Quite simply, cognitive dissonance works both for and against our success. When we choose what we to do we are committed. When we do what we HAVE to do we are compliant.
Cognitive Dissonance And Success
One of the key mindset differences of people who are truly successful and those who aren’t is that they believe they are choosing to do what they do. So, this tends to mean they have a high level of determination to complete and finish.
In fact, successful people consider themselves to be outside of the control of external forces, the most obvious one being a salary payment. Actually, we’ve all encountered people who work in a certain job because the pay is good rather than because they’re passionate about the role. Moreover, it shows doesn’t it, either through demeanour or output? I’ve even been there myself once.
In fact, I might even go so far as to suggest that successful people find it extremely uncomfortable to be controlled or manipulated by anyone or anything. They believe that through sheer force of talent, personality, or knowledge they manoeuvre pretty much any situation in the direction they want. They believe in the impact of their actions on the outcome. Where others see threats they see opportunities and they have no fear of ambiguity or uncertainty. Successful people always believe there is a link between their input and their current stage of advancement – even when there isn’t! Some may call this delusional, others, empowering.
Success Is A Choice
Truly, being successful is a choice. In fact, success requires commitment and determination. There’s no luck involved and no room for a ‘lottery mentality’. More importantly, once you make that choice your mindset correlates directly with achievement.
So, where’s the catch? Specifically, the more that we believe we have chosen to succeed, the less we believe there is a need to change. So, if you’ve achieve success by behaving in a certain way, then it would be natural to form the belief that “I am successful because I behave this way.” This mindset results in a resistance to changing that behaviour.
The Leadership Ladder Tests Your Mindset
Realistically, the higher up the ladder you go, whether in a corporate organisation or your own business, increases the problems you encounter are as a result of your own behaviour.
Specifically, the skills that got you onto the career ladder in the first place are no longer relevant. That is to say, they’ve become second nature and grown organically through experience into an inherent part of your being. Therefore, you’ll never really find a CFO having a challenge with a profit and loss account. In fact, the challenges he or she may experience at the top of the tree will be far more subtle, and generally behaviour-related.
Real Life Examples
For example, a manager may prefer to sit in an office and closely monitor their figures in silence. Perhaps he or she may feel that others can’t deliver to their standards and add too much input during their team meetings. Actually, he or she will respond to an idea from a team member with “that’s a good idea BUT ….”. Conversely, the team might think the manager is too rigid or risk-averse.
What’s more, he or she may have no idea what other people think about them and find it confusing when they lose team members, gain negative feedback or emotional responses when they’re doing (on paper) a fantastic job.
Cognitive Behaviour Working In The Negative
This is where the challenge of cognitive dissonance comes into play. Actually, the more we are committed to believing something is true, the less likely we are to accept that the opposite is or could be true. Moreover, we defend that idea even when we are faced with undeniable evidence, e.g. feedback from others.
What’s more, our reality, i.e. what we choose to notice in our surroundings as absolutely true, is driven by our beliefs. Let me give you an example.
Cognitive Dissonance In Focus
For example, if you believe that someone in your team, let’s call him John, is incompetent, you will filter your perception of John’s actions through that belief. So, you’ll be choosing to gather an ever-increasing bank of evidence that John is incompetent. You’ll filter out the times when John delivers everything that you ask him to, in the precise way you ask him to.
Realistically, if John delivers perfectly, and someone highlights this excellent result, you’ll consider it a one-off. In fact, depending on your “convincer strategy”, it may take years of error-free work for John to convince you he’s actually doing his job well, to change your perception of him.
The example above is one of the most researched principles in psychology. Actually, we all CREATE our perceptions based on the conscious and, often, unconscious beliefs we hold inside. Therefore, if John delivers his work in a competent fashion 9 out of 10 times, imagine how John feels when he talks to his manager. So, if you’re managing a “John” perhaps you might reconsider your perceptions!
What Is Cognitive Dissonance?
The term cognitive dissonance describes the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. Hence, when a discrepancy exists between beliefs and behaviours, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.
In fact, the most famous case in the early study of cognitive dissonance was described by Leon Festinger and co-authors of the book “When Prophecy Fails”.
The authors infiltrated a religious group that was expecting the imminent end of the world on a specific date. When that date passed without incident, the group altered their belief structure.
Actually, they chose to believe they were spared so that they could spread their teachings to others. In fact, this resolved the conflict between their previous expectations and reality.
How Do We Make Change?
Generally, in order to release the conflicts involved in cognitive dissonance we do one of the following:
- Change our behaviour.
- Justify our behaviour by changing the conflicting cognition.
- Explain our behaviour by adding new cognitions.
Cognitive Dissonance And Success
Cognitive dissonance is one of the main factors in staying power. That is to say, cognitive dissonance drives motivation when times get tough.
Frequently, we are so committed to their beliefs and goals, we see the world through “rose-tinted spectacles”. This state of mind is the driving force behind many successful business ventures.
Naturally, there’s a flip side to the coin where sometimes a change, of course, is required if the feedback demonstrates an undeniable truth that is being ignored!
Coaching And Training To Manage Cognitive Dissonance
Coaching and Leadership Skills training allow us to relax our model of the world and manage our own cognitive dissonance. Specifically, coaching and training supports us in finding new ways to mirror back our perception of the world.
Moreover, a mindset shift expands our view and allows us to see things from a broader perspective. In addition, coaching and training helps us manage some of our more subtle performance issues when we’re at the top of the ladder.
Therefore, managing our cognitivate dissonance and success are closely related. What do you think?
Find Out More About Working With Me
To find out more about coaching with me, or if you’d like to arrange a call to see if we’re a good fit for one another, please send me an email to sarah@sarahmerron.com.
You can book coaching online here.
Find out about NLP Training here.
If you’re interested in group training and coaching, you can check out my Farcical Life Programmes here.
