690: How to Shift Behavior for Better Results, with Mitch Warner

Mitch Warner: Leadership and Self-Deception

Mitch Warner is a managing partner of the Arbinger Institute. The Institute has authored three best-selling books and helps leaders transform their organizations by enabling the fundamental shift in mindset that leads to exceptional results. Now in its fourth edition, Leadership and Self-Deception: The Secret to Transforming Relationships & Unleashing Results*, is today one of the top fifty best-selling leadership books of all time.

Shifting behavior in a sustainable way requires us to change our mindset. In this conversation, Mitch and I explore how self-deception gets in our way and how we can take the first step by seeing others as people.

Key Points

• In many cases, we are the carriers of the very problems we are complaining about. We often resist this reality.
• We often assume we aren’t the cause of problems because of our good intentions.
• Mindset drives our behaviors and the effectiveness and influence of those behaviors.
• Seeing someone as less than a person causes us to see the world in a way that justifies our judgement.
• Too often, conflicts manifest as people provoking another’s behavior in order to justify themselves.
• Our own justification is an indicator that we may be wrong to begin with.
• Viewing others as either better or worse than ourselves creates justification that prevents awareness and change.
• Get outside of yourself by meeting to learn about them. If the relationship has been strained, consider meeting to give.

Resources Mentioned

• Leadership and Self-Deception: The Secret to Transforming Relationships & Unleashing Results* by The Arbinger Institute
• The Arbinger Institute

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• How to Compare Yourself to Others, with Mollie West Duffy (episode 582)
• Help Your Team Embrace Growth Mindset, with Eduardo Briceño (episode 644)
• The Way to Handle Oblivious Leadership, with Robert Sutton (episode 667)

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