Might Facebook be one of the reasons your millennial leaders and salespeople aren’t exceeding their business goals and sales targets?

Chamath Palihapitiya joined Facebook in 2007 and became vice president for user growth. He recently told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business that people needed to take a “hard break” from social media. His criticisms were not only aimed at Facebook. He included the wider online ecosystem and said, “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works …”

Inviting your millennial leaders to take periodic breaks from social media seems even more sensible when you read the 2016 research article published by The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study examined the effects of social media usage on young adults. They found a definite link between the amount of time spent using social media and the possibility of sinking into depression. After all, it is easy to create a picture of an exciting, successful life on social media, even if it’s a façade. Many people, when comparing their ordinary lives to glamourous posts, become depressed because they feel their lives are boring and less successful.

What does this have to do with your sales and business results?

Beliefs drive behaviors. Ultimately, behaviors dictate the outcomes or results we get. Negative thinking generates counterproductive self-talk which has a devastating impact on the leadership footprint, business results and sales performance of your emerging leaders.

In my own sales development work, I use a validated process that quickly identifies over 75 hidden sales and leadership mindset weaknesses that are stalling growth and undermining results. Based on the insights gained, a growth path can be charted.

However, in a more informal setting, I invite the millennial leaders to complete sentences such as these with the first thought that pops into their minds: