“The tricky thing about denial is you don’t know you’re in it” – LISA MARTIN
Few people go around thinking, ‘Wow, I suspect I’m in denial about important aspects my life.’
To discover denial you have to let your mind do a difficult thing. You need to let it question how you see reality.
[Tweet “People with strong character are truth-seekers. “]
People with strong character face positive and negative feedback with the same attitude: ‘There’s definitely something I can learn from this.’
This attitude allows them to see themselves clearly, and evolve more easily than other people.
Let your mind question reality as you currently see it. Start by asking these questions:
- Do you keep having the same arguments with people over and over again?
- Has someone recently described you in a way that really surprised you?
- Do people respond to you in a way that’s inconsistent with how you see yourself? (i.e. Do they behave as though you’re hard-nosed when you think you’re easygoing?)
If you answered ‘yes’, to any of these questions, your perception of reality could be out of sync.
Leadership Development: If you want to take this a step further, try asking 5 people at your workplace to give you 3 words that best describe you, and 3 words that describe your approach to work. If you’re shocked by what you hear, it’s time to adjust your perceptions. It may also be time to adjust aspects of your behaviour.
If you liked this blog post, you’ll love my book Lead: 6 Skills to Be a RockStar Leader.
Lisa Martin has made it her mission to help companies keep and cultivate leaders. She’s the creator of the Lead + Live Better leadership programs, author of five books, including the bestselling Briefcase Moms, and she is a seasoned speaker, facilitator and executive coach.