No doubt you’ve heard the voices in your head. One sounds like the voice of a seven year old with all the fears, doubts, and impulsiveness inherent in a seven year old. One sounds like the voice of a mother – telling you what you can and can’t do with your capabilities and lack thereof.
This poster reminds us that when the leader needs to do an adult job, s/he better leave his/her mother and their child out of it. The adult component inside the leader had better go have the difficult conversation (the child will be too scared); the adult component inside the leader had better go and visit with the CEO (the mother won’t believe the leader’s worthy of the CEO’s time); and the adult component inside the leader had better be the messenger of the bad news (since neither the mother nor child wants to be anywhere near such a potentially explosive situation).
Metaphorically . . . just leave them both in the car so one can watch over the other. They’ll only get in the way of the leader being as courageous and confident as s/he needs to be.
See the posters Transactional Analysis and Intimidation for more details on these inside self-limiting voices.
Categories: Initiative, Negotiating
Magic Club Leadership Resources 