Executive Growth Begins in the Mind: Why Your Inner Narrative Drives Outer Results

by Liina Fadaee, Executive Coach | Founder, Consult For Growth

For over a decade, I’ve worked with experienced professionals who are defining career moments, leaders reinventing themselves after burnout, high performers seeking new purpose, and senior managers quietly questioning whether they’ve missed their window.

If there’s one truth I’ve learned, it’s this: Your mindset is not a side note. It’s the foundation.

Mindset impacts how you feel and influences the results that you get. In the roles you apply for, the salary you negotiate and the energy you project in an interview or a boardroom. Along with the stories you tell yourself when things don’t go to plan.

Limiting Beliefs: The Quiet Narratives That Shape Executive Trajectory

The belief “Because I’m over 55, I won’t be hired” is one I’ve heard more than once. Spoken directly or embedded in the background of a career decision.

But it’s far from the only narrative getting in the way.

I’ve seen how quiet, internal assumptions become powerful forces. They don’t shout. They whisper. And in doing so, they influence what roles get pursued, what conversations happen (or don’t), and how confident someone appears on paper and in person.

Here are a few of the most common limiting beliefs I’ve encountered in the coaching room:

• “I’ve already peaked, this might be as far as I go.”

• “I’ve been in the same role too long. Who would hire me now?”

• “Other people seem more visible, strategic, or modern than I am.”

• “If I aim too high and fail, what will that say about me?”

• “It’s safer to stay where I am, even if I’m no longer growing.”

• “Maybe I’m not the kind of leader who gets noticed.”

  
  

These beliefs often sit beneath the surface, shaping choices in subtle but powerful ways. They can lead to hesitation in interviews, reluctance to network, downplaying of achievements, or quiet disengagement from long-held ambitions.

They don’t just affect those in transition. These patterns show up in:

• Executives leading through change,

• Mid-senior leaders returning after burnout,

• High performers who look successful from the outside but feel stuck within.

  
  

When left unexamined, these beliefs quietly shape a career strategy built on protection rather than possibility. Coaching offers a powerful way to bring these patterns to light, not to judge them, but to name them.

Once something is visible, it becomes a choice. And that’s where real growth begins.

The Power of a Single Mindset Shift

Early in my career, I supported individuals navigating complex pathways into employment. I’ll never forget a coaching conversation with a skilled construction site manager who had faced multiple setbacks and started to question his own value.

Midway through our final session, after some powerful mindset work, he paused, wide-eyed and said:

“So you mean to tell me... I can actually go and get myself a new job?” The light in his eyes told me everything. It was as though the fog had lifted.

He secured a new role within weeks. Not because his skills had changed. But because his belief had.

That experience stayed with me. Whether I’m coaching a CEO or someone returning to work after time away, the real shift always begins within.

This Isn’t Therapy. This Is Strategic Awareness

Let’s be clear, coaching is not therapy. We don’t explore trauma or offer clinical support. But we do engage with a person’s mindset. With the internal stories that quietly shape external behaviour.

At Consult For Growth, our coaching approach is grounded in lived experience and informed by evidence. We draw on frameworks such as Dr Martin Seligman’s PERMA model, which outlines the foundations of human well-being: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment, to highlight that sustainable performance depends on more than achievement alone.

We also draw on psychological well-being research that emphasises agency, identity, and belief in navigating change and building resilience. These models are not used diagnostically but support deep reflection, strategic self-awareness, and intentional growth.

They remind us that:

High performance isn’t sustained by effort alone. It’s shaped by internal alignment.

Mindset Coaching is a Leadership Skill

Executive coaching without mindset work is like planning a journey without checking the engine. Yes, we work on strategy, visibility, branding, and long-term positioning, but those elements only translate into results when the inner narrative is congruent with the outer ambition.

Mindset coaching helps professionals:

Interrupt unhelpful thinking patterns,

Strengthen decision-making confidence,

Navigate uncertainty with intention,

And lead with presence, clarity, and conviction.

This is not a soft skill. It’s a leadership imperative.

A Coaching Philosophy That Integrates Depth and Strategy

These principles don’t sit on the sidelines of my work; they shape it. They’ve informed the development of the Executive Growth Journey™.

It’s designed to bridge mindset, career strategy, and executive development into one integrated experience.

You don’t just need a better plan. You need a better inner narrative.

Final Thought

What If the Only Shift You Needed Was in Thinking?

If you’ve ever found yourself quietly wondering:

• “Have I missed my chance?”

• “Is it too late to reinvent?”

• “Should I play it safe?”

Then consider this:

What might change if you believed something different?

Your mindset doesn’t just reflect your experience. It actively shapes what comes next.