This thesis focuses primary on the actors of the collaborative movement and their motivations and reasons for participating in it. The notion of the collaborative movement was developed during our process as well as the notion of self-empowerment. Two series of interviews have been led with founders of organizations acting within the collaborative movement and users of one of these platforms. From the analysis of the collected data we tried to answer our two research questions: what does lead the actors of the collaborative movement to be part of it? To what extent do they empower themselves? The results indicate that the actors of this movement do empower themselves through their participation. However the level of self-empowerment would depend on the degree of involvement. Moreover, it appeared that self-empowerment is not only an effect of their participation but also the motivation for it.

This thesis deals extensively with ‘the Art of Leading Oneself’. In the course of this paper, an understanding of the term ‘leading oneself’ is given. Furthermore a reflection upon the reasons why it is necessary in nowadays society and business world to lead oneself is provided. The core of the thesis constitutes a thorough discussion of possible elements of the art of leading oneself. In conclusion it is to be said, that on the basis of the knowledge of an individual’s frames of references, a framework of personal values and vision should be created. In a second dimension it is necessary to deeply reflect upon the inner Self and to gain insight about the authentic Self. Through the acknowledgement that an individual can learn from failures, the principles of the crucibles are described. In a third dimension, the bridge to ‘the Art of Leading Others’ is build and a rough overview of the necessities of sensegiving in the communication process is given. Concluded, it can be said, that it is of utmost importance to know and incorporate the authentic Self in every activity. / Diese Masterthesis behandelt und beschreibt im ausführlichen Maße ‚die Kunst sich selbst zu führen’. Innerhalb dieser Arbeit erarbeite ich ein Verständnis über das Konzept des ‚sich selbst Führens’. Des Weiteren wird über die Notwendigkeit der Selbstführung in der schnelllebigen Berufs- und Sozialwelt reflektiert. Der Kern der Arbeit konstituiert eine ausführliche Diskussion über mögliche Elemente des ‚sich selbst Führens’. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass auf Basis des Wissens über die individuellen Bezugssysteme ein persönliches Wertesystem und eine darauf aufbauende Vision erstellt werden soll. In einer zweiten Ebene ist es notwendig eine tiefe Reflektion über das Innere Selbst durchzuführen um Erkenntnis der tieferen Einsicht des authentischen Selbst zu erlangen. Durch die Anerkennung und Wertschätzung seiner persönlichen Misserfolge sollte das Verständnis geschaffen werden, aus Fehlern zu lernen. In einer dritten Dimension wird die Brücke zur ‚Kunst andere zu Führen’ erschaffen und ein grober Überblick über die Notwendigkeiten einer sinnstiftenden Kommunikation wird gegeben. Resümierend kann gesagt werden, dass es von äußerster Bedeutung ist, sich selbst zu kennen und sein authentisches Selbst in jeder alltäglichen Aktivitäten zu integrieren.

When difficulties appear concerning the environment and the social relationships in teams, leading others become very interesting as well as challenging. I am sharing in this research an understanding of the concept of hardship in order to point out a main leadership issue, which is to lead others in extreme situations. It is a new and innovative approach of leadership within the business area based on the literature and completed by sailors’ experiences of hardship.Offshore sailors have the use to handle hardship situations alone as well as in crews, and they cannot avoid it when they are far away from the coasts. Thus when a problem occurs they must fix it themselves. During offshore races and expeditions, sailors have to deal with teams issues and cannot quit for going back home. Thereby, a boat, which is going to sail for few months without stop, is a real laboratory of leadership and social relationships.The starting point of this approach concerns the art of leading oneself, which represents a prerogative for a great leadership in extreme conditions. Indeed when a leader loses his or her self-control in extremes situations, he or she will probably not be able to lead others. Thus, in order to illustrate the literature approach to this concept, this thesis has been completed with an auto-ethnographical approach. I as a sailor have experimented hardship alone on my boat during some offshore sailing trips. I present an analysis of these experiences to explain the issues of leading oneself in such conditions. Thanks to the participation of some sailors experts in hardship, I illustrate the possibility to lead others in hardship context with the inspiration of their experiences. It is possible to lead others in very extremes conditions, and offshore sailors that I called hardship experts could represent a real inspiration to leaders, for a real and great leadership.