Seminar buzzwords.
That’s all many people think of when they hear “growth mindset”.
Fortunately, you know better than that by now…
But you probably still have some questions.
If you are a manager or a leader, it is important that you know where you fall when it comes to mindsets. This will drastically affect the way you interact with your employees and the way you handle your day to day business within your company.
How does having a growth mindset make you a better leader? How does it benefit your organization?
We’ve now learned all the textbook examples of what a growth mindset it, and how it affects us as individuals as well as in business and organizational culture. Now let’s examine some real-life ways a growth mindset helps us to be better leaders.
Silver Linings – Having a growth mindset allows us to fail. Everyone fails but how we handle the failure determines who we are. With a growth mindset, we will be able to see the silver linings, we will be able to find the good in each situation and find the learning experience in each fail. We will figure out what went wrong, and we will work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Having this mindset can help us encourage others when they face setbacks. If we lead by example and encourage the efforts of others and they try and inevitably fail, we can foster a growth mindset in them as they seek success.
Staying The Course – When a person relies too heavily on their skills and talent (like someone with a fixed mindset), they might think that no commitment is necessary. On the other hand, when someone has a growth mindset and is dedicated to what they are doing, they know that they can make great improvements.
In doing this, we also impress upon our teammates and employees that it is important to just keep going. We remind them that no fight is easily won, and that perseverance and determination are necessary for success.
Never Stop Learning – People with fixed mindsets think they’ve got all they’ll ever have, so there’s no reason to try for more. Those with growth mindsets are eager to seek out new information and are consistently developing new skills and learning new information. No matter what is being learned, people with growth mindsets are seeking to become whole people, full of knowledge.
When we are continually learning, we often share this information with others, helping them to keep learning. As leaders, we should be encouraging this constant learning in our teams.
Always Improving – People with growth mindsets are never satisfied with the status quo. Because of this, they are always seeking to make things better than they were before which can translate to great improvements for a company. As an individual, you are capable of so much, but fostering a growth mindset within your company or organization can do even more.
As a leader with a growth mindset, you should always be seeking ways to make your company better, to take them to the next level. This includes helping your employees with their mindsets so that they too can benefit the organization in big ways.
Encouraging A Growth Mindset In Employees
While it is great news if the person leading the team has a growth mindset, it is imperative that they encourage a growth mindset in all.
How can you do this, though? Here are some ideas.
Hire and promote from within – Showing your team that you believe in them, putting your money where your mouth is…these are central to encouraging a growth mindset. You need to show your employees that you are invested in their development and that you see their potential. Whenever possible, hire from within.
Promote courage – Encourage your employees to take risks. To build a growth mindset, your employees need to be willing to step out even when they are afraid to do so. Encourage this and be there for them as they do so.
Forget About Your Own Position – You might be a growth-minded person unintentionally fostering a fixed mindset environment. Be careful that you focus more on the well being of your employees than you do your own power, make sure you never put others down or hold others back to get yourself ahead. You should strive to help everyone learn and grow together.
Encourage Growth – The growth of the company is important but be sure you are encouraging your employees to seek out knowledge on their own, too. Encourage your team to reach for personal goals in addition to workplace goals.
