My Experience
"One of the worst things you can do for your hands is wash them with hot water."
My nail technician, Chris, said it with complete confidence.
I looked at him, slightly confused.
That can't be right, I thought.
I'd always believed hot water was better for my skin because it opened the pores and cleaned more deeply.
Curious, but still skeptical, I looked it up when I got home.
Chris was right.
Hot water strips away the skin's natural oils and can leave it drier.
He suggested washing my hands and face with cooler water instead.
Maybe you already knew that.
But that's not really the point.
The point is this:
It took me so long to discover that something I had believed for decades simply wasn't true.
Now I find myself wondering:
What else have I been assuming is true that may no longer be serving me?
Leadership Reflection
As leaders, we all carry assumptions.
Some were once true.
Some were only partially true.
Some may never have been true at all.
Over time, our assumptions quietly become beliefs. And those beliefs begin to shape how we see people, make decisions, solve problems, and lead.
Leadership teams develop assumptions too. Over time, those assumptions become part of the team's culture, so familiar that no one thinks to question them anymore.
Our minds naturally look for evidence that confirms what we already believe. We notice what supports our assumptions and often overlook what challenges them.
Sometimes that's called confirmation bias.
Sometimes it shows up as negativity bias, overconfidence, halo effect, or groupthink.
Whatever the label, the result is often the same:
We stop questioning what we've come to accept as "true."
Invitation
What assumption might deserve another look?
Perhaps an assumption about yourself.
About someone on your team.
Or perhaps a shared assumption your leadership team has quietly accepted as "the way things are."
Sometimes growth doesn't begin by finding a better answer.
It begins by asking a better question.
Leadership grows when we have the courage to question what we quietly assume is true.
