Learn how easily you are getting in the way of your own goals. When you feel you are doing the right thing.
Most leaders are very clear about what they want and what is needed to get there.
Why is it then so hard to make meaningful success happen and to succeed consistently? Why do so many leadership teams come up with great plans but struggle to execute them?
The rational and goal-oriented leader is largely an illusion. When we believe we are making choices based on facts and reason, we are mostly acting on instinctive impulses.
These instincts are not random. There are clear and individual patterns to them, programmed early in life. Although we are not consciously aware of them, they influence greatly how we perceive our world and how we respond in choices and actions.
The problem is that what feels right doing (instinct) is not at all connected to the goals we try to accomplish (intention.)
A meta-analysis of 105 research studies showed on average a 1% overlap between pre-conscious instincts and conscious intentions.
This means that many leaders put a lot of effort into things that have little effect on their intentional goals.
However, when leaders have the right instincts for the job, they are mostly very successful, and are able to sustain that success over time.
In a landmark 16-year study, 80% of top-performing leaders shared a specific combination of non-conscious motivational patterns.
Among poor performers, only 10% showed that combination of patterns.
Non-conscious leadership instincts are not accessible through regular self-awareness. But through other methods, a specific and detailed map of your personal instinctive patterns can be created.
With this insight you and your team can manage your leadership priorities much more consciously, avoid distractions and focus on the few things that have the greatest effect on your goals.
This is the biggest low-hanging fruit for many leadership teams.
Understanding and managing your leadership instincts makes you a grounded leader. Less distracted by feelings of frustration, stress and uncertainty.
A more focused and strategic outlook helps you stay connected with work that is meaningful and engages your team. You create a culture that allows people to thrive and that attracts top performers.
All this helps you and your team to make a lasting and meaningful difference with your work and to do so in a way you can sustain year after year.
Your Mind Filter profile is different from the part of yourself you are conscious of. A meta-analysis of 105 research studies showed an average overlap of only 1%.
But your Mind Filter can be made visible through a scientifically rigorous process. It is not a questionnaire, but a method that reveals patterns not available through self-reflection alone.
Most leaders describe it as one of the most clarifying experiences they've had. Things they have vaguely noticed all of their lives suddenly start making much more sense. And with this clarity, they can take much more conscious control of what it is that they really want.
Sign up for my regular newsletter Sustaining Greatness if you want to learn more about
The leadership approaches that feel so right—but are holding you back
How to avoid being limited by non-conscious assumptions in your day-to-day leadership
The few things to focus on to accomplish more of what really matters to you
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