What you believe about YOU as a leader has a huge impact on HOW you lead others.
As Sherman Morrison writes in ‘The Pygmalian Effect’, ‘What managers believe about themselves subtly influences what they believe about their subordinates, what they expect of them, and how they treat them’.
So you can do all the ‘Leadership’ training in the world, but if your beliefs about you Leading are limiting, you will be limited as a leader. Your leadership behaviours will not change, as beliefs hold behaviour in place. It’s important to take time out to ‘quality check’ your beliefs about you as a Leader.
It’s like doing an update of your beliefs about you as a leader.
As Tom Asacker reveals the role of belief in leadership in The Business of Belief ‘For leaders and organization, belief is the issue. It is at the core of who we are, why we do what we do, or approach to change, and how we lead. Belief is your Holy Grail. Belief is at the heart of making your leadership work’.
‘Sally’ was a Team Leader in a Customer Service Centre. Her beliefs were, ‘Management gave me this role because I’m good with customers and I have excellent product knowledge. But I struggle to connect with some of my staff, and I know I avoid conflict sometimes’. Sally was able to change her beliefs about her as Leaders to more useful ones – ‘I’m gaining experience as a leader. I’m taking my communication skills to the next level. With practice and feedback, I will get better at having the difficult conversations I’ve been avoiding in the past. I am a work in progress’.