😐 Your Inner Conflicts

Chances are you know the psychological concept of “inner conflicts”. These are conflicts within each of us that prevent us from achieving more than we actually do, which do not let us start even great initiatives, and which make us avoid actions that contradict our goals. 

Inner conflicts are the reason why so many people do not do more exercises, even if they know it would be good for them. They also let us get stuck in our career because even if we know what it takes to gain more influence and progress on the career ladder, we hesitate to act accordingly.

Our inner conflicts hold us back. 

I cannot go into too much detail here in this short memo, but inner conflicts stem from the deeply rooted belief system that we all carry with us from early childhood (and which can be changed, but only with willpower and effort – and most of the time only with a professional coach). These beliefs often conflict with our actual goals. Example: Many want to become a millionaire, but do not want to deal with “these rich people”. 

Here comes the twist concerning your business or your leadership role: Each organization and each team also has these inner conflicts, as if different forces pull in different directions.

And much like the conflicts within us individuals, also these “corporate inner conflicts” occur on a subconscious level. Most leaders (like most individuals) are never aware of them, and wonder on the other hand why they have to try so hard to move the organization in the right direction. 

The key question is this: How to overcome these “corporate inner conflicts” and move toward success much faster, like releasing the brakes in a car?

Here are three proven recipes: 

1. Identify the common beliefs of your people.
   What stories do they connect to single events? For instance, do they connect joy and appreciation to a customer call, or rather fear and interruption? Do they connect worries to increasing revenue goals, or do people see more revenue as a chance to obtain more freedom? Whatever these stories are, people will act congruently to them.
   
   
2. Ask your people for each disadvantageous belief:
   “Is this the ONLY story we can attach to it?” And: “What better story can we connect to this event?” A famous example is the negative story that sales people attach to cold calling, such as: “The person on the other end will not buy from us anyway, so I do not even need to make the call.” You can replace it with the story: “Every tenth customer will probably buy, so I need to make 9 calls to get one sale. Hence, let’s get on the phone and make these 9 calls.” The result of this changed story is increased sales.
   
   
3. As a leader, provide certainty.
   Make it clear that they are not alone when marching towards the new audacious goals. Demonstrate in person that there is another interpretation of the way forward, a more positive one. As long as you stay authentic, this is a very powerful technique.

These three ideas will not only reduce inner conflicts, but will raise the performance of your team and your organization sustainably.

Next steps:

When you're ready, check out my ➔ coaching programs and set up ➔ a 15min appointment here to get to know each other.