The most important stories we tell are those that we tell to ourselves and about ourselves. The collection of these stories then become our operating system.
The operating system of a computer or our mobile phone puts the limitations that all the other applications or programs that we run on that computer need to follow and adhere to.
Similarly, our stories create the limitations under which we end up operating. It doesn’t matter what these stories are. They create the boundary conditions under which we end up operating.
So, we need to constantly relook at the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and broaden the horizons on a continuous basis. This is part of our self awareness exercise. It is important that we do this as an individual.
However, it becomes an imperative if we are a leader that we do this on a regular basis because it now becomes the operating system for our entire team and not just ourselves.
The second most important kind of stories that we tell are those that we tell the people we lead (or our children) about what we think they can do or not do. It is known to good leaders that people rise up to fall to the expectations that their leaders place on them.
So, it is our responsibility as leaders, to look at the people we lead and see the potential in them and expect more than they can think they are capable of and provide all the support (resources, training, inspiration and expectations) for them to meet and exceed the expectations we place in them.
Trust them to be more, do more and raise the bar regularly. I have seen people surprise their leaders, once they trust that their leaders believe in their potential and abilities and have high expectations from them.
