Perspective Chapter: Building Ambidextrous Organizations through Self-Leadership

This perspective chapter explores the critical role of self-leadership in fostering individual ambidexterity and, in turn, advancing organizational ambidexterity. While ambidexterity is widely acknowledged as a strategic imperative for organizational adaptability and innovation, the microfoundational mechanisms enabling its emergence remain underexplored. Most notably, current literature lacks clear guidance on how organizations can nurture ambidexterity from the bottom up, starting with the behaviors of individual employees. This chapter advances a framework that links self-leadership strategies with ambidextrous work behaviors through an integrative review of relevant literature and conceptual synthesis. We propose that by fostering self-leadership, organizations can empower individuals to navigate the competing demands of efficiency and innovation more effectively. The chapter concludes with best-practice recommendations for scholars and practitioners interested in building ambidextrous capabilities from within. The chapter contributes to a growing body of research that seeks to align individual agency with organizational adaptability, offering a novel, practical, and human-centered approach to a long-standing challenge in management science.