Understanding how people think is essential for a leader, especially when it comes to our core beliefs. Limiting beliefs can restrict lives and create unsatisfying outcomes for years if unchallenged. Beliefs create our individual and collective worlds. Millions of pieces of information are available to us at any one time. Our beliefs lay down parameters which determine which pieces of information we receive. Our beliefs determine which pieces of information we accept or reject. If we don’t believe it, then we simply don’t perceive it, or won’t allow ourselves to perceive it.
Beliefs Come In All Forms
- When conflicting beliefs come to our awareness, they can create confusion
- Holding opposing beliefs at the same time can cause internal conflict
- Limiting beliefs can prevent you from receiving what you want
- Subconscious beliefs appear to control your behaviour and make you feel helpless
- You can bring subconscious beliefs into your awareness
- You can choose your beliefs. All beliefs are flexible
- The key to changing your world and experience is to change your limiting beliefs
- How you interpret reality around you can inform and shape your beliefs
- Beliefs are simply an interpretation you choose to determine as true
- Limiting beliefs can be changed.
Undoing Limiting Beliefs
When a leader or manager understands the process for challenging limiting beliefs, they have the key to securing positive change for the greater good. I’m not suggesting it is a leader’s or manager’s job to change people’s beliefs. And certainly, we need to ensure that we respect people’s beliefs, particularly in the realm of equality. However, a good leader or manager will understand the effects of limiting beliefs and understand the process of undoing them.
People act and react based on their beliefs, and uncovering those beliefs to enable positive growth is extremely powerful. Brainwashing people or trying to force people down a different route is not ethical, and it is not what I am suggesting. Everyone has free will, and this must be respected. But it is useful to know how and what you need to do to understand when your employees are holding unhelpful beliefs about themselves or others. Being aware that these beliefs can be changed can help you influence and persuade employees to adopt more positive beliefs.
Fixed Beliefs
I’ll give you an example. I worked hard for a couple of years engaging with a particular team. Helping them think and feel highly motivated and successful. In those days, I was pretty idealistic and hoped that I would win everyone over, and that everyone would enjoy working in the team. However, there was a core of people who, regardless of the circumstances, remained unhappy. They habitually criticised and caused negative waves. Simply put, they had fixed beliefs about their working lives, and maintaining these beliefs was more important to them than changing them.
I was talking to one of the employees who could be particularly negative. I asked her why she seemed so resentful and if there was something I was doing which was causing this particular resentment. Her reply was a real eye-opener. She told me it had nothing to do with me at all. I had joined the team, and she observed that I was trying to get the team on board. However, she didn’t like management, never had and never would. She went as far as to say nothing I would ever do would persuade her otherwise!
We ultimately reached a somewhat uncomfortable compromise, which limited her impact in terms of negativity within the team and how our relationship would work in the workplace, given her fixed and unrelenting views. Not ideal, but then, it’s not my job to change her beliefs.
Instigating Change
The real power of understanding beliefs and belief systems lies in instigating change. By drawing out existing individual and team beliefs and understanding how to help people see things from a different lens for the better within the workplace, managers can achieve fundamental and lasting success.
Encouraging employees to hold positive beliefs about themselves, their contributions, and the meaningfulness of your vision and tasks is the building block to brilliant success.
A Step-by-Step Guide To Challenging and Changing Limiting Beliefs
Challenging and changing limiting beliefs is a crucial aspect of personal and professional development. Leaders play a vital role in this process by creating an environment that encourages growth and change. Here’s a guide on how leaders can support individuals in this transformative journey:
Understanding Limiting Beliefs
1. Definition and Impact: Limiting beliefs are self-imposed constraints that hinder individuals from realising their full potential. They often stem from past experiences, societal conditioning, or negative self-talk, and can significantly impact an individual’s confidence, decision-making, and ability to take on new challenges.
2. Identification: Leaders should begin by helping individuals identify their limiting beliefs. This can be achieved through open conversations, self-reflection exercises, or feedback sessions. It’s essential to approach this process with sensitivity, as discussing personal beliefs can be a challenging task.
Steps to Support Change
1. Create a Safe Environment
- Encourage Openness: Foster a culture where team members feel safe to express their doubts and fears without judgment.
- Promote Trust: Foster a culture of trust within the team, enabling individuals to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences.
2. Encourage Self-Reflection
- Guided Reflection: Utilise tools such as journaling or guided meditation to help individuals explore their inner thoughts and beliefs.
- Feedback Loops: Regular feedback sessions can provide insights into how these beliefs manifest in their work and interactions.
3. Provide Resources and Training
- Educational Workshops: Organise workshops on topics like emotional intelligence, resilience, and growth mindset.
- Access to Counseling: Offer access to professional counselling or coaching to help individuals work through deep-seated beliefs.
4. Set Realistic Goals
- Small Steps: Help individuals set small, achievable goals that challenge their limiting beliefs.
- Celebrate Progress: Recognise and celebrate each milestone to reinforce positive change.
5. Lead by Example
- Share Personal Experiences: Leaders should share their own experiences with overcoming limiting beliefs.
- Demonstrate Growth: Show how personal growth has positively impacted your leadership and decision-making.
6. Continuous Support
- Regular Check-ins: Hold regular one-on-one meetings to discuss progress and address any setbacks.
- Adapt Strategies: Be willing to adapt support strategies as individuals grow and their needs change.
Conclusion
Changing limiting beliefs is not an overnight process. It requires patience, persistence, and a supportive environment. As a leader, your role is to guide, encourage, and provide the necessary resources to enable individuals to embark on a journey of self-improvement. By doing so, you not only help them grow as professionals but also contribute to a more dynamic, innovative, and resilient team.
Incidentally, for the sake of clarification: in the Equality Act, belief is defined as “including philosophical beliefs, such as humanism, which are considered to be similar to a religion. Other categories of beliefs, such as support for a political party, are not protected by the Equality Act.” This is not what this article is about.
