The Hidden Beliefs That Could Sabotage Your Career
And How to Fix Them
Core beliefs represent what’s important to us and how we interpret the world. They drive the decisions we make.
For most of my career, as an example, I’ve almost always assumed the worst-case scenario when it came to office politics. My boss at my prior employer used to say that I heard “high frequencies.” You know how dogs can hear sounds that humans cannot? He thought I was too sensitive to the political noise that most people don’t even perceive.
“Well, it’s not paranoia if they’re really after you,” I would joke.
Over the last few years, however, I’ve learned to assume good intentions, which is a better core belief. He wasn’t a trained psychologist, but my old boss helped me identify an unhelpful core belief. I’m grateful for that. He gave me an opportunity to improve. I’ve built a thicker skin, and my peer relationships are now built on a default position of trust.
My point is that you can work on your core beliefs without going to therapy (not that there’s anything wrong with going to therapy). So, give it a try! If you’re brave, ask people close to you to help. Or, next time you get a performance review, look at the process through a new lens—look for what might help you pinpoint your core beliefs.
Using Core Beliefs to Set Goals and Cultural Norms for Your Team
Now, core beliefs don’t always have to be something to overcome. Companies, like individuals, have their own core beliefs—I call those organizational core beliefs. Some of them are useful, others perhaps counterproductive. And in a lot of cases, you can trace them to the company’s childhood, i.e., to its founder(s).
Think of how organizations define their mission statement. Or how most companies internally publish “we believe” lists to outline cultural norms.
Here’s a list of my favorite “we believe” business principles:
Excellence: The heart of everything we do.
Clients First: We succeed if our clients succeed.
Collegiality: Leveraging the best ideas creates competitive advantages.
Trust and Mutual Respect: Essential for a strong community.
Long-Term Horizon: A true competitive advantage.
Do these sound like the corporate equivalent of motherhood and apple pie?
Perhaps.
Often, published cultural norms are merely words on a PowerPoint page. However, for high-performing teams, these are core beliefs.
It’s often when you face stressful situations that your core beliefs kick in. It’s the same at the organizational level. I’ve been in many difficult meetings when people disagreed on the way forward, on product development, pricing, investment, risk management, and various other issues. In all cases, whoever can prove—or convince others—that their proposal is best for our clients wins the argument.
When identifying your organization’s core beliefs, it can be helpful to ask questions like: How do people at your company react in stressful situations? What are the common assumptions about the world everyone seems to agree with? What are the go-to sayings or phrases used to interpret challenges and make decisions?
Takeaways:
Core beliefs shape how we interpret situations and make decisions—both personally and within organizations. Becoming aware of them can shift our mindset and improve relationships.
You can change unhelpful core beliefs —by reflecting on feedback, observing your reactions, and asking trusted peers for input.
Organizational culture is built on shared core beliefs—especially visible during stress. Understanding these beliefs helps teams navigate conflict and align on purpose.
I hope this was useful.
Seb
Bonus content: Check out my appearance on the Art of Charm podcast.
When he decided to write a book on leadership and self-improvement, Sébastien Page was rejected by over 200 literary agents.
He was asked, “Why would a finance expert write about leadership?” He was told to stay in his lane.
Sébastien has more than two decades of leadership experience. As an author, he believes breakthroughs often happen when experts venture outside their field. That is why, in "The Psychology of Leadership," he went beyond finance and economics to study research in psychology.
He is currently Head of Global Multi-Asset and Chief Investment Officer at T. Rowe Price. He oversees a team of investment professionals actively managing over $500 billion in assets under management.
Sébastien won research paper awards from The Journal of Portfolio Management in 2003, 2010, 2011, and 2022 and the Financial Analysts Journal in 2010 and 2014. In addition to The Psychology of Leadership, he is the author of Beyond Diversification: What Every Investor Needs to Know About Asset Allocation (McGraw Hill, 2020) and the coauthor of Factor Investing and Asset Allocation (CFA Institute Research Foundation, 2016).
Sébastien is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Portfolio Management and the Financial Analysts Journal, and the Board of Directors of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (Q Group). He regularly appears in the media, including Bloomberg TV and CNBC, and was recently named amongst the 15 Top Voices in Finance by LinkedIn.