🔥 5 Minutes of Leadership Fuel
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🫶 A Dose of Inspiration
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
— Henry David Thoreau
What we look at is often the same. What we see is shaped largely by what we believe.
Your belief system doesn’t just chart your future; it charts the future of everyone you influence. As a leader, what you believe to be true ripples outward… amplifying or limiting the people you serve.
Having a belief doesn’t guarantee a certain outcome, but it certainly propels the probability of what’s to come.
đź“Ą Download the quote graphic to use in your next staff email or meeting.
🤓 A Dose of Learning
​What if the greatest predictor of your future isn’t your talent, your resources, or even your circumstances… but the beliefs you hold right now?
That’s the central argument in Shawn Achor’s new book The Power of Beliefs, and the research behind it is both fascinating and hard to ignore.
Achor has spent two decades studying human performance across 50 countries, with NASA, the NFL, and over a third of the Fortune 500. His finding? Beliefs don’t just shape how we see the world. They actively bend what’s possible in it.
Here’s why that matters for leaders.
Our brains are predictive organs. If your brain doesn’t believe there are possibilities for growth or change in the world around you, it won’t even scan for them. And what it doesn’t scan for, it deletes… meaning opportunities that are right in front of you become literally invisible.
The beliefs we hold about ourselves, our teams, and what’s possible are quietly running the show.
🔑 Achor identifies 7 Core Beliefs most predictive of success and flourishing:
- My behavior matters
- I matter
- I am not alone
- This work is meaningful
- I have things to be grateful for right now
- I have something to give
- There is something greater than me
Consider this: In one study, students with ADHD were tracked with one variable deliberately tweaked – whether they believed “my behavior matters even though I have ADHD” or “my behavior doesn’t matter because I have ADHD.” That single belief was highly predictive of what happened next for them in school. Same circumstances. Different belief. Different outcome.
The hill study out of the University of Virginia might be even more striking. When people were asked to estimate the steepness of a hill they were about to climb, they rated it 15% steeper when they believed they’d be climbing alone versus when they knew they’d have a partner beside them. Connection literally changes how hard the road ahead looks.
The leadership implication is direct: Achor is clear that leaders have a responsibility first to nurture these 7 beliefs in themselves, and second to actively support them in the people they lead. The beliefs your team holds about whether they matter, whether their work is meaningful, and whether they’re in community are shaping performance right now, whether you’re tending to them intentionally or not.
As Achor puts it, when he’s not feeling good about something, he stops and asks: are my beliefs opening up possibilities or shrinking them? Then he actively pursues the beliefs that will expand him.
That’s the practice. And it starts with us.
🎧 Listen to Lead from the Heart: Shawn Achor: The Power of Belief and the Hidden Architecture of Human PerformanceÂ
🌀 A Dose of Reflection
Achor reminds us that examining our beliefs isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing practice that takes deep examination. This week, try it in two directions.
For yourself: What belief are you currently leading from… and is it opening up possibilities or quietly shrinking them?
For your team: Look back at Achor’s 7 Core Beliefs. Which ones are you actively nurturing in the people you lead… and which ones might be going untended?
You got this. Let’s lead with belief.
In your corner,
​Melody​
​Founder, Culture of Belief
PS: One of life’s greatest mysteries… 🪰🤣
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