Most staff empowerment programs and policies rely, at least in part, on behavior change. And, more than likely successful outcomes will require behavior change on the part of both the staff and management. This is because the mindsets and related underlying beliefs of both parties play a significant role in any successful change process. Even if management doesn’t aim to change themselves within, they’ll likely need to make some adjustments to their management approach to accommodate and support staff empowerment. So, for successful staff empowerment, start by changing limiting beliefs.
In no way do I want to trivialize the personal growth process nor ignore the challenges of overcoming less accessible and deeply held experiences and beliefs. Nonetheless, we need to focus on how to identify and change limiting beliefs because they’re critical to, and provide effective pathways for, significant transformation. Fortunately, numerous relevant limiting thoughts and beliefs are likely to be relatively easy to identify and change.
How Limiting Beliefs Relate to The Change Process
What Are Mindsets
A mindset is a person’s established attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs. Additional factors often included are disposition, mood, and inclination to change. In other words, a mindset is a lens through which a person experiences, assesses, and interprets herself, others, and events. Importantly, staff empowerment and her likelihood to change are functions of her mindset. This is all the more important in the current climate where many employees report feeling unempowered, unheard, and distrusted.
Mindset models are popular in coaching, child and adult learning, and business circles. One current and popular example is the insightful and influential ‘Fixed vs Growth Mindset‘ learning theory developed by Carol Dweck of Standford University. Her theory possesses depth and nuance, however, practitioners and authors sometimes misunderstand, misapply, or oversimplify its application.
Nevertheless, the various mindset models and related coaching techniques are often quite effective, in great part due to their emphasis on thoughts and beliefs as a primary impetus for behavior change.
Here we’ll focus on a straightforward framework and technique that can be taught and thus build a sustainable empowerment skill.
What Are Thoughts and Beliefs
A thought is a conscious idea produced by thinking. It’s a language-based interpretation and expression of our experiences and remembering. A belief is a thought or group of thoughts a person holds to be true. Finally, limiting beliefs are beliefs that block a person’s mental, emotional, physical, or energetic flow. And, as a consequence, impede or prevent life from moving forward.
Any belief, whether expressed in the positive or negative can be limiting in specific circumstances. The thought, “I know what I’m doing” sounds confident. But if spoken by a young boy standing on the edge of a cliff taking a selfie, we would still quickly take action and usher him back to safety.
How Limiting Beliefs and Mindsets Relate to Mind Shifts
Limiting beliefs can feel like truths rather than simply thoughts. They can prevent or inhibit a change in focus, perception, or intention. As such, they can exert power over outlooks, behavior, and relationships. They can also prevent leaders and staff from adopting new more desirable behaviors. No wonder managers and human resources personnel so often seek ways to address and alter them as part of a strategy to enhance performance, collaboration, and productivity outcomes.
This is where mind shifts and unlying mindsets come in. Simply put, a person with a fixed mindset sees characteristics and abilities as unchangeable, while one with a growth mindset embraces the capacity for change.
Unfortunately, the literature often further colors or valences mindsets. Negative thoughts (e.g., I’ll fail) are often associated with fixed mindsets and positive thoughts (e.g., I know how to solve this) with growth mindsets. I believe this is a misrepresentation of Dweck’s ideas. More accurately and significantly, it’s the process of opening a person’s mind to alternative thoughts, beliefs, and options that drives the mindset shift.
Release Limiting Beliefs to Support Staff Empowerment
Change is a process that at its core entails shifts in thinking and/or feeling. This can be one key thought like a big ah-ha moment or a whole series of related thoughts like peeling an onion. Mindset shifts tend to result from the latter. They’re a process of challenges and realizations.
It needs to be stressed that mind shifts don’t occur through the suppression of thoughts and beliefs. And, a lasting shift doesn’t result from simply substituting one thought with a preferred one much like an affirmation. It arises from reflection, assessment, curiosity, and creativity. To open the mind and make space for something new requires taking three key steps.
A Three-Step Process to Support Empowerment Through a Change in Beliefs
- A person needs to reflect on what happens when they have a limiting belief and when they act in accordance with that belief. This could take the form of regular self-assessments of the negative implications of thinking this way. This process loosens the limiting belief’s hold on the person.
- The person experiments with alternative thoughts that fit the specific situation, assessing the evidence that these alternatives may be as valid or more valid than the original thought. This typically results in an ah-ha moment.
- She considers how to behave given the truth of the new thought.
This type of realization may seem simplistic. However, the principle ingredients are self-driven self-reflection and the identification of an accumulation of personal evidence that can support new alternative thoughts and behaviors. If guided through the process, a person can turn even more deeply inward and access the creative part of the mind. This facilitates the release of limiting beliefs.
It isn’t easy for someone to spot her own limiting beliefs, especially when she isn’t in the habit of questioning herself in a curious yet compassionate way. But, anyone can learn and create a habit of doing this.
Identify Limiting Beliefs Of High Performers
As mentioned above, any belief can be limiting in the right circumstances. Be on the lookout for them, even those that sound like the individual is focused on strong performance and “good” outcomes. Take for example:
- This is the best way to do it
- We need this to be perfect
- I’m the only one who can do this
- If you’re serious about the work, you’ll make yourself available
- Anyone can do this
- My teammates can’t pull it off without me
Fortunately, many limiting thoughts and beliefs, critical contributors to a mindset, are relatively easy to identify and change. For example, absolute inflexible expressions are likely to be limiting beliefs. Some indicator words are “should,” “must,” and “have to.”
Interested in More On Empowering Staff By Changing Limiting Beliefs? See:
- Releasing Limiting Beliefs to Improve Performance and other Staff Development Workshops.
- Negative Self-Talk | How to Avoid and How to Change It
- Coaching in the workplace sessions for leaders, mid-level managers, and other staff members.
Update September 15, 2022
