Growth Beyond Limits in Leadership

To what extent do you experience limits in leadership?

A leader once confided in me that she would not go for the next promotion - if only she had more time and energy. She was stretched to her max and was already taking on even more responsibility than she could carry. She thought climbing the corporate ladder any further would be the tipping point to everything falling apart at work and home.

Another leader shared that he would not enter a new market because he lacked the local knowledge to scale his business outside of his home country - if only he had more international experience. Another leader said they would wait to launch their own business until they successfully passed the certification exam - if only they had more credibility.

If only we had abundant time, money, knowledge and energy, then we would be good enough to flourish in our wildest dreams.

Sometimes we are limited by our external resources (social, economic and physical conditions) but often when we go a level deeper, it is our own internal blocks that limit us.

Identifying limits is the first step to challenging them

By understanding internal blocks, you gain the ability to see them for what they really are: “choices you make - or do not make - that limit your potential and your performance.”

Clients often uncover their limits in coaching sessions through thought provoking “ah ha” moments. These moments of awareness create impactful shifts of energy when you go from feeling frustrated and powerless to empowered and able to step into your limitless leadership potential These “ah ha” moments are the catalyst for major breakthroughs in your career.

However, it is worth noting, before reaching the big “ah ha” moment many of us sit deep in fear, spiraling thoughts and feelings of stuckness. Awareness brings us the light we need to dissolve darkness. Therefore, the next time you feel fear, uncertainty, consider booking a coaching session to explore what is limiting you so you can reach opportunity on the other side.

A guide to help you understand how internal limits could show up for you in leadership

Limit 1: Limiting Beliefs

Definition: “Beliefs you have about the world, about other people, about situations that hold you back from success and stop you from getting what you want. Limiting beliefs may not necessarily be about you but are blanket statements that you believe are true.”

Leadership examples:

• You believe successful people are just lucky. They get what they want regardless of the situation. They do not even have to work hard or invest in growth, it just happens for them because of luck. It is their fate in life, and you are not them. Every time you possibly succeed, something happens because you are unlucky.
• You believe working parents cannot have it all. You cannot be a successful leader, nurturing parent, loving partner, fun friend, growing as an individual and thriving in all areas of their life. You believe this is not possible - that something is always lacking and you are just waiting for the shoe to drop. Working parents can only survive, not thrive.

Limit 2: Interpretations

Definition: “Opinions you create about an event, situation, or experience. You make up a story based on your beliefs and past experiences and unconsciously look for evidence to support it. Your interpretation often represents only one viewpoint among the many that are possible.”

Leadership examples:?

• There is a member of your team who consistently shows up late for meetings and misses deadlines. You are of the opinion that he is underperforming because of lack of engagement, but you do not realize he is overwhelmed or stretched too thin with other corporate priorities unbeknownst to you.
• Another department head barely responds to your emails or messages on Slack/Teams. Despite several ways of trying to reach them, you fail to build a relationship with them. You feel that they do not value your area of expertise or even value you as leader in the business, when in reality they prefer to communicate face-to-face and because of the past few pandemic years this has not been possible.

Limit 3: Assumptions

Definition: “A belief that because something happened in the past, it is automatically going to happen again. Assumptions are more personal than limiting beliefs and more intimately involve you because of your past experiences.”

Leadership examples:

• You believe, "I am only good at one thing. I fail every time I try to pivot in my career." It all goes back to the one time you tried to take on the role as Head of XYZ during a major time of transition and did not thrive immediately as you had before in a role you had been doing for several years. You beleive will always fail at leading new functions because you “failed” in the past. Therefore, you only stick to your areas of expertise and limit your potential leadership growth.
• You believe returning to work is hard after maternity/paternity leave. After the birth of your first child, it was really hard for your family to find a new balance and you struggled immensely transitioning back into your role as a working parent and so did your partner. Your second child is about to be born and you are already dreading this hard season of life after the initial baby bliss.

Limit 4: Gremlins

Definition: “The inner critic in your head tells you not to try, never to take a risk, always to take the safe road, and to compromise your life by playing small.” Your gremlins’ warning is “you are just not good enough” and because you believe it to be true you never take the big leap.

Leadership examples:?

• You do not go for the next big promotion because you believe deep down that you are not a qualified leader. You have gotten to where you are in your career because of luck not ability. You worry that people will eventually find out you are a fraud so you play it safe and plateau in your current role.?
• You have an idea that could transform your business but are afraid to speak up because you believe you are the most junior person in the room. How could your thoughts contribute tremendous value when everyone else in the leadership team is so much more experienced than you?

You create your own reality

It’s important to understand that when you experience these limits, you believe them to be true deep down. They stop you from thriving in leadership and life. You become worried, anxious, stressed and overwhelmed. You lead from a place of scarcity instead of opportunity. Limits stop you from growing and should not be taken lightly. Sometimes they are blatantly obvious and other times you feel completely out of control and do not know why.

The critical next step is to seek help when you realize you are facing internal limits. Awareness allows you to challenge your internal limits, take back your power and grow limitlessly. Consider Elevate’s Leadership Programs to champion you as you become the leader you aspire to be. Book a discovery call today.

Elevate champions leaders with big hearts, big missions and big goals to realize the limitless potential that is within. We partner with business leaders and companies from all over the world who are eager to drive monumental and sustainable impact. Our leadership programs are the catalyst for paramount growth as clients work towards their goals with more energy, clarity and confidence than ever before. Learn more at www.elevateleadership.global .

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Source: Definitions provided by iPEC’s Core Dynamics philosophy.