How can you persuade clients to adopt a growth mindset?

This is how you persuade clients to adopt a growth mindset. You don’t! In order to make your clients aware of where they are at you need to ask them questions so they can reflect on their position. If they don‘t see it for themselves, you mirror it back to them. As a coach, you don’t tell people how to think. You help them see it for themselves.

Persuasion is basically the same as trying to push beyond a person's boundaries, after they indicated that they don't want you to! So if you find yourself persuading, ask yourself: "Who am I doing this for?". Is it for your client, or is it for you? As coaches we should constantly keep in mind that not everyone moves at the same pace. Be mindful of your clients pace and you won't have to persuade them for anything, because they will be confident enough to say 'YES!'

Persuading clients to adopt a growth mindset involves effective communication, tangible examples, and focusing on long-term benefits. Here are some strategies I would employ as a leader: 1. Storytelling. 2. Education. 3. Highlight the Learning Process. 4. Set Realistic Goals. 5. Encourage Reflection. 6. Provide Continuous Support. 7. Measure and Celebrate Progress. 8. Lead by Example. Adopting a growth mindset is a journey, and it's essential to approach it with patience and persistence. By combining these strategies, we can create an environment that fosters a positive and forward-thinking mindset among our clients.

You do not "persuade". And you do not "sell" either. When I help founders and managers, we first work on their goals, their definition of success. We then draw a path to these goals, and identify what blocks them. Then I ask them to reflect on their position, their relevance to this picture. This is when they realise they need to take action and challenge their own status quo. They have grown.

People don't change anything until they get out of their comfort zone. I have met with hundreds of CEOs over the years that were comfortable with where their business or organization was, but they also said that they wanted more or better. As a hired outsider for years, I decided my role was to get under their skin and get them out of their comfort zone so change and improvement could happen. I earned the nickname of "Troublemaker." If you are not willing to get out of your comfort zone - things will not change for the better. I also taught them to stop thinking outside the box. Stupid because if you think outside the box and try something new and it doesn't work you will jump back into the box. I tell them to throw the box away.

Mindset plays a key role in achieving success and clarity. Focusing on understanding their current mindset can help you know what is limiting them to grow. Is it their self-confidence, or they don't have clarity on their goal? Ask them relevant questions and gain clarity to help them out. Build a strategy for the session to improve and encourage them to grow.

I start by asking a few open-ended questions, like: Question: "Tell me about a recent challenge you faced, big or small." What it reveals: I want to know if they view challenges as chances to learn and improve. Question: "Share a time when a client criticized your work publicly, like on social media. How was your reaction?" What it reveals: I'm curious about how they take criticism—whether it's seen as feedback for improvement. Can they introspect, draw up a plan and start working on it. Question: "Are you taking any courses or reading a specific book to improve your skills?" What it reveals: This helps me understand if they believe in continuous learning and staying updated in their field.

I will start by identifying triggers - topics or statements that create a visceral response. Once we can see and feel the cognitive defenses at work, we can dial back the intensity and explore how other opinions, even self limiting ones, are being defended by the subconscious. This awareness is the first step.

It is really important to understand where your client is standing. Asking questions, listening, sensing, and assessing if those different reactions interact with each other are really helpful to understand where your client stands. You can use different approaches and techniques. Try to focus on holistic approaches to assess their mindsets from different perspectives.

To explore the current mindset, the coach can ask for any 3-4 recent challenging situations that the client experienced, and how she/he worked through them. An assessment of the thinking and the approach of the client can reveal more about the mindset. Some of the key things to look out for include set patterns in solving the challenges, lack of adaptability, and relying only on what has worked in the past. Sharing these observations with the client in a non-judgmental way can help them reflect and can lead to an 'aha' moment.

An almost global assumption is that we are rational beings, consciously and intentionally making our way through life. When the reality is that most of our decisions are subconsciously determined in defense of our status quo, then reverse engineered to appear rational to our conscious selves. Exploring the question "How open and rational are you really?" is a great place to start.

I believe that all of this comes before someone actually hires me as a business consultant. For the relationship to work, they need to know they need a business consultant and know that I am the one that is going to take them to the next level. With that said, I do believe that there are ways to transform their thinking before they hire me (leading them to hire me). Stories are powerful to shift beliefs. If we know they think a certain way, we can share a story with them from a totally unrelated field where they see the logic and then bring it back to where we are so they come to the logical conclusion themselves. We cannot change people, they need to make the belief shift themselves. We can only guide them.

One way to challenge assumptions is to ask a client to take a neutral, dissociated stance as the neutral observe and ask if they notice anything different. What are the various reasons something could appear to be. What is the actual reality without any assumptions, meaning or interpretation added?

Challenge their assumptions, but keep in mind what your clients’ objective is. What is important for your client? What should have changed when your client has reached their objectives. Based on these information choose techniques to support your clients’ change journey.

Often the beliefs that determine how we approach any situation or challenge are deep-rooted and closely held. Challenging these fundamental beliefs may be perceived by clients as questioning them and not their ways. This can make the clients defensive and move them into a self-protection zone. Helping them reflect on their core beliefs, assumptions, and mindset often requires delicate handling and intensive care. Being fully present, giving space, and letting go/ pulling in as needed are the key coaching skills needed.

Progress related to a growth mindset can be assessed by ones willingness to embrace clarity. In the professional sphere there is a very common avoidance of clear goals and expectations, because with greater clarity comes greater accountability. And who wants that? To support growth in this area, helping to clarify goals, design achievable milestones, and provide affirming accountability check-ins is essential. This can be very unsettling, as many of us (myself included) have very well developed accountability avoidance skills. As a result, the manner of the support must be matched to each client's unique personality.

Using simple 0 - 10 measurement scale that they themselves measure (in additional to other measures), can help the client see the incremental growth and changes. Encouraging them to notice how others are responding to their change in perspective, can encourage them to notice how their growth has an impact on the world and that it matters.

Mindsets often take time to take hold and require consistent, unwavering effort. Identifying achievable goals, and setting clear expectations can make the process grounded. Being available to the coachee to explore ideas, and discuss failures openly in a non-evaluative manner is the key. Acknowledging their efforts and wins no matter large or small helps in keeping consistent momentum.

Il est important d’identifier et de marquer les réussites liés aux nouveaux apprentissages. Chaque succès permet alors de faire évoluer l’état d’esprit et renforcer la confiance en soi.

I am a huge advocate and coach of organizational and professional storytelling. Using stories to convey the modelled mindset is invaluable. I share stories from my early career as an artist, enjoying the art experience but unwilling to look at the numbers and pursue the actual business of it, and of a professional development startup that had, what I believed to be, a revolutionary value prop. In reality, it didn't, but I refused to do the work that would force me to acknowledge what I did not want to be true. Having come to terms with my own failing in this regard, I have developed a personal philosophy around the very human comfort with ambiguity, the elevated value of clarity, and the grace needed for those two to dance.

There are lot of different frameworks to support you client. Coaching them from their actual state of mindset to a future state of mindset means to listen, sense, adapt, develop, and evaluate the right approach for personal growth. Storytelling might be a good choice, metaphorical work is helpful too. Improve your skills to support your clients in the best way.

First you need to understand where your client wants to go, what's their goal. Sometimes they don't know exactly, and as long as they don't know, you can't succeed in helping them. You can tell them all the stories in the world, but if they can't relate to them, it's useless. So make sure you both know crystal clear how they define their success.

En tant que coach, partager ses difficultés et montrer par quel moyen on arrive à les surmonter permet de renforcer la croyance que c’est possible et que nous sommes tous concernés. Exposer sa vulnérabilité est une démonstration de son leadership.

In more than 20 years of leadership I always have supported teams, departments, and organizations to grow. It is extremely important and rewarding to see the impact that you can have as a leader. Keep in mind that people look up to you and that they need support. It is your decision as a leader to help them to grow and by the way it is a clear sign of a growth mindset when you act in this way.

Encouraging a growth culture goes beyond solutions—it nurtures an environment where challenges breed evolution. Clients seek collaborators in continuous improvement. Spotlight successes, big and small, celebrating constant progress. Be their guide, sharing insights and creating a learning-rich partnership. Add optimism; setbacks are stepping stones. A growth mindset isn't just business—it's life.

Fostering a growth mindset in teams or organisations can build long-term resilience and a differentiated competitive edge. Four key fundamentals can help in the same: 1. Leaders have to lead by example. They have to exhibit a growth mindset themselves for others to follow suit. 2. Learn from failures and not shy away from talking about what did not work. These conversations have to potential for creating the next breakthrough. 3. Instill a practice of reflection. Creating a loop of reflection followed by action can help fill gaps in an agile manner. 4. Identify moments of truth, that have the most impact on the team or organisations performance, and start with those areas.

I help build my clients a competence on how to do predictive data mapping and decision making, in case of professional and personal growth these data points might differ but the fundamentals remain the same. Most people often connect the dots looking backwards, and therefore building growth mindset is about enabling your clients to be able to connect the dots looking forward. Displaying their own life examples, and inspiring them through other’s example helps! Even though you cannot predict exactly how things will shape up, you can help take calculated estimates on the growth and well-being. With a hint and expectation for the unexpected, a consistent learning journey does the job!

I find that adopting a growth mindset is a transformative journey. It begins with understanding their current perspective and gently challenging existing beliefs. As a coach, my approach emphasizes the power of introspection and self-discovery. It's about guiding clients to see beyond their immediate constraints and envision the many possibilities that a growth mindset can unlock. Encouraging clients to embrace a culture of continuous learning and feedback is vital. This includes celebrating successes and viewing setbacks as valuable learning opportunities. Sharing personal experiences and stories of resilience and adaptability can be particularly inspiring, fostering a deeper connection and understanding.

In my experience I have found Neuro Linguistic Programming (N.L.P) to be well suited to develop a growth mindset. Identify the clients mindset by encouraging them to analyse their strengths, core values, beliefs areas for growth and challenges. Then use any or a mixture of these techniques tailor made to the client. Reframing- encourage the client to view challenges as an opportunity for growth. Sharing Analogies and metaphors- powerful tools of shifting perspective. Encourage client to create their own metaphor. Time line techniques, to identify clients past experience that might have shaped their mindset. Using submodalities and belief change to make positive thoughts more impactful. Modelling, Values elicitation and language patterns.

Use Growth Mindset Language: Consistently use language that supports growth mindset principles during your coaching sessions.

The quantum perspective of you create what you focus on or give your energy to, is valuable in encouraging clients to increasingly become aware of how their willingness to learn, question and be curious can shift their definitions, perceptions and behaviour.