Episode 123

Muriel Wilkins: How to lead with better beliefs

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What really blocks capable leaders from progressing, even when performance looks strong on the surface?

In this conversation, I’m joined by executive coach and author Muriel Wilkins to examine how beliefs and assumptions operate like a personal strategy model, shaping the decisions we make. Muriel draws on her coaching work and personal experience to unpack the seven common beliefs that limit leadership growth. We discuss how these beliefs show up as micromanagement, frustration or dissonance between intent and impact.

We also explore Muriel’s three stage framework of uncovering, unpacking and unblocking beliefs, how reframing creates new choices, and what it looks like to coach yourself before coaching others.

Which belief is shaping how you lead today?

You’ll hear about:

Why beliefs work like a personal strategy model
The seven beliefs that commonly block leaders
Why micromanagement limits leading at scale
External versus internal signals of being blocked
How dissonance reveals leadership growth moments
The belief behind feeling you do not belong
Working strategically within systems
The three step unblock framework
Reframing beliefs to change leadership impact
Coaching yourself before coaching others
Why culture change starts with beliefs
Muriel’s best day habit of adaptive focus

More about Muriel

Muriel Wilkins, founder and CEO of Paravis Partners, is a sought-after C-suite adviser and executive coach with a 20-year track record of helping senior leaders take their performance to the next level. She is the author of Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential and co-author of Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence.

Muriel is the host of the Harvard Business Review podcast ‘Coaching Real Leaders’, consistently ranked as a top-10 podcast in Apple’s management category. She was recently shortlisted for the 2025 Thinkers50 Coaching and Mentoring Award.

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“Leadership blocks are signals, not flaws.”

Muriel Wilkins — Founder & CEO, Paravis Partners

VIEW RUNNING ORDER

00.00	Why leaders get blocked.
02.22	Defining beliefs as assumptions.
04.42	Conscious and unconscious beliefs.
05.43	The belief that limits scale.
07.36	External and internal blockage signals.
10.40	Aligning assumptions and outcomes.
11.21	Coachability and leadership dissonance.
14.37	Belonging, systems and personal agency.
18.59	The uncover, unpack, unblock framework.
21.48	Reframing beliefs for impact.
22.31	Coaching yourself and others.
37.03	Muriel’s best day habits.