Encouraging Open-Mindedness

Performance conversations are more than evaluations—they're opportunities to inspire reflection, growth, and clarity. I've been reflecting on how we can approach these moments with greater purpose.   Too often, we dive into discussions focused solely on outcomes or metrics. But what if we paused to look deeper? What if we encouraged employees—and ourselves—to approach these moments from different vantage points: stepping back to observe like a fly on the wall, zooming out to the balcony for perspective, and then engaging with purpose on the dance floor?   This layered approach challenges us to ask meaningful questions: "What patterns am I noticing? How do my efforts align with broader goals? What could I do better?" It’s a mindset shift that transforms performance conversations into opportunities for growth, even when outcomes aren’t ideal. Here are a few practical ways to bring this perspective to life: 1. Start with Observation (Fly on the Wall): Before diving into feedback, encourage employees to reflect on their contributions objectively. Ask questions like " What moments felt like your strongest? What would you approach differently? help set a tone of self-awareness." 2. Zoom Out to the Bigger Picture (Balcony): Help employees see how their work connects to broader team and organizational goals. This shift in perspective ensures the conversation isn’t just about isolated outcomes but about long-term impact and alignment. 3. Engage with Purpose (Dance Floor): End every conversation with actionable steps and encouragement. Even when feedback is tough, leave employees with clarity and optimism. A simple affirmation like "I believe in your ability to grow from this", can turn a challenging moment into a catalyst for improvement. Performance conversations are a dance between reflection and action, but they’re also about perspective—knowing when to step back, when to zoom out, and when to engage fully. When we guide our teams to critique their own contributions—not to judge, but to grow—we unlock their potential and leave them inspired to improve. Would love to hear your perspective.

Let skepticism shape your innovation, not stall you. Most rooms I’m in are brimming with Al-assisted development demos and genuine optimism about how quickly software teams can now move. That energy is real and valuable. AI is no longer just helping developers write a few lines of code faster. It increasingly helps teams refactor across files and repos, produce tests, explain unfamiliar code, and advance work through the SDLC workflows. Yet, I sometimes notice the quiet pauses before the tough questions. People worry about sounding negative, or slowing momentum, or being the only one who is uneasy. Those instincts are not only okay, but they are also just as valuable. The skepticism matters more now, not less, because the question is no longer whether AI can generate code. For me, bringing the hard questions supports progress: • What business or engineering outcome is this improving, beyond developer velocity? • Where can this fail: logic, resiliency, security, privacy, or maintainability? • What is the smallest production-relevant test that proves value? • What review, monitoring, and rollback mechanisms need to exist before we scale it? • How do we preserve human judgment where it matters most? I invite challenges to my ideas because that is how we build better ones. A few principles I’ve found useful, especially in the context of mission-critical platforms: • Challenge constructively. Do not just identify the risk and admire the problem, help design the safer path forward. • Trade “no” with “how.” If this approach is not ready, what is the fastest responsible way to learn? • Pair excitement with evidence. Instrument outcomes, test rigorously, and keep a clean rollback path. • Treat trust as a deliverable. In AI-assisted development, control is not friction. It makes speed sustainable. Our best outcomes happen when excitement fuels ambition while skepticism sharpens it. Because in this new environment, skepticism is not the enemy of innovation but is part of the engineering discipline that keeps innovation real and production worthy.

WHAT'S in your backpack of baggage that stops you from climbing up the career ladder? These are your limiting beliefs ... Most of us rock up to work with a mental backpack filled with invisible baggage. The backpack is filled with limiting beliefs – well-worn but wildly unhelpful thoughts that convince us we are neither capable, qualified nor good enough. The beliefs sound innocent enough – I am not leadership material. I have never been great at presenting. I am too old to learn new tech. I am just not a people person. These are not facts but stories – often outdated – that we continue to tell ourselves as if they have been carved in concrete. In the workplace, these beliefs breed quietly but spread quickly. A colleague declines to speak up in a meeting, convinced their ideas are not worth sharing. An employee knocks back a promotion, certain they are not ready.  A manager refuses to delegate, secretly believing no one else can do the job as well.  E ven seasoned staff can get stuck in the mental mud of “it’s too late to change direction now”. Limiting beliefs are particularly fond of finding comfort in past failures. One botched presentation becomes proof that public speaking is off the table for life. A clunky first go at managing a team cements the belief that leadership is not in the DNA. Add a sprinkle of perfectionism and a dash of imposter syndrome and the mental mix becomes downright paralysing. Left unchecked, they quietly dictate which roles we apply for, meetings we speak in and chances we take. This is why we need to challenge limiting beliefs about ourselves. It starts by catching them in the act. The flicker of hesitation before suggesting an idea? The mental ‘no’ before even considering a new opportunity? That is the belief at work. From there, it is about reframing. Instead of “I’m not ready” try “I’m learning”. Rather than “I’m terrible at networking”, try “I’m improving every time I try”. A small shift in language can lead to a big shift in confidence. Behaviour breeds belief, not the other way around. When limiting beliefs run the show, workplaces shrink. They become places of hesitation rather than action, doubt rather than direction. But when those beliefs are challenged, cracked open and rewritten, something shifts. Confidence grows. Potential emerges. The ceiling lifts. The biggest barriers at work are rarely budgets, restructures or skill shortages. It is the stories people tell themselves – quietly, constantly and usually without question. #management #leadership #HR #work #workplace #aimwa #impostersyndrome #careers Cartoon used licence: CartoonStock

Let’s talk about limiting beliefs. As a coach to ambitious founders, I focus on strategy, leadership, decision-making and execution. But even when a client has raised millions, leads a team, or is building something loved by thousands, limiting beliefs still show up. They appear quietly, unconsciously: - “I’m terrible with numbers.” - “No one wants to hear from me on camera.” - “I’m not ready to charge that much.” - “My co-founder handles sales, I’m not good at it.” These beliefs become the first (and loudest) 'no' in the room, often leading to dangerous indecision. Here's the three-step approach that changes everything: Get Curious You'll feel a limiting belief before you hear it. It's the 'stuckness' that stops you from hitting send on that important email. When you notice it, pause and ask: 'When did I first learn this about myself?' Often it traces back to a specific moment: a teacher's comment, a failed presentation, or even something a parent said about money. Name the origin story. Show Empathy Don't try to rationalize it away ('I'm not 8 years old anymore'). Instead, acknowledge its purpose. For example, if you believe 'I'm not ready to charge that much,' that voice might be protecting you from the same rejection you felt as a child when asking for something and being told no. Thank that protective instinct, it served you once. Integrate This isn't about banishing the belief. Instead, actively call on your other internal voices: 'What would my most confident self say about this price?' 'What would my mentor advise?' 'What does my track record actually show?' Give each voice airtime, then consciously choose which perspective will guide your next action. The goal isn't to silence limiting beliefs, it's to stop letting them lead. Next time you feel that familiar stuckness, try this approach. Limiting beliefs evolve. But when you stop letting them lead, so do you. ✨

Every entrepreneur likes the word innovation. Very few are ready to create the conditions it requires. You cannot ask teams to innovate and at the same time punish every failed experiment. Real innovation needs an environment where people feel safe to try, where well planned failures are treated as data, not as career risk. At Marico, one of my priorities was to build a culture that encouraged experimentation. That meant three things. 1. Recognising and celebrating smart attempts, even when the outcome fell short. 2. Separating failures due to negligence from failures due to genuine risk taking. 3. Protecting people who took thoughtful bets, so that the rest of the organisation saw that it was acceptable. Innovation is a muscle. It grows through use. If your team is afraid, that muscle will weaken. #innovation #culture #risk #success

One of the oddest things we do at MEA is ask people to move their chairs. Every session. No, it's not because we're secretly training everyone for a game of musical chairs. And it's certainly not because we enjoy watching introverts silently panic as they wonder, "Do I really have to meet someone new?" We ask people to move because perspective is a practice. Most of us spend our lives sitting in the same chair. Not literally. Mentally. We inherit a worldview from our parents. We reinforce it through our education. We curate friends who agree with us. We consume media that confirms what we already believe. Before long, we've created the psychological equivalent of a well-worn Lazy Boy recliner. It's comfortable. Familiar. Customized to our body. And it slowly becomes a prison. One of my favorite sayings is: If you always see life from the same chair, don't be surprised when life always looks the same. Moving your chair is one of the simplest—and most profound—acts of reframing. Think about a photographer. The amateur zooms in. The artist walks around. The difference between a snapshot and a masterpiece is often ten feet to the left. The same is true in life. A career setback can look like failure. Until twenty years later when you realize it introduced you to your life's work. A divorce can look like the end of your story. Until it becomes the beginning of your authenticity. A diagnosis can feel like life's cruelest interruption. Until it becomes your greatest teacher (thank you to Cancer School, from which I hope to graduate). The facts haven't changed. The chair has. Neuroscientists tell us that when we consciously reframe an experience, activity in the amygdala—the brain's smoke alarm—decreases while the prefrontal cortex, home to perspective and executive function, becomes more active. In plain English, a wider perspective literally makes it easier to think wisely. My husband Oren arrives today from Tel Aviv where he now lives. We will process the death of our dog Jamie and so much more. When your spouse tells you that they need to live halfway around the world, it’s hard not to take it personally, especially when you’re (I’m) going through so much. Some of what Oren is dealing with is serious generational trauma and a deep desire to be in a safe place with all his friends and family. But, my frame for a marriage is that we are till “death do us part,” which includes dinner nearly every night. I had to change my chair. I also had to realize that I was expecting way too much from my spouse as I have so many friends (including one new deeply-connected soulmate) who are here to support me and Oren has been miraculous in being with me through my radiation, my mom’s memorial, and now here with my dad and the wake of Jamie’s passing. Read more on Substack: https://lnkd.in/gKcTdUif

I was asked recently how my career has led to this… this was my response: #Change is inevitable. #Learning is essential. #Curiosity is the bridge between the two. In every organisation I’ve worked with, the same tension appears: we want progress, but we fear disruption. We want innovation, but we cling to certainty. Yet change and learning are not separate conversations — they are deeply intertwined. Change demands learning. When markets shift, technologies evolve, or cultures transform, the real challenge isn’t the change itself — it’s whether we are willing to learn our way through it. And learning begins with curiosity. Curiosity is the quiet superpower of great leaders and thriving organisations. It’s the willingness to say: • What if we’re wrong? • What might we be missing? • What could this become? Curiosity shifts us from defensiveness to discovery. From control to exploration. From fear to possibility. The organisations that flourish in uncertain times are not the ones with all the answers. They are the ones asking better questions. When we cultivate curiosity: • Change becomes less threatening. • Learning becomes continuous. • Growth becomes cultural. So perhaps the real leadership question isn’t, “How do we manage change?” It’s, “How do we nurture curiosity?” Because when curiosity thrives, learning follows. And when learning becomes habitual, change becomes an opportunity — not a crisis.

You can’t grow as a leader if you’re always fiercely protecting your existing beliefs. As we gain experience and expertise, we become increasingly skilled at finding evidence that confirms what we already "know" to be true. We dismiss or rationalize away anything that challenges our existing perspective. Curiosity is our birthright – every child has it – but we progressively lose it as we begin to protect what we believe keeps us safe, even when it doesn’t serve us very well. The antidote isn't more knowledge—it's cultivating the humility to question your certainties. When you find yourself absolutely convinced that you're right, that’s often a sign that you’re holding on to a belief too tightly.  This is where it pays to pause … relax … and ask yourself “What am I not seeing here?” and “What else might be true?” If you’re not exploring other possibilities, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re falling behind in a world that is constantly changing. What beliefs might you be holding too tightly? It's an inside job.

𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘩𝘰𝘸. 𝗪𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵. A previous coachee (let’s call him Chad) blurted out: “Just tell me what to do.” Sales role. Hungry for results. Wanted the shortcut to build networks & win clients. After sharing my recommendations, it turned out he could do none of those. The reasons: 🌖 I'm an introvert 🌗 I don't have the the time 🌘 I don't like to put myself out there Sound familiar? Many of us crave clear steps, yet skip a crucial phase: self-awareness. It's like we all know how to diet, save money, be more productive – but often, we just don’t do it. Why? Because we’re blind to our own barriers. 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 93% 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 ��𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴. We persist in learning the 'how-to's without addressing the 'why-not's. So instead of focusing on the 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀, let's backtrack to the 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲. We dug deeper with Chad using some of these questions: ✅ Clarity: How important is this to you? Why is it important? How does it affect the bigger scheme of things? What's the cost of not doing it? Think of clarity as your GPS. Without it, it’s too easy to get lost in the noise, in distractions, in the many reasons. ✅ Reality-check: Where are you now vs where you want to be be? How much effort, time, resources will it take to close that gap? It's about being brutally honest with yourself, recognising your starting point, & mapping out the journey with precision. ✅ Awareness: What's holding you back from getting started? Are there blindspots which are your road blocks? Would there be any unhelpful mindsets in the way? Often, it’s the things we don’t see that trip us up. The unconscious biases & unexamined habits that hinder our progress. Recognising these can be transformative. An hour into this conversation, Chad said "Now I know what to do" Here’s the scoop: Learning how to do something is straightforward. The challenge is overcoming why we don’t. So let's start the journey from the inside out rather than forcing ourselves to swallow a 'to do' list from the outside in. After all, it's not just about creating a mountain of tasks but about moving the boulders blocking your path. 🤔 What's something you really want to do but haven't been able to start? 🧐 What’s a barrier you are finally ready to call out? #EmotionalIntelligence #Resilience #EQForInfluence #EQMaven #Speaker

Still running procurement like a monologue? It is time for a chorus. 86% of procurement leaders say innovation is critical. 64% admit their teams lack diverse perspectives to drive it! Procurement Excellence | 29 SEP 2025 - Diversity of thought in procurement refers to actively seeking out a wide range of perspectives, mindsets and ideas to improve decision-making, innovation for better procurement outcomes. Diverse thought isn’t a "nice-to-have" it is ROI. Organizations with inclusive teams are: ✅️1.7x more innovative. ✅️ Achieve 2.3x higher cash flow per employee ✅️ Resilient against disruptions Here’s how to break the cycle: #1. Supplier Diversity Programs ↳Engage minority, disability or women owned & SME business. #2. Inclusive Work Environment ↳Cultivate culture where every voice is heard & valued. #3. Diverse Hiring and Development ↳ Prioritize talent from different backgrounds & skillsets. 4. Training & Awareness ↳Educate teams on unconscious bias & cognitive diversity. Procurement teams that think alike, miss alike! What Next? ✅ Audit supplier base for diverse voices. ✅ Rethink hiring - who’s NOT in your team. ✅ Train leaders to harness NOT surpress cognitive diversity. How is your organization leveraging diversity in procurement? #Procurement #SupplierDiversity #Innovation Source: Deloitte