Confronting Invisible Barriers
Sidestepping or working through costly mind traps
Life requires people to do more, take new action. It also asks of us to cease certain thinking and decisions that block our progress and breakthrough.
There is a quote by Stephen M.R. Covey, author of “The Speed of Trust,” that talks about this truism of “removing restraining forces.”
These are powerful and seemingly inevitable forces we encounter in our lifetimes.
"Sometimes the fastest way to achieve results is to simply take your foot off the brake,” Covey says as the remedy to these difficulties.
Let’s look at this quickly: Fastest way. Achieve results. Take your foot off the brake.
“In both our professional and personal lives, we all confront invisible barriers, what I call mind traps, that undermine our own ability to be the best leaders we can be,” says Hortense le Gentil, an executive leadership coach, speaker and the author of the book, “The Unlocked Leader.”
She talks about self-destructive behavior as an example.
“Take, for instance, the paralyzing effect of self-sabotage, something I frequently encounter in my coaching,” le Gentil says. “One prime example is an executive who was being groomed for the CEO role until his disappointing performance in the final stages of the process. Subconsciously, a scathing critique from a professor many years earlier had planted seeds of self-doubt that manifested in overcompensating behaviors, inadvertently costing him the job.
“He is not alone in this experience. Imposter syndrome is another manifestation of a restraining force that impacts many of us in our personal lives as well. We fail to pursue dreams and ambitions due to internalized voices that tell us we are undeserving.”
This behavior can become problematically habitual and prove painfully costly.
“We often keep our foot on the brake because we are afraid. We have fears of failure, rejection or even success itself,” le Gentil says. “We are afraid of doing what we really want to do — and this is a classic mind trap — a mental obstacle that stands between you and your ability to lead with authenticity, sapping your energy and impact.”
There is thinking and a high-probability response that can prove helpful in preventing or overcoming this practice.
“Identify your mind traps and know where they are coming from,” le Gentil says. “They are not the objective truths we think they are. They are nothing more than stories we tell ourselves. Understanding why and how our brains create these stories gives us the power to rewrite them.”
Communication Intelligence, the Newsletter is an accompanying publication of Communication Intelligence magazine.
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