You know so much, yet sometimes you forget.

Focus on your parents. Are they just like each other? How about your brothers and sisters? Are they just like you? Get your two best friends in your mind’s eye. Are they just alike? How about the last two people you worked for? Are they the same? How about your two best performing employees? Do you see them as just alike?

Yet when it comes to leading, does the fact that everybody is different slip your mind?

Forgetting something you know so well boils down to some overriding beliefs. This is the problem.

Here’s what leaders are saying.

I should be able to lead in a way that is natural to me, not the way someone else wants me to lead.

Or I want to be flexible in the way I lead, but it’s not easy to do.

Or I don’t have the time to adapt my leadership style to all the people I lead.

Or it takes too much effort to vary my leadership style.

Or why can’t the people I lead adjust to me?

All of these are beliefs that stand in the way of leadership effectiveness.

They are barriers to being the kind of leader you picture yourself as being.

They are roadblocks to getting a handle on how to motivate employees, seeing ways to strengthen employee job satisfaction, and imagining employee performance improvement, just to call out a few.

The solution is to step back and look at your beliefs. You will change as a leader if . . .  you will do this.

Can you feel where you have planted your feet? Which of these beliefs hold you in their grasp?

Let’s say you choose to hang onto these beliefs. Can you imagine what you will see happening to you as a leader, what you will hear people saying about you, and how will you feel about yourself as a leader?

Maybe you will just put those beliefs behind you. Can you get a clear picture of the kind of leader you can become? And what will you see and hear and feel . . . then?

Becoming the kind of leader you want to be is all about wanting it. How much do you want it? How motivated are you?

What will you say? Yes or no?

This is an urgent matter. It is not about staying where you are. It is about where you can be as a leader.

Tackle your beliefs. You will become a different leader. And reap the benefits. Leading will be easier, results will get better, and you’ll be much happier and successful.