The Power of Reframing

So often, how we feel comes back to how we think

Mostly subconsciously, we have negative thoughts that then shape how we feel and how we go on to act as a result.

For Executives, Directors and senior business leaders under pressure these thoughts manifest as cognitive bias or distortions such as overestimating threat, underestimating abilities to deal with situations and catastrophic thinking. This can lead to indecision, micromanagement and an inability to innovate (Witte, & Allen, 2000; Fredrickson & Losada, 2005; Barling & Cloutier, 2017).

However, research also shows that those leaders who choose to take perceived ‘threats’ and see them as challenges, handle situations to much better effect. By simply and mindfully changing how we see the situation and challenging ourselves to look at things another way, the outcomes can be transformational.

Reframing as a challenge, leaders tend to be more proactive, open minded, gain buy-in from being comfortable showing vulnerability to others, are more outcome focused and overall gain greater endorsement from teams.

Without surprise, this leads to better employee engagement, productivity and enhanced business performance. So next time there is a ‘threat’ ask yourself ‘is this a threat or a challenge?’ and then what can you control to overcome or influence this challenge.