To the extent that traditional "leadership" by others ("superiors") fails, individual participants must assume their own "leadership." For some time now, the term "self-leadership" has been used, but it means quite different things. Self-leadership is generally understood today as a kind of "self-optimization" by individuals. However, this ultimately means a continuous, self-directed adaptation to the given circumstances. In contrast, self-leadership in the dialogical sense strives to set one's own goals for one's actions, and that means orienting oneself within a whole (self-leadership includes self-orientation).