You Lead As You Believe

How often have you heard (or said) that a strength used to extreme or relied upon too much becomes a weakness?

Picture the charismatic executive who moves mountains with their persona but is supremely focused on the accomplishment without considering alternative viewpoints or strategies.?

Or the wake of “bodies” they leave behind.

How about the leader who develops close personal relationships with each of their direct reports and finds themselves swimming in the drama that distracts them from maintaining an objective leadership role.

Each has an overdeveloped strength that when relied upon exclusively creates blind spots and can lead to ineffectiveness and diminishing performance over time.

These leaders are acting on their conscious beliefs; in this case, that they are confident and empathetic, but there may also be unconscious beliefs working in the shadows, undermining their high performance.

Unconscious Beliefs

Unconscious beliefs are manifestations of hidden, unexplored, or unresolved internal dynamics.

They are literally the secrets we tell ourselves about ourselves without being aware we’re doing it.

We all have these unconscious beliefs, and if we feel we don’t, it probably means that one of those beliefs is obscuring something of ourselves.

But high performance leaders must be aware of what is lurking in the shadows of their own minds.

Jeffrey Patnaude wrote in his work Leading from the Maze,

“...the leader must be awake and fully alert. Like a nighttime traveler attuned to every sound in the forest, the leader must be aware of all possibilities lurking in the shadows. For we can neither challenge nor transform what we cannot see.”

What are some of your unconscious beliefs? Do they have to do with exceptionally high standards of performance for yourself and others?

This belief often translates into something we now call “imposter syndrome,” and expresses itself in the thought, “I’m never quite good enough,” or “I have to work twice as hard to demonstrate value (or be valued).”

The value of this belief is that it may drive you to achieve, but without building awareness of this unconscious force it can exert unchecked influence in your life, leading to negative consequences.

What happens when we fail to check our unconscious beliefs? We pay a heavy price.

We may fall prey to addictive behaviors, poor professional and personal relationships, imbalanced lifestyles, and mental and physical health issues, among others.

The goal is to consciously engage our unconscious beliefs rather than be engaged by them.

A Case Story

I coach many high-performing executives that come to me not because they have “issues,” but because the success they’ve enjoyed throughout their career is starting to become a problem for them.

There’s an anxiety that starts to creep up that asks, “Can I continue to perform at my level of success? Can I continue to top my past accomplishments and perform to my (and my organization’s) expectations?”

Matthew was one such client, and as we worked to put together strategic plans, he began to explore and entertain all sorts of doomsday scenarios.

As we continued to work together, Matt began to realize he had an internal unconscious belief that said no matter how hard he worked, he would eventually be exposed as a “fraud” and his success (and standing) would disappear in an instant.

To be clear, this fear drove him to achieve his goals. However, his fear of failure had begun to inhibit the very qualities that had served him so well to this point; chief among them an ability to accurately weigh and evaluate appropriate levels of risk and reward.

Where he had been bold in the past, now he felt himself hesitating and unsure of his decisions and actions.

"Something" was protecting him from the potential of failure.

Bringing this unconscious belief out into the light was a breakthrough moment for Matt.

He was able to see that most everything he did was a fantastic success. He had a great family, enjoyed healthy relationships, and was contributing in a meaningful way in a leadership position on his local school board.

I asked what evidence did he have that he would fail at his next endeavor?

By moving the unconscious to the conscious Matt was able to go from being influenced by his fear to trusting himself and boldly charting his course.

When he had been unaware of the presence of this belief it had controlled him. Now he was on the path to controlling it.

Trusting himself allowed Matt to lead from who he is, and he knows that no matter what he attempts he will make it a success.

He’s leading with what he consciously believes about himself.

...

In the next installment of The Coach’s Corner, I’ll share some clues that will help you bring your unconscious beliefs to light, and keep your strengths from becoming weaknesses.

Stay tuned!

Brian is an ICF-certified coach and HR consultant. He combines a unique background of leadership roles in the military, manufacturing, and human resources to deliver powerful coaching that gets results.