0gzLmPl2
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretcandrews/
Website: https://www.margaretandrews.com/
Substack: https://marcelschwantes.substack.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelschwantes/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/MarcelSchwantes
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9fO2r_ZQ3wy5ie522f-DTQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcel.schwantes/