Mindset matters: raising awareness for change
Have you ever reviewed and challenged your belief systems?
Executive coaching helps to unlock potential and empower individuals to lead and grow, this is developed through a non-judgemental partnership. Through work with leaders, we have observed that they are often held back not by a lack of skill, but by internal barriers or limiting belief systems – assumptions they have made about themselves.
These are rarely visible to the individual. Often, they have been a repeated narrative for months or years. It is within this element of leadership development and executive coaching by raising self-awareness and relational presence - change can begin.
Limiting beliefs
Limiting beliefs can form early in a career or based on early life experiences. Many people are unaware of their belief systems that have shaped their life, they can impact decision-making or everyday outcomes, they can constrain what an individual can achieve. Executive coaching works to surface these beliefs and test whether they hold true, rather than treating them as a fact. These beliefs shape your future more than you realise, and therefore working to understand and challenge them can be the first step toward change and greater possibilities.
There are many experts who have studied belief systems. Dr. Tasha Eurich's research on self-awareness found that while the majority of people believe they are self-aware, only around 10 -15% are[1]. This can often limit leadership potential.
Broadly speaking, leadership preparation focuses on the strategy, the technical details, the sale, the marketing or the management. Preparing the mindset is different. It is unique to the individual and can be utilised in many ways: through coaching and supported by exercise, meditation or movement. It takes an understanding of where a limiting belief could surface under pressure and hinder a decision.
Those leaders who have worked with coaches are not exempt from the beliefs - they have learned to recognise and respond to it in a liberating manner. This takes development and an honest examination of the reality, and unfolds over an extended period of time.
Unlocking potential
This is where executive coaching can empower individuals to stand in their power and reach their potential. Executive coaching emphasises that capability is within, but it may be obstructed by a belief, habit, or opinion. The leader is being supported to lead as the person they already are without outdated belief systems. It is developed by the individual through ongoing self-awareness, learning and experience – resilience is a learned skill.
Adam Grant's research examines this in more depth. In his book, Hidden Potential[2], he argues that with the right opportunity and motivation to learn, anyone can build the skills to achieve greater thing - through developing character skills, creating structures and building systems to expand opportunity. Executive coaching helps create this environment to support the leader in their growth and development.
The ongoing work
Reviewing and challenging belief systems is a skill that develops in time, and restructuring them does not happen overnight. It can take years of hard work, through honest conversations, reflection and working with coaches or psychologists. Above all it takes humility and the desire to change and grow.
Executive coaching provides a safe and non-judgmental facilitated environment, by raising awareness to these notions and supporting a liberating and empowering alternative. This turns untapped potential into leadership that is recognised and embraced.
For more information on how JAC Strategy can support – contact us here.
[1] Tasha Eurich, Insight: Why We’re Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life, (Currency, 2017).
[2] Adam Grant, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things (London, 2023)