A Growth Mindset One Pager
From the #1 Growth Mindset Coach
A Business Growth Mindset One Pager
A growth mindset is a steadfast belief that your abilities can be developed to achieve your goals. That success — no matter how lofty — is obtainable if you apply effort and practice.
It's simplicity, and truth, is that we get smarter by putting in time and effort.
We have the ability to influence our destiny. Our potential is ours for the taking, if we work hard.
"Smart is something you become, not something you are" — Author unknown
From a business perspective, it contributes to something bigger – the company's growth culture.
That's important because a company growth culture is a business performance multiplier. Corporate culture is the human performance engine that directly impacts the success or failure for every business strategy, operating plan and change transformation.
The fastest route to a growth culture is to adopt the right mindset. This behavior becomes the company's oxygen. It inspires employee purpose and advancement. It promotes communication and collaboration. It motivates and drives improved performance.
The Business Impact
Corporate culture is a precursor and top contributing factor to anything and everything that requires employee effort. Unfortunately, most employees are not trained to have a growth mindset.
But they can be. And the benefits are significant and sustainable.
When staff receive this training and coaching, they report feeling like company owners and customer advocates. They describe feeling far more empowered and committed.
They are more likely to rally around the company's vision and show far less reservation in taking on new challenges. They demonstrate a 'can do' attitude that propels themselves and the company forward.
"Companies that have successfully adopted growth mindsets are 2.4X more likely to outperform." Source: McKinsey
Staff show far more trust in their employers, which leads to much higher levels of engagement. They contribute more and they stay longer.
It's a relatively small investment that drives increased levels of human performance and company advancement.
A Growth versus Fixed Mindset
A growth mindset is opposite the fixed mindset which assumes our abilities and intelligence are relatively constant.
People with a developing mindset believe their abilities, intelligence and success can be advanced with learning, practice, and effort.
But people with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are inherited and rather fixed. They believe you are born with these seemingly unshakable traits. They harbor a mental block that limits their progress.
There's no shortage of research and empirical evidence that show which is more successful.
The people who accomplish the most, whether in business, sports or life, lead with determination and discipline. They acknowledge there may be some natural talent involved, but that's just a starting point and minor in terms of what they will achieve.
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." — Thomas Edison
How to Excel
There's no single formula for achievement. But there are competencies and traits that have proven themselves many times over.
Business leaders, managers and staff seeking personal and professional growth should consider the following success factors.
- Executive sponsorship. For a corporate initiative, business leaders must lead by example. They must believe in human potential, convey that skills are learnable, and provide learning and development programs. They must also coach managers to deliver continuous feedback.
- Adopt a startup mentality. Startups work differently than large companies. They don't get stuck in analysis paralysis. They are more agile and adaptive. They are focused on moving fast and making progress. They are not concerned if they make a mistake. They do not seek the approval of others, and they are not worried about being criticized. They don't dodge risks they expose and tackle them. They don't view change as undesirable. They view it as a requirement for transformation. These people are self-starters that work energetically without pretense.
- Document your goals. This is a goal-oriented program that starts with challenging but realistic objectives. It's okay to lead with big goals but break them down into sequential and manageable tasks. Be fully committed to your goals. Consider them mandates and not options. Business leaders have the added task of getting everybody to rally around the same company goals, irrespective of their place in the company. Making the end state visual or defining the measures of success goes a long way.
- Lean into transformation. Executives that lean into innovation, disruption or other business transformation show that they promote big ideas, calculated risk taking and experimentation. They recognize that even transformative goals are often just an accumulation of incremental advancements. But in doing so, they show that no goal, however big, is impossible.
- Leverage and embrace change. Position change as an opportunity for growth rather than a threat to the status quo. But recognize that shifts in culture incur some resistance to change. You will accelerate your progress with a change management program.
- Make learning a core competency. Learning is not just about training. It's about focus, practice and feedback. Also know that cross-pollination of learned skills is where breakthroughs happen.
- Celebrate small victories. Use small wins to build enthusiasm and momentum. Congratulate peers for their successes and then learn from them. Ask them about their obstacles and how they succeeded.
- Implement transparent reporting. Staff engagement improves when employees can see how their contributions roll up and impact the company's priorities. But sometimes plans don't go according to plan. So, measure, adjust and iterate.
- Demonstrate perseverance. No worthwhile success is without obstacles. You need to push through challenges, learn from mistakes, and recognize it's a journey. Sometimes a change in your words will shift your thinking. Replace the word "failing" with "learning." Start using the word "yet" more often. For example, I haven't been able to accomplish this … yet. These simple word substitutes make it clear that failure is part of learning and just about anything can be accomplished with enough effort.
"It's not that I'm so smart. It's just that I stay with problems longer." — Albert Einstein
The CEO Disease
Business leaders provide the most visible examples.
Those with a developing mindset believe in human development. They figure out what skills staff and the company need now and in the future.
They hire for passion not pedigrees. They surround themselves with the most enthusiastic and able people they can find. They seek out people with big goals and that want to get things done.
They are coaches and guides. They are not judges and critics.
They have no interest in proving themselves. They don't put much emphasis in org charts or taking credit for accomplishments. They don't undermine others to inflate their importance.
They don't hide failures. Instead, they get feedback and adjust.
And as shown in the diagram below, they build far more competitive companies.
On the flip side, poor leaders believe certain people are superior and others are inferior. They repeatedly show they are the former. They consider themselves visionaries.
They are more concerned about their reputation than providing value. They are often more concerned about their reputation than the company itself. They have inflated egos, and they don't hide it well.
Interestingly, they don't really want great teams. That's because they believe they alone will carry the day and don't want others usurping their authority or credit.
They don't take criticism well and they don't like to hear bad news. They will even fire employees who provide feedback or constructive criticism. It's usually under the thinly guised pretense that those staff were not team players.
Failure is seldom their fault. They have plenty of excuses. And they use gas lighting and intimidation to limit their own accountability.
They thrive on validation from others. They always have a Yes man nearby.
They are bosses more than they are leaders.
They have what is sometimes called the CEO disease.
It's important to note that they don't intend to do harm. But by putting their egos and reputation ahead of the company they stifle the company's ability to succeed. Many treat staff poorly. Some will embarrass or humiliate staff. Those acts create a fixed mindset for their staff and a downward spiral for the company.
A Contrarian Perspective
The CEO disease creates another detriment. It encourages staff to follow their leaders without question. It creates groupthink.
Groupthink prioritizes conformity over critical thinking. It overlooks risks, ignores information, and discourages any form of creativity. All of this of course leads to flawed choices and potentially disastrous outcomes.
It's a long-standing problem that has been met with some interesting solutions.
For example, Winston Churchill recognized political appointees hate to criticize elected officials. So, he set up a special department to bring him bad news and challenge his ideas.
When Alfred Sloan, former CEO of GM, failed to get dissent for a strategy or tactic during a meeting, he scheduled a follow-on meeting just for this feedback.
Herodotus wrote that in the fifth century BC, the Persians used something similar to Sloan's technique. If the group reached consensus too easily or quickly, they would get drunk and debate the ideas further.
All of these techniques were to avoid groupthink and rationalize ideas to the point of readiness.
A Growth Mindset Coach Makes This Final Point
For business leaders and those that wish to control their destiny, success comes down to a choice.
They can transform themselves and their companies by starting with a growth minded.
They make a deliberate and purposeful choice to grow. They put themselves in charge of their futures.
Or they can take a passive approach. This of course will at best continue the status quo. But by recognizing the two mindsets, they are empowered to pursue a different approach if they choose.
"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." — Confucius