Belief Systems – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Are You Locked In By Your Own Thinking?

Posted March 18, 2024
by admin

The principle mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers. – Arthur Koestler

In his book Houdini, author Harold Kellock shares a story about Houdini on one of his European tours when Houdini found himself locked in his own thinking.

After he had been searched and manacled in a Scottish town jail, the turnkey shut him in a cell and walked away. Houdini quickly freed himself from his shackles and then tackled the cell lock. But despite all his efforts, the lock would not open. Finally, ever more desperate but completely exhausted, he leaned against the door- and it swung open so unexpectedly that he nearly fell headlong into the corridor. The turnkey had not locked it.

Houdini was not locked in a cell by a key but by a belief.

Your belief systems directly influence every part of your life. The larger question is: what does your belief system look like? Let’s explore a few ways this happens in your life.

Wrong beliefs and assumptions lead to wrong actions

Houdini assumed the door was locked. Because his assumption was wrong, his actions were wrong. Wrong assumptions caused him to waste a lot of time and energy trying to accomplish something that was not even necessary. It will do the same for you.

Decisions you make as a leader must be grounded in facts and reality. The worst thing you can do as a leader is to make decisions based on bad information. Click To Tweet When this happens, you waste valuable time. Your people lose confidence in your leadership.

Wrong actions lead to wrong conclusions

Because Houdini believed the door was locked, he worked tirelessly to open it. Imagine his reaction when he leaned on the door and it opened, realizing that he had been needlessly working to solve a problem that did not exist. I can only imagine his frustration when the cell door opened that was not even locked.

When your thinking is wrong then wrong actions will follow. This leads you and your team to make faulty conclusions. This only compounds already strained morale.

Understand the power of right-thinking leadership

You do not want to be locked in by negative thinking as a leader. Right-thinking leaders seek solutions, explore options, empower their team, and share the credit. Right-thinking leaders have a mindset shift that’s not fixed but one that is growing, expanding, and overcoming its challenges because they refuse to be trapped by limited belief systems.

Your growth as a leader is determined by the choices you make. Don’t allow yourself to be trapped by beliefs that hold you back and limit your leadership capacity. Embrace right-thinking leadership with a passion to grow and your possibilities will be unlimited.

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What Leaders Can Learn From Their Limitations

Posted December 3, 2015
by admin

limites

If you don’t understand your limitations you won’t achieve much in your life. – Kevin Costner

During his first year of graduate study at the University of California at Berkeley, George B. Dantzig (later known as the father of linear programming) arrived late for a statistics class. He saw two problems on the blackboard. Assuming they were homework, he copied them and a few days later turned in his solutions. One Sunday morning six weeks afterward, the professor appeared at Dantzig’s door, waving a manuscript. It turned out that the professor had merely written two examples of unsolvable problems on the blackboard. The manuscript was Dantzig’s work readied for publication.

Limitations have a way of introducing us to ourselves. For some that can be an unacceptable reality. For others it can be a challenge to accept and an opportunity to seize. It all comes down to how you look at it.

For George Dantzig, he had the benefit of being late to class and thus was not aware that the problems on the board had been deemed ‘unsolvable” and thus approached the task quite differently than his classmates.

How you look at the limitations and obstacles that you face as a leader goes a long way in determining your leadership style going forward. It not only impacts you personally as a leader but it sets the tone for those around you. So what is a proper approach to facing limitations you may have? Here are three approaches worth consideration.

Limitations allow you to focus on your strengths

As a leader you can sit around and bemoan the fact that you do not possess a certain talent or attribute that is somehow holding you back. You can use it as a crutch and allow it to be your “excuse card” for your lack of progress. Or, you can re-direct your focus and build off your strengths.

When you shift your focus off of your limitations and turn it towards your areas of strength it becomes a liberating factor in your leadership. When you can thrive in the sweet spot of your strengths it will change your outlook, it will give you confidence, and will put you and your team on the right path.

Limitations cause you to build strong teams

Understanding your limitations should be empowering for you as a leader. It’s when you realize that you do not have to possess all the answers and that your wok does not have to be unproductive that your “limitations” no longer have to define you.

A smart leader realizes that the key to building a successful team is found in its diversity. What is an area of weakness or limitation for you is a strength for someone else, and their area of weakness may be the area you excel in. The secret is to play to your strengths and build off of it. As a leader you don’t have to be great at everything-just be great at one thing and let your people do the same. When you do you will be unstoppable.

Limitations create uncommon opportunities

How different do you think your organization would function if all of your team members played exclusively to their strengths? What impact do you think it would have on morale, productivity, and your bottom line? I dare say it would be profound.

I think it’s important to have margin in our lives. That is to say we should all be striving to improve and be the very best we can be and be open to learning new things. But we have to be realistic as well. We create opportunities for success when we put the right people in the right place and play to our strengths.

When you understand your limitations then you can maximize your strengths to your advantage. You can turn ordinary opportunities turn into extra-ordinary ones not because you have limitations, but because you understood them and you surrounded yourself with the right people.

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Leadership Minute: Build Bridges

Posted September 23, 2014
by admin

I have no shortage of strong opinions, but I have tried all my life to be a bridge builder. – Bill Hybels

Bridge building is such an important leadership skill to develop. When leaders can build bridges and connect people with no regard for race, religion, political views, or personality types, it can be a most rewarding endeavor. Unfortunately, preconceived notions about people can prevent authentic relationships from developing and thus bridge building becomes nothing more than a good idea. Most leaders I know, including myself, have strong opinions. But when those strong opinions get in the way of relationships then we become isolated and only gather in flocks with like-minded people. While that is all good and well your circle of friends is smaller, your world view is narrower, and your sphere of influence is marginalized. You don’t have to compromise your opinions in order to befriend a person who thinks otherwise. Be approachable, be respectful, but most of all be authentic. Your opinions and values are what you will carry with you for a lifetime, and regardless of who comes and goes in your life, those beliefs will always guide you. Are you a builder?

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