We all like to believe our thoughts are rational and balanced. That we see things as they are. In reality, our thoughts are often skewed by quiet distortions like biases, assumptions, and mental shortcuts that shape our perceptions, reactions, and beliefs.
In his book Factfulness, Swedish physician Hans Rosling shows how our appetite for drama is tangled up with our desire to hold fact-based worldviews. He exhibits how bad news clouds the good, how we exaggerate risk, how we divide people into us and them, and how we mistake feelings for facts.
Inner Leadership coach Patrick Parker identifies 15 of these distortions in his book Mindfulness: The Foundation of Inner Leadership and labels them thought myths. He emphasises that these thoughts don’t just skew our worldview – they affect how we lead too.
Here’s how some of these thought myths could influence your leadership in meetings, feedback sessions and decision-making:
Overgeneralisation
“This project went off track, I can’t trust this team with anything big again”
One missed deadline leads to a blanket conclusion about competence or reliability.
Being Right
“I know this is the best approach – I just need to convince everyone else”
Not listening, defending the idea at all costs, and missing potentially better alternatives.
Control Fallacy
“If I don’t personally manage every detail, this project will fall apart”
Resisting delegation, micromanaging people and exhausting yourself, just because of a need to control and be the saviour.
Mind Reading
“My team must think I’m doing a terrible job — no one’s given positive feedback in weeks”
Assuming others are judging negatively, but you haven’t actually asked anyone. Silence doesn’t equal criticism.
Blaming
“The strategy failed because that one department or person didn’t deliver”
Shifting responsibility to others without reflecting on your own part in the outcome – this impacts your ability to find solutions and inspire change.
These myths don’t just affect your short-term mood. They quietly solidify and become beliefs about ourselves and others. When this happens, you can lose perspective as a leader. You start acting on false assumptions, making reactive decisions, and generally become less curious and more rigid.
The good news? These patterns can be disrupted. Mindfulness isn’t just about staying calm all the time – it’s about seeing clearly. The real work is learning to catch yourself in the moment, notice the thought, and question it: Is this thought useful? Is it true? Is it the full picture?
It’s nothing flashy, but it’s the foundation of clear-headed, grounded leadership. When you can spot these thought myths in the moment, you create space to choose a better response and thus become a more responsible leader.
For a deeper dive on techniques to lead mindfully, click here to read Patrick Parker’s book.
