Question

Answer the following questions given what you learned from reading Leadership and Self-Deception. In order to earn full credit, weave in experiences from your life to illustrate your understanding of concepts learned.

What does self-betrayal mean and how does it lead to self-deception? What does it mean to be "in the box"?

Answer 1

Self Deception:- A practice or an action of denying relevance and importance of logical facts and opposing evidence.

My Experience:-

A few years back I had applied for a job in a company which was there on my radar for a couple of years. I was fascinated the kind of people who were working there and was willing to work in that company at any job. On the day of the interview, my job role was explained and it was an on-ground sales job. I had a good experience in digital marketing because of the internships I did during college but I never felt comfortable doing sales. When I was offered the role, I refused to listen to my gut and convinced myself that sales can be a good learning process. The logical step would be to do something I’m passionate about or something else that I enjoy doing but this thought was overshadowed by my desire to work for that company at any cost.

The next couple of months were stressful and I hated every minute of it because I was behaving how everyone else wanted me to behave, was listening to what they had to say without following my own intuition and taking the initiative.

I knew I have to request a change in my job role before things become worse. I finally took the initiative and explained to my CEO what exactly my strengths are and how I can contribute to the organization in a different way. It worked out well for me in the end when my job role changed and I started enjoying my work which was missing for a couple of months. I learned how to prioritize myself when it comes to important life decisions and to be myself without the fear of being judged by people at the workplace and in my personal life.

Self-Betrayal:- Self-betrayal can be defined as fearing the disapproval of others like society, family, friends, and colleagues and behaving without one’s instincts and intuitions. The actions are performed with a fear of getting rejected and being alone.

Self-betrayal leads to self-deception because we convince ourselves to believe in something which others think is the right thing for you. Self-betrayal bring a different person out of you who willing to deceive self to please people around you. The action is taken based on other people’s expectation and one’s desire to get their approval.

In the box:- Its mean thinking in a traditional fashion, confined by rules, with a limited scope of expansions and following the old practice. It’s a safe play to protect one’s self from any risks. In this case, creativity also has a limited scope. Specific hard parameters are laid down and cannot be changed under any circumstances.