During our coaching sessions at Archetype, we have noticed that many people look for the reasons behind their successes and failures outside themselves. We therefore believe it is important during these trainings to make people aware that they have more control over things than they imagine.
In the 1950s, American psychologist Julian Rotter unveiled the concept of the “Locus of Control” and distinguished between an “internal” locus and an “external” one. People favoring an internal locus attribute major importance to their own behavior and actions in what happens to them, whereas those focused on an external locus tend to explain outcomes by external forces. The principle of Locus of Control is present in our daily lives and at all levels within an organization. Salespeople, for example, have very different opinions when it comes to what they can and cannot influence. A timeless anecdote illustrating the principle is that of a Belgian shoe manufacturer. Thirty years ago, he identified that his local network was saturated. He then sent two salespeople to the African continent to study the market. When the first salesperson returned, his conclusion was clear: “Dramatic. Everyone is barefoot; there’s no commercial opportunity for us there.” A little later, the second salesperson told a different story: “Fantastic! The possibilities for our company are endless; everyone is barefoot.”
How do we proceed?
At Archetype, by promoting awareness, we help people strengthen their internal locus. Self-confidence plays a key role here. The process unfolds in two steps:
Raising Awareness
The first step is to make people aware of their own point of view. If, during training, I ask two salespeople what they think they can control and what they cannot, the answers will be significantly different. Luc will say that 80% of his life is determined by external factors and 20% by internal ones, whereas it can be exactly the opposite for Jean. I was once asked to help an industrial oils salesperson who was convinced that pricing always caused the failure of potential sales. When I accompanied him to the client and the client quickly brought up the price, the salesperson immediately went into negotiation mode. He did not try to open the conversation around the product, the client’s needs, etc. The salesperson did not correctly identify his role in the sales process. An external opinion can help find flaws and make attitudes obvious.
Practice and Ownership
After this awareness process, people can exercise their internal locus. They can first learn to focus on what is within their power. As the Stoic Marcus Aurelius once said: “You must have the courage to change what can be changed, the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two.” We are convinced that people can do much more than they think if they are ready to look inward: Have I done everything I could? How can I do things differently? Before wanting to change others, let us ask ourselves about our own attitude towards them. This is possible through frequent exercises, rituals as reminders, the introduction of visualization, etc. It all comes down to adopting a new attitude, with a strong internal locus, so that it becomes automatic.
During trainings, we systematically encourage people to take a step back on themselves, fight the right battles, and take matters into their own hands. In our philosophy of promoting human capital within organizations, we believe that everyone can do more than they think.
Marc Diamant.
