Welcome to Week 17 of the Authenticity@Work Leadership Tool-kit! My intention for this series is to share a quick tool each week to help you lead with more authenticity, adaptability and inspiration so we can together create workplaces where we bring the best of ourselves and inspire others. So grab a journal and an accountability partner to make these practices even more powerful for you!
In last week’s post we discussed how to stay curious and why it’s important in leadership to remain curious. Have you brought your inner curious one into meetings? How has it felt different?
Saboteurs are beliefs that live rent-free in our heads and essentially zap our energy (I call mine Flog Me Now). They are coping mechanisms we developed a long time ago to deal with our fears and insecurities. My recommendation is to make your saboteurs colorful characters so you can recognize them when they show up on stage uninvited.
There are ten common categories of saboteurs listed in the book Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine, including but not limited to Controller, Victim, High Achiever, Avoider, and Pleaser. Take his saboteur self-assessment to find out who your very own personal cast of saboteurs are. The key with saboteurs is to have fun with them. The more we dislike them, the more they go underground.
It’s very helpful to develop a counterbalancing cast of character called Allies (mine are my inner Dancing Queen, Juicy and others you’ll meet in the book Wired for Authenticity). I recommend you develop an ally for each of the practices. You may also want to get creative and create allies for other authenticity muscles you want to exercise like characters for Woo Hoo strengths or personal values. These characters are a fun way way to rewire your brain to help you exercise greater authenticity.
Since the mind can generally focus on only one thing at a time, if you don’t want it to focus on saboteurs, give it some allies to focus on.
This Week’s Tool:
Question To Ask Yourself:
- Who are the saboteurs that are getting in the way of my achieving my goals, or living a fulfilling life?
- Who are the allies I want to cultivate in response to my saboteurs?
Practice asking yourself this question a minimum of three times a day and trust the first answer that comes to you:
Who am I being now? (e.g., am I in my authentic self? Which saboteur or ally is present?) Do this without self-judgment. You can even put a reminder on your calendar.
For more on saboteurs, allies and your leadership purpose, read the book.
Get the latest resources for Authenticity@Work (this tab will get updated with all kinds of cool resources). Curious to know more about the book? Read the reviews about Wired for Authenticity here.
