The Internal Fit and Practical Enlightenment of the Philosophical Thought of the Tao Te Ching and the Theory of Self-Leadership

Abstract

As the core theory of individual self-regulation in organizational behavior, self-leadership emphasizes the achievement of goals through internal regulation, and its effectiveness has been empirically supported in multiple scenarios such as remote work and crisis response. However, most of the existing research is rooted in the perspective of Western individualist culture, and there is insufficient attention to the adaptability and localization practice in the context of Eastern collectivism. As a classic classic of traditional Chinese philosophy, the Tao Te Ching contains rich self-regulation wisdom such as "Taoism follows nature", "rule by doing nothing", and "self-knowledge is clear", which deeply resonates with the core logic of self-leadership "self-management through internal drive". Through theoretical deconstruction and literature cross-reference, this study systematically analyzes the internal compatibility between the two: "rule by doing nothing" and the natural reward strategy share the logical core of "conforming to intrinsic motivation", while "self-knowing is clear" and constructive thinking strategies are based on self-cognition, and "trying to figure out is easier than easy" is highly consistent with the behavioral focus strategy at the level of goal dismantling. Combined with empirical research in the field of self-leadership (e.g., Abid et al., 2021; Bakker et al., 2021), this study further proposes an integrated practice path at the individual and organizational levels, providing theoretical support and practical enlightenment for organizations to improve employees' self-management ability and cope with uncertain challenges, and supplementing the cross-cultural development of self-leadership theory from an oriental philosophical perspective.