Centered Leaders and Beliefs

Do you know why you believe what you believe?

It's easy to take for granted that what we each belief is (of course) the truth. It's common to adopt a set of beliefs without giving them too much thought or analysis. That can make for a comfortable and confident lifestyle, but it can also lead to a flawed value system and unproductive behaviors.

Think of the person who grows up in an environment of distrust or abuse. To them, that may well seem normal, but to others that will not be welcome.

Or consider the person who grows up in a home where people are not valued as much as individual effort and success. Right or wrong, that person may struggle when placed in an environment where team work is valued over individual desire.

Centered leaders consider the needs of others as they work toward accomplishing noble goals. To do that, we must consider how we are filtering those needs through our own lens of perception. Do we even see what people want and need or do we see them as somehow only there to meet our own needs? What are our needs and how did we decide that they were important?

Centered leaders seek the clarity of knowing the source of their beliefs. Only then can we decide if they are valid for the context we are in. Only then can we assess whether they are truly needs or simply desires based on a flawed past or untested set of assumptions.

Centered leaders constantly test their assumptions. What can appear to us as facts may seem like fallacy to others. This is yet another reason why it's so important for leaders to feel comfortable at encouraging and creating much deeper conversations. It's important to create the places and times when people can talk about their feelings, their desires, their beliefs. If we give hidden agenda's no place to hide; if we shine a light on the stage of our beliefs, we can all benefit from better chances to reach shared meaning.

Shared meaning can lead to shared agreements, and shared agreements lead to success.

What part of your beliefs are you comfortable testing today?

How can you as a leader get more clarity around what you believe and why?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

http://frontrangeleadership.com

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