Limitation in leadership and management is the main obstacle in people management. It will slow or even stop the progress towards an organisation’s objectives. This barrier is not always from external factors like economic status, country legislations or political situations, or internal factors like the organisation’s talent management, management structure or budget. It is something inside us, it is a self-created thought that reduces the power of determination and seeing possible opportunities.
Suppose you have been distancing yourself from a certain member of a nationality for a not-so-good experience, your mind will be imprisoned by an incorrect belief and will affect your perception negatively of the other employees belonging to the same nationality. You may have a prejudice that they aren’t professional or that you simply cannot work with them, but after some time this perception will convert to action in how you treat others. It’s what causes them to respond to you in a manner that is different from what you would like them to and will create series of action and reaction in the workplace that slows the progress toward an organisation’s objectives.
The mental limits are the root cause of failure in people management. It is a self-limiting thought or series of thoughts that we continuously created by subconsciously translating it into our actions. To correct this thinking pattern, you need to take the time to meet with yourself and go behind your thoughts, review your perceptions, how you receive and perceive people’s behaviour with your team. You must lead without limits.
— The reader is a Bahraini human resource development lecturer and writer based in Manama, Bahrain.
