Leaders Benefit from Being Challenged

By MICHAEL TOEBE FOR COMMUNICATION INTELLIGENCE SUBSTACK

Published: May 01, 2025

Smith Shares an Example

“We tend to seek out information that reinforces existing core beliefs. If I have a core belief of ‘I'm not good enough,’ then I am constantly looking for evidence to suggest this is true and disregarding evidence that says this may be untrue,” Michelle says,

“When we have a relationship with someone who is a physical reminder of direct evidence that something difficult or challenging can be done, it signals to our subconscious that 'hey, there may be a different way of operating here' in a gentle manner that can encourage positive change.”

Smith asserts that the opportunity to do this is too big to bypass.

“We want to utilize these people in our lives. as evidence that we can do and achieve much more than maybe what our brains say everyday,” she stresses.

“A typical human has over 70 thousand thoughts a day: that is a lot of thinking. Not every thought is valuable, meaningful or even something that holds value whatsoever.

“Being able to discern our thoughts and acknowledge them but also move forward if a thought is unhelpful and not aligned with the new beliefs we are working to form is incredibly helpful.”

Read more at https://communicationintelligence.substack.com/p/leaders-benefit-from-being-challenged?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true