Leaders’ Fallacies and the Beliefs Behind Them
31/03/2022
On Thursday 24 March, an Afternoon Tea & Talent event took place at UMIO Prime. In an interactive online session, Frans Wilms, expert in the field of leadership and change, took us through the five persistent thinking errors that most leaders make.
Which misleading beliefs do you have? What patterns are you perpetuating as a leader? And most importantly: how can you break them? Together we went in search of the answers to these and other questions.
Myths and fallacies
To start with, there are four myths in which many leaders firmly believe. First, that they do quite well compared to their colleagues. Second, that their influence is limited. Third, that they should be able to be themselves and show their emotions, and finally, that it is almost impossible to change beliefs and behaviour.
These assumptions result in five fallacies, namely:
- “With a better Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, we will also get complex issues tackled”
- “My employees are not ready yet”
- “I have to overcome (or embrace) the resistance of others”
- “I am there to manage the content”
- “As management, we grow in leadership through collective action”
A more complex world demands unifying leadership
The fact is that the world is becoming increasingly unpredictable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. There is not always a direct link between cause and effect. As a result, outcomes are not concretely predictable. In such an environment, for example, a PDCA cycle does not work and there is little point in managing employees. An unpredictable world demands unifying leadership, a great deal of employee autonomy and integral cooperation. Instead of managing and convincing, a leader should facilitate and coach his employees.
Thinking differently
As an analogy, a passage from the fairy tale ‘The little prince’ is quoted, in which the little prince meets a drinker who is stuck in a circle of reasoning. The moral of the story? As a leader, do not look at others, but start with yourself. Do not ask yourself whether your organisation is ready for change, but whether you are. And turn the question of how you get your employees to go along with you around: how do your employees get you along? And do you experience that you are not getting any cooperation? Then ask yourself if you are cooperating.
Resistance as positive energy
Change almost always meets with resistance. You want to get your employees to go along with you, but they put their foot down. Who experiences resistance then? You or them? Instead of seeing resistance as negative, you can also see it as positive energy. For example, do your employees complain a lot? Then don’t ask yourself when they will finally stop, but try to understand why they complain. See it as a learning opportunity.
Do you always know better?
Many leaders also think they have to manage by content. While the most valuable thing a leader has, are the interactions with his employees. Every interaction has enormous potential. But if you focus on how you see things, it blinds you. Perhaps you already have a certain solution in mind and you want to get your employees on board. But in doing so, you’re actually side-lining them from the outset. This also happens at management level. The management sees a certain problem and together they come up with a solution.
Practice makes perfect
Ultimately, change is mainly about individual change. “An organisational change is a network of personal changes,” says Ben Tiggelaar. But how can you best change your behaviour? In three words: practise, practise, practise. Without individual changes in behaviour, no collective change.
But how do you practise that? By working on small details every day, just like a swimmer who wants to improve his swimming technique. Gabrielle Oetingen’s exercise method can be helpful here: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan (WOOP). For example, do you have a tendency to interrupt other people? Then make a concrete suggestion to let them finish and ask a question to see if you have understood them correctly. This way you will have very different conversations and you will enter into dialogue starting from common ground.
What is your biggest thinking error?
Do you want to take a step forward in new leadership? Identify your biggest thinking error, or the thinking error that leads to your greatest growth potential. For the participants of the webinar, number 3 is the biggest fallacy (41%): the idea that you have to overcome resistance for others. What is your biggest thinking error? And what action do you want to take?
Watch the recording
If you haven’t been able to attend the session with Frans Wilms, it is still possible to watch the recording. Members of UMIO Prime will find the video in the UMIO Prime app. In case you are not yet a member, consider signing up for free today and get access to our Premium Content Collection.
Opleiding Verbindend Leiderschap
The abovementioned online session with Frans Wilms was a direct stepping stone towards UMIO’s Opleiding Verbindend Leiderschap; an online management programme taught in Dutch that starts every first day of the month.
Do you notice that the changes you envisioned are stagnating? Or that they just don’t have the impact you thought they would have? If you possess the courage to be the driver of change yourself and break through existing patterns, this training will suit you perfectly.
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Frans Wilms
Trainer on Leadership & Change
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