How Leadership Myths Hold Us Back
Leadership myths abound, and they hold us back.
Myth: You have to have a certain title, scope of responsibilities, education, connection, and/or style, to be a leader.
Myth: You have to be charismatic and confident to be a leader.
Myth: You have to know all the answers when you are leading others.
….and there are likely many others.
Our most recent Untapped Leadership Newsletter was authored by Untapped Leaders Facilitator and Leadership Coach, Anthony Lê. (You can learn about all of our facilitators here.)
Anthony recently led a session dispelling the Model Minority Myth for AAPI members of the Untapped Leaders Community and their allies. It sparked discussion on the many ways myths are projected onto us and the ways we project myths onto others.
In that newsletter, Anthony asked:
What is a belief or assumption that someone has projected onto you? How has that benefited or harmed you?
What is a belief or assumption that you have projected onto someone else? How has that benefited or harmed them (and you)?
What beliefs do you need to disrupt? What beliefs do you want to maintain? How can you do so? How might that impact your vision of what is possible for your leadership?
These questions bring into frame the many ways we all may be holding onto myths about what leadership looks and sounds like, even if those beliefs hold us and others back.
So how can we dispel leadership myths?
First, Name What They Are. What are beliefs that you hold about leadership? What do you consider to be true when it comes to how leaders act? Taking a moment to explore your own definitions of leadership is a helpful starting point to suss out any myths that may be in the mix. It is not to say that everything that comes up for you is a myth–it’s likely not–but naming those beliefs outright helps us to understand what is informing our definitions.
Second, Identify your Sources. We often don’t investigate the source of our beliefs and assumptions deeply enough. They all stem from somewhere, but where? Some aspects of how we define leadership or believe leaders should behave are actually deeply rooted in definitions that stem from eras of exclusion, where dominant groups (usually white and male) determined what leadership looks and sounds like.
As you consider your sources, ask yourself, “Do I believe this because I have experienced it? Or do I believe it because it is something I’ve been told?” Combing through your beliefs with this precision helps to explore some of the myths we may be holding onto, and shouldn’t.
Third, Keep What Resonates and Discard the Rest. If we’re talking about dispelling myths and disrupting unhelpful leadership narratives, then we are likely doing a lot of unlearning. Unlearning is not easy. We revert back to how we’ve wired our thoughts and beliefs, maybe even only seeing the “data” in the world that aligns with those thoughts.
Unlearning leadership myths will require a relentless and consistent cognizance of the ways in which those myths re-emerge and inform our beliefs about ourselves and others.
What are the stories that you tell yourself about your leadership ability and potential, and where did those stories come from?
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