Posts Tagged ‘Leadership and Self-Deception’
Is self-deception holding you back at work? If you constantly come out ahead when you compare yourself to colleagues, you may be fooling yourself, and dragging down productivity.
A new, expanded version of Leadership and Self Deception (Berrett-Koehler, 2010), a Business Week bestseller in its initial run, can help. The secret? Learn to tune into and follow your first, best instincts.
Here’s how the destructive cycle of deception works, according to the authors at the Arbinger Institute, a Utah-based consulting firm. Let’s say a colleague needs something — information, advice or just a helping hand. Our first instinct when detecting a need is to fill it. But frequently we betray that initial response in favor of focusing on our own needs. We then inflate our own goodness. “I’m so busy I don’t have time to help him.” “I’m way more skilled than she is.” And we exaggerate the other person’s flaws. “He’s so incompetent.”
The problem grows when we continue to regard those we shaft as problems in order to justify our distortions. The resulting downward spiral of self-deception focuses our attention on our own exaggerated accomplishments and curtails our ability to work well with others.
Do you recognize someone? To break out of this self-created box, try to view colleagues as human beings with needs just like your own rather than as objects that may or may not serve your purposes. The result: a more realistic view of yourself and a renewed focus on organizational goals. And the boss just might notice your stronger performance.
The book is popular among corporate executives who believe it can spur productivity. The new edition claims that some managers assign the book to job applicants and make hiring decisions based on the quality of the discussions that follow. Whether you need a job or already have one, get ahead of the curve, and assign this book to yourself.
This post first appeared as a “Quick Study” column (1/12) in JobWeek, syndicated by Content That Works.
It can also be found at philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s website.
