Why do we do things we logically know we shouldn’t?

Take micro-managing as an example…Spend 5 mins on LinkedIn and you will find a post on leadership with this right at the top of the list of things managers shouldn’t do.

But they often still micro-manage. Why?

In many cases, it is because on some level – often an unconscious one – they BELIEVE it is the right thing to do in that moment.

👉 They may believe that the task is so important, they are the only one that can do it properly.
👉 Or they may believe the person who should be doing the task isn’t experienced enough.
👉 Or they may believe they need to show their worth by doing tasks.

If a leader acts on beliefs like these, it may result in a successfully completed task but it can also have negative consequences for motivation and performance within the team.

The key to preventing people acting on unhelpful beliefs is to enable them to:

✅ Identify the beliefs that sit behind their actions.
✅ Understand why they believe what they believe.
✅ Consider the potential consequences of acting on these beliefs – both positive and negative.
✅ Make conscious choices – based on this analysis – about what to do next.

This way, decisions on how to best move forward will be based on conscious choices rather than on emotion and unhelpful beliefs that can potentially take us off course.