Leaders, managers, and mentors are charged with getting people to stretch their limits. However, no matter how brilliant we might be, people don’t like their brains being bent out of shape. You have to, instead, help them discover what blind spots, gaps in logic, and sources of resistance are holding them back.
But helping others to see their blind spots isn’t always fun. You have to be willing to challenge how a person thinks. You have to break through their wall of resistance to expand their perspective. You have break down their sense of “already knowing” so that they are unsure of their thoughts before they can accept what else would be true and possible.
Marcia Reynolds is the author of The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations Into Breakthroughs.
Marcia Reynolds: The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations Into Breakthroughs
