When you are in denial, the problem will either not appear on your radar screen or it will appear as the fault of others or circumstances. With this limited view, you lose the ability to act, and you are left only with the ability to react. Denial not only impacts decision making, it slows the organization to a snail’s pace. But when you acknowledge that there is a problem and you are part of the problem, you can take action.
If there is a gap between what you have and what you want, you can do something about it—that is, if you are willing to take accountability and change your behavior.
If you have a voice inside your head saying, “I like myself just the way I am and I’m not changing,” tell it to pipe down. Your internal voice— the one that argues, defends, and justifies—keeps you stuck playing small. That’s what your automatic behaviors are designed to do. But you have a choice: commit to playing big or remain stuck in old behaviors that hold you back.
To be a great leader, your attention must shift to your locus of control—what you can do to powerfully influence change, how you can make significant choices, and how you can take decisive action.