What Beliefs and Perceptions Have to Do with Behavior

Oftentimes, we look at someone’s behavior that’s different from our own and say, “that’s bad behavior or I don’t like their behavior.” When we judge someone’s behavior as less desirable than our own we create a barrier between the other person. This barrier reduces our leadership influence and effectiveness.

When you are a leader or in a position of influence or authority, I suggest you not do that. I recommend you no longer look at a persons behavior and instead look at the beliefs and perceptions that drive their behavior.

If we want to influence how someone behaves, we can do so more effectively when we modify a belief or perception the person holds. When beliefs of perceptions change behavior follows suit.

Let me give you an example. If an employee believes that by walking into work their work life is going to be a long slow slog through enemy territory with bullets flying over head, and their perception is that nobody cares that they’re in the battlefield, their behavior will be protective and uninspired. They will not be concerned with what happens to customers or other employees because they’re in hunker down and self protection mode. If you as a leader were to look at their behavior you’d likely determine they’re disengaged, disrespectful toward others and lacking concern for the customer. If you did you’d be missing the bigger picture. You’ll have gotten trapped in focusing on their behavior as opposed to what drove their behavior.

You and I have beliefs and perceptions that are not serving us well. As a matter of fact, there are aspects of your behavior that are not conducive to you accomplishing what you want to accomplish. But you can’t perceive these limiters and need a vehicle for seeing your beliefs and perceptions in a new light.

A vehicle for shedding light on your behaviors is my Mastering Your Mindset Special Report. If you have not downloaded your copy please do so. Outlined in the report are nine negative thinking habits that will help you uncover the beliefs and perceptions that are hindering you from performing at the very highest level possible. Below is a link for you to download it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to make a counter-intuitive recommendation to you this week. If you want to change someone’s behavior, don’t pay attention to their behavior. Pay attention to their beliefs and perceptions and try and alter them in some way. Provide a new perspective, a new data point, a new insight from a trusted colleague. When you do their behavior will change automatically.

This week, remember that the greatest leverage you have in securing higher levels of performance comes from changing the beliefs or perceptions about higher performance.

Hugh’s Monday Morning Mindset Questions:

1. What beliefs or perceptions do you have that are holding you back?

2. What’s the impact your beliefs and perceptions are having on others?

3. What strategy from the Mastering your Mindset Special Report will help you address these issues?

Download my special report

Are You Working To Prove Yourself Or Improve Yourself?

There are two types of people we have all worked with, lived with and or done business with. One type of person is rooted in the past and prefers to walk the well worn path of the known, the safe and the predictable. When something new comes along and they don’t know how to handle it they resist the idea and become more interested in proving themselves to be smart, competent and successful.

The second type of person is willing to stray off the beaten path and venture into unknown territory. They are inquisitive and see the unknown not as something to feel threatened by, but rather see unfamiliar events as opportunities to learn and grown in unanticipated ways. They are less concerned with proving themselves and more inclined to improve themselves.

I have been the former and prefer the latter. I remember back in 1985 when I landed my first corporate leadership position. I was recruited at twenty-five to lead a four location health and wellness company with two hundred and fifty employees and operating budgets of over ten million dollars. I thought I was the senior quarterback who had just been drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

I bought a new car, upgraded my wardrobe and found a new apartment to keep up with my upgraded responsibilities. I was enthusiastic beyond measure and felt as though I had “arrived.”

But within ninety days I heard from the CEO that I had alienated every employee in the corporate office and that I had ninety days to fix it. If I didn’t I would be gone. He suggested I read the book How To Win Friends and Influence Others by Dale Carnegie.

In one conversation I learned that I had been committed to proving myself and that no longer was I the first round pick, but rather I might not even make the practice squad. In that moment my focused shifted to one of improving myself and building bridges with the people I alienated.

The moment we become enamored with proving ourselves over improving ourselves our growth, influence and effectiveness plummets. To avoid this there are three strategies successful leaders can use to continually and effectively improve themselves. They are:

1. Surround yourself with truth tellers. Successful leaders surround themselves with a trusted cadre of people who tell it like it is. If you want to accelerate your growth you must have people who will tell you what you need to hear versus what you want to hear.

2. Practice the 1% rule. Focus on progress not on perfection. You do this by committing to improve your leadership effectiveness by 1% every day. Over the course of seventy-two days you will be 100% more effective than when you started. Small daily improvements will win the day.

3. Create a compelling future. Without a noble or uplifting future to guide you; without an idea, hope, dream or aspiration that has grabbed hold of you and won’t let go, then work becomes a long, slow slog on your belly through enemy territory with bullets flying over your head. All leaders who create something noteworthy; even extraordinary, have a compelling idea that changes their perceptions, their thinking, their mindset and ultimately their actions.

Call To Action:
Do not waste another day trying to prove yourself. The likelihood is that if you are reading this post and have gotten this far you are smart, competent, talented and successful. My blog doesn’t attract unsuccessful people.

Today, take one of these strategies and drive it a mile. Resist doing one mildly or timidly. Do one with a ruthless determination to make a meaningful difference in your leadership and the life of the people that matter most to you.

Why?

Because that’s what leaders do

Which strategy will you implement today?

Your Lack of Response Is A Response

Notes:

This week I want to talk to you about why your lack of response is a response.

I am stunned by the amount of email that some of my clients get. It can be overwhelming. I know these people to be good, caring leaders who want to make a difference and who want to bring out the very best in others. But they get overwhelmed by electronic communication. When they do I remind them of three things.

1. By not responding you are damaging your brand and reputation.

2. By not responding you are increasing employee or customer anxiety.

3. By not responding you are reducing performance because people can’t act on timely information, and in turn they become disengaged. It’s a vicious cycle.

So, not responding is a response…at least it is in the mind of the person who is trying to communicate with you. If it is, what do I suggest? I suggest you get really clear on expectations. And the expectations need to be around:

1. What’s the best vehicle to reach you? Letting people know the best vehicle to reach you reduces anxiety and uncertainty.

2. What’s the time frame people can expect for you to respond. In other words, if you say to people, “if you send me an email, I’ll get back to you within three days,” then you have to get back to them in three days. If you say, “the best way for you to reach me is to send me a text,” then you have to respond to the text.

These two points are important in today’s culture because everyone has been “Amazoned.” I love Amazon. I can buy with one simple click, receive a notification of my order as well as my shipping date. I love it! If you’re watching this and you work for Amazon…your service is addictive. I pay Amazon Prime fees and I’m buying a whole lot more merchandise. Amazon is responsive. They communicate with you and they remove an uncertainty, anxiety or ambiguity about our orders.

Your employees have been “Amazoned” and expect you to respond in tight timeframes. And when you don’t respond, it creates a negative impact.

So this week, get very clear about the best way to reach you, and what the expectations are about when you’ll respond. If you do those two things people will see you as being responsive and your brand and reputation will go up.

5 Reasons Why Taking Shortcuts Shortchanges You

Video Notes:

You are all very busy. You go from one meeting to another and you have senior leaders breathing down you necks saying, “do more, do it better, do it faster, do it cheaper”. Amidst the busyness of your everyday work life the appeal of taking a shortcut can be alluring. But, I want to share with you the five reasons why taking shortcuts may be appealing but taking them shortchanges you. Here are the five reasons.

1. The important relationships in your life perish with the use of shortcuts. You can’t use a shortcut to raise your children nor can you use shortcuts to have a meaningful, high quality relationship with a significant other or a spouse. You simply cannot do it. Quality relationships time, focus and your presence.

2. We miss out on wonderful experiences when we run from point A to point B. If we don’t take the long route, what we miss seeing is the topography, the landscape, how other cultures behave differently nor are we seeing in the world of work how our customers experience things. When we’re rushing from point A to point B and taking a shortcut we’re shortchanging ourselves as to other people’s perspectives and how they do things.

3. You’ll never reach your full potential if you’re looking for shortcuts. Itzhak Perlman, the virtuoso violinist, never took a shortcut in becoming a virtuoso violinist. Whenever you see someone perform and comment “they are masterful,” I will promise you this, they did not take a shortcut.

4. We become human doings as opposed to human beings. When we are on the hamster wheel going from one task to another task to another task, our tasks blind us to other more important aspects of our personal and professional lives. Going mindlessly or frantically from one activity to another has us becoming human doings as opposed to human beings.

5. We are not very interesting when we simply read the Cliff Notes on life. It is true that you can read the Cliff Notes on Alexander Dumas’s, The Count of Monte Cristo, but I believe you will miss out on a wonderful narrative by an masterful storyteller. When you immerse yourself in a story, you become interested and engaged in the story and you want to share it with other people. When you do, others find your engagement and you interesting because of your interest in the story. When you only read the Cliff Notes you’re unable to experience the full breadth of a particular story.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are the five reasons why taking shortcuts will shortchange you. There are times you will want or need to take a shortcut, but these five reasons are worth your consideration because far too often the shortcuts you’ve taken have left you shortchanged…and that’s something you’ll want to avoid doing again this week.

This week, identify one shortcut you’ve been taking that is no longer serving you well, and make a commitment to change it. If you don’t you’re going to miss out and be shortchanged. I don’t believe that’s what you want, so this week identify one shortcut and make a commitment to eliminate it.

Dispelling the Myth: The Time is Not Right

Video Notes

This week I want to dispel a myth. The myth is: the time is not right.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is absolutely a myth.

Now you have certainly heard this if you are in a sales position and a management or leadership position. If you’re in a leadership position you’ve had people come and say, “that is a wonderful idea, but the time is not right.” If you ever hear that, I want you to say these words to the people that say that: “My overwhelming experience is that those who say that ‘the time is not right’ never find the right time.” the people who are extraordinary in their organizations, the leaders who are extraordinary, the organizations that create overwhelming value for their customers, for their employees, start immediately. They start immediately and they are totally open to mid course corrections.”

Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ve ever heard, “the time is not right,” if you’ve ever uttered the words, “the time is not right,” stop it. Don’t accept it. My recommendation to you is: take immediate action. Do something to move towards that which you want to accomplish and be completely open to mid course corrections, but don’t wait. Eradicate, just annihilate this notion that ‘the time is not right.’ The time is always right. It just requires bold action.

That ladies and gentlemen is the Monday Morning Minute. I hope you have a fabulous week, and I’ll see you here again next week. Take care.