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Causes Of Leadership Mental Blocks—And What To Do Differently

Forbes Coaches Council

Curtis, author of Vision to Reality, has helped dozens of small businesses accomplish their vision. | cljassoc.com | Jenkins & Associates.

Smart business leaders get the most out of their teams and businesses by first getting the most out of themselves. In coaching business owners, I have come across several consistent issues. Here are the three key areas where smart business leaders go astray and how to remove these mental blocks.

1. Misdiagnosed Problems

As a leader, you spend most of your days solving problems. The best leaders excel at this. However, you cannot fix a problem you cannot define. Spend time defining the problem by gathering as much data as you can to help you identify the causal factors and root cause. A fishbone diagram is a useful tool to help determine the root causes and effects that issues have on the business. Misdiagnosed problems are often the result of leaders assuming the issue is one thing when it is something entirely different. Don’t assume the problem is someone else’s fault. It’s your business. Assume it’s your fault first, then take the steps to resolution by doing the following:

• Take the time to determine the root cause of a problem, as simply putting in a fix will not get rid of the overall problem. It will take some time, but over time you will get better at diagnosing problems.

• Create a problem management leader who can guide the rest of the team in the analysis of problem trends, developing root-cause analysis solutions and documenting the trends.

• You can also hire an expert to help if this is not your forte. If you aren’t aware of how to perform a root-cause analysis, get some help either through the internet or by employing an expert.

2. Creating Random Goals

Goals are very important to your success. They should be written and executed in a way that drives you toward your overall vision for your business. Creating random goals is meaningless and discouraging and also confusing to your team. The team must be aligned to your goals that align to your vision. Knowing your “why” is much more important than setting a random goal.

Often, in my experience, business leaders make broad-statement goals such as “making several million dollars.” By stating this random goal, entrepreneurs believe they will experience a change in lifestyle and their business will come with no more struggles to meet payroll, pay bills or grow. They see the several million dollars as the solution, one in which more money means a booming business and flourishing lifestyle. However, you can take your pains with you even if your business makes more money.

Take these four steps to ensure your goals suit your overall vision:

• Create goals that make sense. If you want to make several million dollars, determine which business segments, which markets or how much of your product and/or service you need to deploy to make this goal.

• Determine your “why.”

• Ensure your goals are tied to your vision. Ensure your team members' goals are tied to your goals. Check on the goals regularly. Don’t assume everyone is on the same page. You must be diligent in ensuring team cohesion. Your goals will not manifest themselves. They must be actively worked on by you and your teams.

• Perform risk assessments and develop mitigation strategies for your goals. It is a crucial process to ensure we clearly understand all the factors keeping us from meeting those goals and what actions are required to clear the way. If you're unable to do this on your own, again, consider hiring a professional to help.

3. Cognitive Dissonance

When it comes to cognitive dissonance, the status quo bias and/or confirmation bias often come into play.

Status quo bias is defined as a preference for the maintenance of one’s current or previous situation or a preference not to undertake any action to change this current or previous state. What is ironic is when I see this behavior in company owners, they will also quote the definition of insanity as doing the same thing and expecting a different result. You may have to fight your desire to keep the status quo. As humans, we are creatures of habit, wired to use the least amount of energy to get what we need.

Confirmation bias is defined as the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. For example, let’s say the new accounting system you have implemented has an issue, not because of the system but because someone entered incorrect data and it totally threw off the system. Then one of your employees says, “I knew this wasn’t going to work.” Leaders must combat these issues themselves and train their teams to respond in a manner to get to the root cause, such as, “Let me find out the root cause.” However, in my experience, employees and/or leaders will typically respond with, “That’s why I didn’t want to go to that system because look at how it screwed up my numbers” rather than fixing those few input errors and seeing how much time and effort is saved.

• To attack cognitive dissonance and alter the behaviors resistant to change, you must start with your own behavior. After you’ve received help to diagnose problems and create goals and plans, you must follow the plans. I suggest committing to a plan for at least one year.

• To break bad habits, you must create new ones.

• To stay on track and avoid backsliding, build in a system of accountability.

Each business leader I have worked with finally overcame these three mental blocks and is now running a healthy business. It’s not easy to change who you are, but when you work on it; learn how to diagnose and resolve problems; create goals that are clear, concise and measurable; and resist the urge to get to a comfortable state of chaos versus fighting, you too can be successful in running your business and your life!


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