How do you encourage a learning mindset?

Setting SMART goals not only provides a target and the requirements and timeframe for you to reach the target but also forces you to think. Think about who you are and who you want to be. Think about what you want to accomplish. Think about how and when to accomplish the goal. The most important thing is to think about WHY you want to set and accomplish the goal. Our thinking determines our beliefs. Our beliefs drive our actions. Our actions deliver results when carried out consistently over time. Thinking, which is so often overlooked, is critical in our goal setting. Our mindset is how we think. Setting goals therefore stimulates our learning mindset by getting us to think.

Awareness and wisdom helps us to look at the whole picture. Wisdom is how we use the strengths of all to nurture growth of all in our team. Leadership can be complex, so we need to master the art of followership to inspire our team members.

Embracing a growth mindset means fully understanding that growth is accompanied by setbacks and obstacles. To me, goal-setting isn't about reaching specific milestones or ticking off tasks. Instead, it's about paving a path toward continual development. Goal-setting is crafting a vision board, where visual and mental imagery can ignite optimism and boost self-efficacy. This belief in oneself is crucial to push through difficulties. It goes beyond just achieving set milestones; it's about constructing a mental framework that empowers us to recognize our limitless potential and understand that our capabilities surpass our initial perceptions.

I use a SMART template as a default goal setting tool with nearly all of my coaching clients. It provides the structure necessary to think through and craft each goal with the language best suited for improving performance, skills, or whatever area is being targeted.

When we need to encourage a learning mindset, we must show the simplicity and the power of one little change can make in the lives of the people that we are trying to influence. I like to use the airplane navigation talk. One degree of course can put you hundreds of miles off your destination.

One way to engender learning mindsets is to use a mistake as a learning opportunity rather than a punitive measure. I do believe that punitive measures quickly destroy creativity. I am not suggesting that there should not be a consequence but rather that the consequence be delivered in a human manner.

There are two steps to the learning mindset. First, find a goal or objective desired by the student. Others have mentioned SMART. As the instructor, guide the student to the tools that help them learn achievement of the goal. Second, debrief with the student on their steps and thought processes. Help them encode the way they learned for future independent endeavors. Side note, I have recently joined this community on LinkedIn. I find the artificial restriction to 750 characters counter-intuitive to the topics they suggest. How to create a learning mindset probably needs much more than 750 characters.

Cultivating a growth mindset means looking past criticism and valuing feedback as a precious gift. It offers you the advantage of hindsight in advance, drawing from the wisdom of those who can identify our self-imposed limitations and highlight our boundless potential. It's a blessing to have someone invest in us by offering feedback. Moreover, feedback acts as a diagnostic instrument, helping us recognize patterns that might later cloud our vision.

It is very hard to protect yourself when you don’t always know what is around the corner. When we get surprised by feedback that we didn’t know was coming, we often feel ambushed and quickly respond with our protective instincts rather than learning from the situation. We can eliminate this surprised reaction by always requiring feedback to be requested by the recipient. When an individual requests feedback, they should also be connecting this request to a specific topic or activity that they are working on to confirm they want to receive supportive coaching from their peers.

To make the most of feedback we must adopt a spirit of humility knowing that we are not perfect and always have something to learn.

It’s not just embracing failure when it comes, it’s also acknowledging it later - and continually as needed - so that you continue to improve and avoid repeating mistakes. I don’t believe any of us would accuse someone of “hating themselves” in the process of doing so. Interestingly; however, many believe admitting our country’s past and ongoing mistakes and failures, (such as slavery, racism, colonial endeavors and Native American genocide) and teaching those to our children is an indication we “hate America”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We simply want our children and grandchildren to do better, and to avoid repeating mistakes. A country’s greatness is not endowed - it is earned by the collective actions of its people.

How can you learn from your experience if you don't have any regrets? Failure is an experience that comes with living a full life. A growth mindset believes that dedication and hard work can develop abilities and intelligence. This perspective creates a passion for learning, grit for growth, and resilience in the face of setbacks. Rather than viewing failures as evidence of incompetence, with a growth mindset, perceive them as opportunities to learn, adapt, and improve. Embracing challenges and learning from failure become stepping stones toward achieving your potential and fostering vibrant and full life.

Embracing failure is essential for exponential growth. Think of failure as a vital spice, adding depth and character to a dish. Just as a meal transforms with the right seasonings, so too does our journey when seasoned with experiences of setbacks. What sets you apart and pushes you beyond the ordinary is the invaluable wisdom gained from your missteps. Such experiences provide unique insights that can't be found elsewhere. Your failures not only give you a competitive advantage but also broaden your understanding and deepen your insights. Now, you possess a unique tool in your toolbox, one that imparts life lessons about who you are, how you perceive the world, and the lessons drawn from your experiences.

Embracing failure is the necessary step toward success. Every time you attempt something, even things you have done before, you have put yourself in a position where failure is possible. A fear of failure can paralyze you to inaction. You must push through that realizing that a failure is a great way to get feedback on how to do or not to do something. The author and speaker John Maxwell wrote a book called "Failing Forward." You harness your failures to carry yourself forward to eventually reach success. Walt Disney said, "a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." Failure is like a kick in the teeth. When it kicks, close your mouth and learn from it.

I encourage my team to take risk in their decision making after developing a calculated risk management plan. Having a mitigation strategy I place will reduce the failure rate but it can still happen and thats ok. If they fail then it turns into a learning experience that helps them grow. It also helps to build confidence and strategic thinking so that the same failure does not happen again. Lastly, a failure today will help when they become a Lear’s to teach, coach, and mentor their team.

Brendon Burchard said there are three things for developing influence: teach others how to think, challenge others to be better, and be the role model. Without influence it is quite a challenge and near impossible to effectively teach others. In some cases one will grant you that position of influence without you doing much to earn it, and in those cases you work extremely hard to keep it. Otherwise you are working hard to earn it before sharing it. A spirit of humility is most helpful in your pursuit to teach and train others. Remember that you can learn from those you teach. Learn something and learn it well. Then teach it to others so you can really learn it. This is where your own learning is taken to the next level.

A great way to share knowledge and learnings within a team (or an organization) is to hold regular “teach-backs”, where a different team member each time gives a short presentation and/or workshop on something to other team/organization members. It could be about a particular area of expertise that they hold, or a recent learning or experience (including failures!) or just something that they are particularly interested in or passionate about. Even topics that are seemingly unrelated to the other members’ work can provide valuable new learnings and perspectives, and can also help them to recognize the value that new / younger team members bring to the team. The important thing is that anyone can contribute - and everyone can learn!

Not all challenges have to be unpleasant - I love "gamifying" my skill honing activities. I try to find ways to turn learning into a hobby. In my professional life I make trainings, policies, and communications ( i.e. I am a corporate content creator). To make sure I am staying up on algorithmic outreach and communication impact I started to write Google Map Reviews, as a hobby. I get to hone the skills I need, stay up-to-date on how the algorithms are interpreting what I give them, and have some wonderful back end analytics to review my outcomes. None of it feels like work to me, but all of it helps me. By doing this, I accidentally became a top 10% in America Google Restaurant Reviewer.

There was an 85-year old lady from Texas working in Yosemite National Park as a tour guide that used to say, "If you rest you rust." This is a lesson that is most applicable to your mind. The mind needs exercise as much as the rest of your body or even more than the rest of your body. There is much you can do with your mind without your body, but there is not much your body can do without your mind. Learning is a healthy habitual discipline to be exercised every day. The exciting part is that you can learn all kinds of things in all aspects of this life. It is exciting because that means everyone has something they can learn that is interesting to them. Go learn something new today. Keep your mind healthy.

Even before COVID, we started digitizing through creating assessments and interactive online elements. There are very creative and strategic ways to use digital devices to bridge gaps and bring people together. Culture building in a virtual world is a new combination of art and science and when it's done right, can accelerate learning as well as strengthen relationships.

One thing that can truly help foster a learning mindset is to provide a safe environment to fail. It encourages teams to ask the questions - What is stopping to me try new things? How can new learnings get me closer to my goals? This can help to break any mental patterns focused on any past failures or future fears and enable curiosity to explore. It shifts the focus from problems to creation and finding connections and patterns to use existing resources to come up with new solutions and possibilities. This one simple shift can drive innovation and new levels of creativity. Environment plays a huge role in enabling self-reflection, acceptance of strengths and weaknesses and fostering a learning mindset leading to inspired change and growth