Your Language Is An Indicator
2 minute readYour language can indicate false beliefs
Yesterday in a team coaching session, two experienced leaders told on themselves without realizing it. When sharing frustration about her C-level manager, Julia said, “I really need more time with him so I can stay informed and make better decisions faster. Though, part of me doesn’t want more time with him because I always walk away with more on my plate.”
I stopped her abruptly and called her attention to her language. “Julia, stop. Listen to your language: ‘I always walk away with more on my plate’ indicates that you’ve had a habit of creating that result and now you think it’s a fact. This false belief is how you’ve been, unknowingly, contributing to the problem.”
Conscious language is more accurate language
I continued, “A more accurate statement is, ‘in the past, I signed up for things and walked away with more on my plate.’’”
She winced and nodded admittedly, “Ugh. Yes, you’re right!” And then took a couple of breaths to process and own it.
“This is a fantastic realization! We’ve identified an Autopilot ‘belief’ that’s simply not true. Now you can intentionally create what you want with your manager. Plus, you’ve learned that your language is an indicator, so you’re equipped to find other false beliefs that restrict your performance!”
Julia felt better armed and inspired about partnering with her manager going forward.
Where might you be accepting a limitation as “fact”?
When you start to pay attention to indicators in your language, you’ll
- equip yourself with critical information
- get yourself out of Autopilot, into your Performance Zone
- create stronger results and relationships across the board
As always, let me know if you want some support putting this into practice!
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