Mind the mindset gap!
Why you are probably overestimating your Growth Mindset – and what to do about it.
Understanding a concept intellectually may be relatively easy.
Applying it in real life? - Not so much!
Nearly two decades after its publication, Carol Dweck’s ground breaking book ‘Mindset’ continues to influence leaders worldwide, advocating for a ‘Growth Mindset’ - where capabilities and skills are believed to be cultivated through perseverance and learning, rather than seen as fixed traits.
Our clients are no exceptions. Many of them fully buy into the concept and go to great lengths to embed a growth mindset in their teams. Yet, when it comes to themselves, they are often still stuck in the grip of comparison and fear of failure, aka a fixed mindset.
Which is why we want to provide you with actionable steps to help you transition from a fixed to a growth mindset, by addressing self-limiting behaviours, emotions, and thoughts.
1) Countering unhelpful THOUGHTS.
To develop a growth mindset, start by reminding yourself that we acquire knowledge and skills incrementally.
We must stretch to step.
Progress is a process, and
Skills improve with practice.
Treat challenges as experiments.
If you approach challenges as experiments it takes the pressure off. Start with a working hypothesis. Then conduct experiments and test it.
Thomas Edison, while developing the electric lightbulb, is believed to have said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
The inference? His pursuit was one big experiment, not failure but 10,000 steps closer to success.
Reframe failure.
Taking an ‘everything is an experiment’ approach also helps you reframe failure and see it as a learning opportunity.
We love this from Spanx Shapewear founder, Sara Blakely, describing how her dad fostered her positive attitude towards failure. Every night at dinner he would ask her, “how did you fail today?”.
What her dad was effectively doing here was teaching her to set learning goals, as well as performance goals, and to associate failure with learning.
By focusing on learning goals, rather than just performance goals, Blakely was able to build her resilience and success – a correlation Carol Dweck’s research consistently shows holds true.
2) Countering unhelpful FEELINGS.
Go beyond noticing your emotions and name them. It’s surprisingly difficult to accurately label what you are feeling beyond the crudest descriptions of happy, sad, angry, fearful, surprised, or bad.
Improving your ability to identify and articulate emotions can reduce their intensity. Tools like the 'feelings wheel' from Calm help distinguish and name nuanced emotions.
3) Countering unhelpful BEHAVIOURS.
Undo what you learned in school
The structure of our school systems suggests there is a ‘right’ answer. It stigmatises not knowing and making mistakes. We learn that silence and non-action are better than showing ignorance or making mistakes.
But this is rather unhelpful in business, where there rarely is a ‘right’ answer. And even if one exists, as discussed in last month's blog about leading through uncertainty, it's often too complex for one person to grasp.
One of the most empowering things we can say is: “I don’t know the answer to that. What do you think?”
Remember: thoughts shape our actions
There’s an intrinsic relationship between:
Our thoughts & our mood.
Our mood & our physiology (measurable changes in the body like heart rate).
Our physiology and our actions.
Our actions and, in our execution of them, our performance.
In other words, how we think directly impacts the actions we take and how we execute them.
The good news: Because everything is interconnected, any intervention – whether it targets our fixed mindset thoughts, emotions, or behaviours – will positively impact all other areas.
Seek growth opportunities.
Actively seek situations that push you outside your comfort zone and find the courage to try them, in the knowledge that you’re likely to be pretty useless at first. And persist!
To practise this, find opportunities where the stakes are not sky high.
“Practising a growth mindset doesn’t necessarily have to happen at work,” says Karin Mueller, Liebfrog’s Founder and CEO. “There’s much to be said for practising outside of work - at least initially. Then, as you gain more practice and build confidence, it feel easier to have a go at work.”
Mastering a growth mindset demands ongoing effort and mental discipline. Effectively applying a growth mindset in real life is not easy but, for those leading in today’s business world, its mastery is essential.
Liebfrog guides leaders and their teams through this transformative journey. What sets us apart is our ability to translate abstract concepts, such as mindset, into practical strategies that enhance your leadership performance immediately.
Ready to reap the benefits of a growth mindset? Let’s talk.
With Carol Dweck as her mentor, Elaine Elliott-Moskwa PhD understands the gap between intellectually grasping a growth mindset and practically sustaining it. She authored ‘The Growth Mindset Workbook’, a resource Dweck praises as ‘trailblazing’ and ‘the best I’ve seen’. It’s a treasure trove of practical exercises for clocking, challenging, and combating a fixed mindset.
April 2024
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