NOW AVAILABLE
Lead Self First
For leaders who want to grow without becoming the bottleneck
Lead Self First is Caroline McKenna’s new self-leadership book for SME leaders who want to grow their business and themselves with more clarity, confidence and purpose.
Lead Self First is now out on Amazon.
Start with Chapter One for free below.
In Self-Stories, Caroline helps you begin identifying the internal narratives, thoughts and beliefs that shape your confidence, decisions, behaviour and leadership.
Early Praise for Lead Self First
A grounded, practical read for leaders who want to grow without becoming the bottleneck.
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author
What I value about this book is the way it blends two worlds. On one side, we have lean thinking, with its focus on eliminating waste and making continuous improvements. On the other, we have coaching psychology, with its emphasis on awareness, choice and behaviour change.
Professor Jonathan Passmore
Henley Business School, UK
Caroline connects lean thinking with self-awareness in a clear, human way that helps leaders spot their own waste, reset their thinking, and lead with more calm and purpose.
Ryan Tierney
Author of Lean Made Simple
SELF LEADERSHIP
Self-Leadership for
SME Leaders Ready
for Next-Level Growth
Every next level of growth brings inner unrest.
It may show up as overworking, self-doubt, delaying decisions, avoiding strategic activity, feeling guilty when you invest in yourself, or knowing you have become the bottleneck but not knowing how to change it.
That unrest is not just personal.
It has a business cost.
It can create hidden waste in your time, energy, decisions, relationships and leadership. If you want to grow your business to the next level, that waste needs your attention as much as any other business challenge.
That is why Caroline McKenna wrote Lead Self First.
About Lead-Self First
Seven Lean-Inspired Steps to Unlock Next-Level Growth
Lead Self First is a practical self-leadership book for SME leaders who want to grow their business and themselves.
Blending lean thinking with coaching psychology, Caroline McKenna shows how hidden waste in a business often begins with the leader’s thinking, beliefs and behaviours.
The book introduces a seven-step framework to help leaders navigate growth with more confidence, clarity and purpose.
It is written for founders, CEOs, business owners and SME leaders who are ambitious enough to grow, and honest enough to look at the thinking that may be getting in the way.
Download Chapter One today.
Ready to read
Lead Self First?
The book is available now on Amazon for immediate purchase.
Start with Chapter One: Self-Stories
The first chapter of Lead Self First introduces the foundation of the book: Self- Stories.
Self-Stories are the internal narratives you hold about yourself, your capabilities and your view of the world.
They shape your confidence, behaviour, decision-making, leadership and overall happiness and fulfilment.
Some Self-Stories help you move forward.
Others keep you stuck, safe, overworked, under-supported or constantly proving yourself.
They may sound like:
“I’m not ready for the next level.”
“I am not a good enough leader to grow the business.”
“Nobody will do it as well as me.”
“If I slow down, I’ll fall behind.”
“I need to stay close to everything.”
Chapter One helps you begin to spot these stories clearly, so you can understand whether they are serving you or quietly sabotaging your next stage of growth.
What You’ll Learn in Chapter One
In Chapter One, you’ll learn how to:
Understand what Self-Stories are and why they matter
Identify the internal narratives shaping how you lead
Spot non-value added thinking that may be holding you back
Recognise how thinking traps create waste in your time, energy and relationships
Begin auditing your beliefs using the 3S Thinking Model
Sort
Spot the unhelpful stories, thoughts and beliefs that may be driving your current behaviour.
Sweep
Challenge the thinking traps that are creating waste, self-doubt, avoidance or overworking.
Standardise
Build new thinking habits that support clearer decisions, better leadership and next-level growth.
MEET THE AUTHOR
About Caroline McKenna
Caroline McKenna is an accredited executive coach and founder of Lead Self Coaching and Development.
With 20 years’ experience working in growing SMEs, leading and developing teams, Caroline understands the real pressure business leaders face when they are pursuing ambitious goals while trying to protect their energy, relationships and sense of fulfilment.
Today, she coaches global business leaders and supports scaling SME leaders to navigate the challenges of growth with greater confidence, clarity and purpose.
Caroline runs her award-winning business from Northern Ireland.
Lead Self First
Start with Chapter One of Lead Self First for free
Lead Self First is now out on Amazon.
Start with Chapter One for free below.
If you want to unlock next-level business growth, start by understanding the stories shaping how you lead.
Download Chapter One of Lead Self First and begin spotting the limiting beliefs, thinking traps and hidden waste that may be standing between where you are and where you want to be.
Chapter One will be sent to your inbox. You’ll also receive occasional updates about the book launch and related leadership resources. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Don't worry, we got you. Here are some answers for your questions.
The full book launches on 30 June. You can download Chapter One today before the book is released.
Lead Self First is a self-leadership book for SME leaders who want to grow their business and themselves. It introduces a seven-step, lean-inspired framework to help leaders identify the thinking traps, limiting beliefs and hidden waste that can hold back next-level growth.
Chapter One is called Self-Stories. It explores the internal narratives, thoughts and beliefs that shape your view of the world. Your confidence, behaviours, decision-making, leadership, and overall happiness and fulfilment link to your stories.
The book is for founders, CEOs, business owners and SME leaders who are pursuing next-level growth and want to lead with more confidence, clarity and purpose.
Business owners often become the bottleneck when old thinking, limiting beliefs or lack of trust keep them too close to the day-to-day and not working on value-added activities for their level. Lead Self-First helps leaders spot the Self-stories and thinking traps that may be stopping them from delegating, deciding and leading at the next level, or moving closer to achieving their version of success.
Self-stories can affect business growth by slowing decisions, creating avoidance, fuelling overworking and making it harder for leaders to step back from operational work. Over time, these patterns create hidden waste in time and money, and waste in talent and potential, ultimately delaying achievement of the business vision.
