What do you do if you want to develop a growth mindset for future leadership roles?

A major turning point, triggered by a problem or crisis, can alter our life path. We don’t get to see the end-point until we decide to go through it. 25 years ago, my husband & I uprooted our family & relocated for regional leadership roles. Challenges are opportunities in disguise & could bring out the best versions of ourselves & the best times of our lives. But the path to success is not an easy road. It takes steep learning, hard work, sacrifices, energy, courage & resilience. It requires openness to diversity & agility to adapt. It also generates priceless rewards-wisdom, perspectives, inner strength, faith, joys & friendships. Experiences help us discover more about ourselves & the world. As my fave quote goes: The way out is through!

Here are some key actions you can take to cultivate a growth mindset for future leadership roles: - View obstacles as opportunities to learn and grow. Approach them with curiosity and a willingness to experiment. - Focus on the effort you put in rather than just the outcome. Recognize that setbacks are part of the learning process. - Actively seek constructive feedback from mentors, colleagues, or even leadership assessments. - Actively observe and learn from successful leaders. Read biographies, attend workshops, or even shadow leaders you admire. - Embrace a lifelong learning mindset. Read industry publications, take online courses, or attend conferences to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices.

The only constant in life is change itself, and this principle also applies to constant challenges in life. While challenges in daily life can be unavoidable, we can find anti-fragility and resilience from within to overcome these challenges and grow from strength to strength. Such a growth mindset would empower us to be more future-ready by adapting well to future changes and rise above ocassions.

To develop a growth mindset for future leadership roles, embrace challenges as opportunities for personal and professional growth. View setbacks as learning experiences and focus on what you can gain from them rather than dwelling on failures. Seek out new challenges that push you out of your comfort zone and encourage continuous learning and development. Set ambitious yet realistic goals for yourself, and actively seek feedback to identify areas for improvement. Cultivate resilience by maintaining a positive attitude and persevering through obstacles. Finally, reflect on your experiences regularly to assess your progress and adjust your approach as needed.

In order to grow as a leader, it is important to develop a growth mindset and face any challenge as an opportunity to learn more. Continuous learning is another way to polishing and improving your leadership skills. It is beneficial to seek help from prominent leaders in the industry and seek their guidance or mentorship to polish your leadership skills.

Learning doesn't stop at formal education indeed. When I became a manager, I didn’t know how to be effective. We usually get promoted to "conscious incompetence" ie. we don’t know how to do it & we recognize the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit. Making mistakes can be integral to the learning process. We go thru stages in an unending cycle as we continue to learn, develop & progress. When I worked in a SME, I did it all due to limited resources.I was accountable for my own development. I became flexible, efficient & resourceful. My stakeholders & culture became my on-the-job teachers. When I joined MNCs, my bosses became my mentors. I learned to leverage diversity, build relationships in a matrix org, develop & engage my team.

Continuous learning needs to be valuable and practical for you and your teams. You can start with your workplace's strategic or operational challenges and turn them into opportunities by constructing micro-experiments to help drive a positive change in behaviours, processes, or systems. For example: Workplace strategic challenge: Drive growth through efficiencies and innovation. Workplace challenge: My team needs better ideas! When we meet, I constantly ask for ideas, but I continually have to tell them what to do. Learning opportunity (micro-experiment): In the next meeting, I commit to avoid 'telling' and instead focus on asking powerful questions, such as "What would we do if we had to design our initiation process from scratch?"

To foster a growth mindset for future leadership, prioritize continuous learning. Engage in professional development activities like workshops, courses, and seminars. Seek out mentors and peers who can offer insights and guidance. Embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Stay curious and open-minded, actively seeking new knowledge and skills. By committing to lifelong learning, you'll cultivate the adaptability and resilience needed for success in leadership roles.

As leaders we need to be limitless and what I mean by this is that we need to learn, unlearn, relearn and continuously evolve. Formal learning, gaining feedback, challenging the stats quo and learning on the job by trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone is key.

READ. As much and often as I possibly can. Planning is part of growth strategy and continuous learning should ALWAYS be part of the plan. Be resourceful. Use the internet for research on your topic, books, podcasts, videos, and even mentors in the leadership industry. This helps keep a good flow of ideas and exposure to more inspiration. When we are inspired and full of ideas, we grow.

Feedback is a gift. Giving feedback is easier compared to receiving feedback. It takes an open heart & mind to receive comments we might not like or agree with. It takes humility to truly listen & courage to take the needed actions to improve & raise the bar. The way I’ve dealt with this was to remind myself that whenever I receive a constructive feedback, I’m receiving a precious gift. When I was a new manager, our company had a 360-deg leadership survey & I was surprised to receive a wide range of rates & feedback. I realised then the value of situational leadership, where "one leadership style did not fit all”. The awareness became a key that unlocked my pursuit for continuous development and growth as a people manager and leader.

There is no such thing as failure, only feedback. Give it, get it and be open to taking it on board. Feedback is one of the best ways to learn and grow. How we see ourselves isn't usually how others see us so we need to focus our attention out to see and hear what is real.

Seeking feedback is integral to developing a growth mindset for future leadership roles. Approach feedback with an open mind, viewing it as an opportunity for growth rather than criticism. Actively seek feedback from various sources, including supervisors, peers, direct reports, and mentors. Request specific feedback on areas you want to improve. Encourage feedback providers to be specific and constructive. Ask questions to gain clarity and understand how you can enhance your performance. Listen attentively to feedback without becoming defensive or dismissive. Pay attention to both positive and negative feedback, as both offer valuable insights.

To develop a growth mindset for future leadership roles, actively seek feedback. Request input from mentors, colleagues, and supervisors to gain insights into areas for improvement. Embrace constructive criticism as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks. Reflect on feedback received and incorporate it into your development journey. By seeking feedback, you'll foster self-awareness, resilience, and a mindset conducive to continuous improvement and leadership success.

Some hate the word feedback - it sends shivers down their spine. It's likely that at some stage in their career or indeed life they have had a bad experience. If this is you you might need to reset. This could be as simple as making a decision right now that feedback is great or it could for you be more complicated. If the latter you might want to seek the professional help of a NLP practitioner or something similar. We all live in our own little versions of the world and see things from our perspectives. It's part of being human. Great leaders/great people look at things from alternative perspectives. No matter how good you get at this nothing replaces a direct conversation about how someone else feels, what's their perspective.

Take time to reflect on your experiences, both successes, and failures. Analyze what worked well and what could be improved, and identify lessons learned. Take stock of your strengths and areas for improvement. Celebrate your accomplishments and acknowledge your growth, but also be honest about areas where you can do better. Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. Reflect on what went wrong, what you could have done differently, and how you can avoid similar pitfalls in the future. Remain open to new ideas and perspectives. Use reflection as a tool for continuous learning and growth, adapting your goals and strategies as needed.

To cultivate a growth mindset for future leadership, prioritize regular reflection. Set aside dedicated time to ponder on past experiences, challenges, and achievements. Evaluate your responses, strengths, and areas for improvement. Consider how setbacks can fuel growth and learning opportunities. By reflecting regularly, you'll enhance self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to embrace challenges with a growth-oriented perspective, essential for thriving in future leadership roles.

To foster a growth mindset for future leadership, inspire others. Lead by example, demonstrating resilience and a willingness to learn. Share your growth journey openly, highlighting challenges overcome and lessons learned. Encourage and support others in their development efforts. By inspiring others, you create a culture of continuous improvement and mutual support, essential for thriving in leadership roles.

By embodying a growth mindset, leaders can ignite a transformative journey within their teams, fostering an environment where learning, progress, and resilience thrive. Through sharing experiences, acknowledging achievements, and providing support during adversities, leaders not only hone their own leadership skills but also nurture a culture of continuous improvement and development among their team members. Such leadership not only inspires but also empowers individuals to reach their full potential, driving collective success and growth.

Are you unlocking your leadership potential? Here's how to cultivate a growth mindset. See setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow, fostering resilience and adaptability. Actively seek feedback to identify areas for improvement and continuously evolve as a leader. By inspiring others through your growth mindset, you can prepare for future leadership roles by embracing challenges and seeking feedback to grow continuously.

The best way to inspire others is to give a clear vision of what you value by your actions - not your words. A growth mindset is fostered best in a growth environment. Growth environments require leaders with a growth mindset to be ok with a build, measure, and learn process to achieve longterm success through failure. Growth environments with fixed mindsets often lose momentum and progress by not having all the answers to questions and a fear of failure hindering progress. This is crippling to their ability to act, and react to the needs of the organization in a fluid manor that creates forward progress. As Winston Churchill said "Perfection is the enemy of progress."

This is the single most important thing you can do to operate from a growth mindset - make the conscious choice to eliminate your fear. The fear of failing. The fear of looking stupid. The fear of what others might think about you. All those fears have to go before you can operate from a place of growth. Growing requires learning and learning means mistakes WILL happen. Lean into the process and give yourself grace along the way. None of us are perfect - mastery takes time and with repetition, you can and WILL get there! Be hyper focused on how you speak to yourself to attack fear at the root. Instead of thoughts like “what if I get it wrong?”, try saying “what if it all works out?”

To cultivate a growth mindset for future leadership roles, embrace challenges as opportunities for learning and development. Seek feedback, be open to new ideas, and continuously strive to improve your skills and knowledge through self-reflection and ongoing education.

Through one of the playbook written by me, the research performed by me says, 70 to 90% of people observe, discuss the matters, hear them this helps them to learn a lot. 40 to 60% of people take quick action to see what is reaction if it’s wrong they learn out of it and if that works then great idea. 10 to 30% of people read a lot of articles, books, user guides which helps them to grow like anything. Therefore, all of these actions are very important to take.

Think beyond yourself. Seek opportunities to intervene where you can add value to create a bigger impact Be ahead of curve by adopting and learning about new technologies. That will give you an edge for your future roles

Growth mindset is a popular buzzword but the science is still inconclusive - and sometimes contradictory - whether a growth mindset works for adults at work in the same way it does magic with children at school. A better strategy could be focusing on what has a strong proven relationship with performance and career success and apply evidence-based practices to develop it. For example, personality predicts job performance and progression potential. If we see personality as behaviors, it becomes easier to change aspects of it to be better. Like being more curious - by asking questions, reading widely, being open to new experiences, etc. Which sounds like something that strengthens your growth mindset :) Essence trumps labels.