Leaders are expected to live in the real world, to make decisions based on evidence and where necessary, seriously weigh the counsel of experience. Effective leaders know how to read people and when they are being sold a bill of goods. Such street-smarts are indispensable in a world filled with hype, exaggerated claims and outright lies. These skills are not taught in any university but we do learn them by experience (also called mistakes).

An unlikely source of noise, not just signal, turns out to be what is within ourselves. An article in the Guardian warns us that intelligent people are more likely to believe spurious news. A significant reason for this is “motivated reasoning”, a form of cognitive bias that tells us to ignore facts when they don’t support our worldview. Such conditioning of the mind can make us fool ourselves into letting go of good opportunities and justifying our extended stay in our comfort zone.

A few questions for you: what stories have you told yourself about yourself and the world around you that prevent you from moving, that are hurting you? In other words, how are you fooling yourself? And what can you do about it?