How do you cultivate a growth mindset in your team?

🌱Lead by example; show your team your willingness to learn and adapt. 📝Set individual and team learning goals to encourage continuous improvement. 🔄Celebrate both progress and setbacks to normalize growth through challenges. 💬Foster open feedback, emphasizing that constructive criticism drives development. 🎯Encourage experimentation, giving team members room to innovate and take risks. 📚Provide resources for personal and professional growth, like training and workshops. 🚀Recognize achievements, reinforcing a positive attitude toward effort and perseverance.

Research shows that fostering a growth mindset, a concept developed by psychologist Carol Dweck, can have significant benefits. This mindset is based on the belief that our basic qualities, like intelligence or talent, are not fixed traits. Instead, they can be cultivated and improved through dedication and hard work. Dr. Dweck contrasts this with a fixed mindset, which assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative abilities are static and unchangeable. According to her research, having a growth mindset creates a love for learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishments.

I cultivate a growth mindset on my teams and with my collaborative partners through driving innovation. In many ways, it is very easy to get caught in maintaining the status quo. In order to have new results, sometimes we need a new path. I am very fortunate to have a team with a variety of skillsets and many years of experience to facilitate developing new pathways to an old problem.

Teams also remember the leaders who aren't afraid to step out of the office, roll up their sleeves and lend a helping hand towards projects - or even pose problem-solving exercises to colleagues that gets their juices flowing. For example, I knew that a large majority of a team I led were taking college math courses, so during short office breaks I would write a calculus problem on our white board for anyone to work on solving.

Constructive feedback should encourage learning and development rather than just pointing out mistakes. By framing challenges as opportunities for growth and offering support and resources, you help team members view setbacks as part of the learning process, creating a culture of continuous improvement and resilience.

Feedback should guide team members toward growth, especially when adapting to shifting customer needs. Focus on how effort, strategy, and resourcefulness lead to improvement, rather than fixed traits. For example, when a project misses customer expectations, provide actionable steps for recalibration while acknowledging effort. This approach reinforces resilience, showing that setbacks are steppingstones rather than failures, driving continuous improvement.

Make room in your team's schedule for at least one team building exercise per quarter or a frequency that works best for everyone. It doesn't have to be very long, but design it where everyone gets involved, and poses a challenge. If colleagues struggle be sure to debrief afterwards, and discuss what went well, what didn't, and what improvements could be made. If teammates experienced difficulties, praise them for opening themselves up to challenges. Being uncomfortable isn't easy, so by normalizing this your teammates will be open and more confident towards taking on challenges at work.

Es usual que el día a día nos lleve a esos espacios rutinarios capaces de apagar iniciativas, por tanto es urgente el promover espacios ( no rutinarios ) para la colaboración y desarrollo de iniciativas que den paso al intraemprendimiento en nuestras organizaciones.

In my previous role our leadership would encourage everyone to take on a task even if they knew nothing about it. Once that individual took ownership they would then have them gather others to share their input on how to solve the task.

Collaboration enhances resilience and flexibility by pooling diverse strengths to solve complex problems. Encourage team members to share lessons from past successes and setbacks, especially those tied to customer demands. For example, facilitate brainstorming sessions where different perspectives can spark innovative solutions. By fostering a culture of trust and peer support, your team becomes adept at navigating uncertainty while leveraging collective intelligence.

Do not be afraid of hitting walls, just prepare yourself to deal with the challenge when it comes. Challenges are a very important part of life, if you do not face challenges, there won't be successes to record. Let your team understand that there'll be days when your products will fail woefully but, the main failure is in accepting to remain there. Teach your team to prepare for falls, accept them and deal with them effectively

From my experience, and based on e.g. Gallup research, people are much more engaged and take up new things when their talents and potential is being valued and supported. Of course that it is good to cross the comfort zone, but to stretch instead of building up stress. I do it by discussing with my team members how they feel and what they think about certain challenge that they are about to take up. Sometimes they are not ready to take it and it is also ok.

Challenges are the crucible for growth and adaptability. Frame obstacles as opportunities for innovation and skill-building, encouraging your team to tackle them strategically. For instance, if a client’s requirements suddenly evolve, guide the team to experiment with new approaches. Celebrate not just outcomes but the learning process, reinforcing the idea that resilience is built through facing and overcoming challenges together.

A growth mindset is having a relentless curiosity. Staying brave to question and and inquire. Growth mindset isn't just about acquiring new knowledge. It's also about identifying what needs to be re-learned and being open to it, recognizing the skills that need to be refined and sharpened, and being receptive to these changes. Equally important is discerning what needs to be unlearned, letting go of self-limiting beliefs that can act as roadblocks to our journey towards mastery and growth.

Curiosity and open mind is one of the most needed skills today. Not only to create new ideas, but to challenge old, existing ones. Spot where things can be done differently, maybe automated, so that people really work on something that sparks their energy and passion.

Curiosity drives adaptability, a critical asset in responding to customer needs. Create opportunities for your team to explore trends, ask "what if" questions, and pilot new ideas. For example, encourage team members to attend industry webinars or research emerging customer behaviors, then share their insights. By cultivating curiosity, you equip your team with the tools to anticipate and respond to changes proactively.

"Leading by example" is a powerful way to nurture a growth mindset. Showing how you personally learn, overcome challenges, and accept feedback sets a tone for the team. It creates a positive environment where: - No one feels the need to oversell themselves. - Everyone understands the mission and vision. - Team members inspire one another. Fostering collaboration and diverse thinking is key. Welcome different views and feedback warmly. Aim for small, clear, achievable goals to mark progress. Remember, it's also important to accept challenges and failures as part of the journey.

A growth mindset stems from a high level of emotional intelligence. It's a blend of courage, optimism, patience, and empathy. COURAGE: bravery to venture into the unknown, to persist despite stumbling blocks. OPTIMISM: maintaining a positive outlook, believing that even amidst uncertainty, progression is possible. PATIENCE: enduring hardships, trusting the process, and demonstrating resilience. EMPATHY: having self compassion and not being overly critical or judgemental when we face failure. Instead, it's about embracing the lessons and growing stronger.

Growth mindset = reward from the process and not just the end goal. This means you gain a dopamine response from the process itself. When you focus on the imagined future goal, you gain a dopamine response (rise in dopamine), followed by a temporary decrease in baseline dopamine, negatively impacting the dopamine associated with the task. For example, if you go to the gym with the goal of an aspirational future body, your dopamine will spike, then drop, inevitably decreasing motivation (dopamine) associated with the task. It’s why many quit along the way. Growth mindset is about rewarding yourself for showing up and doing the task and not just for the future reward. There is significant data to support this: see prof Carol Dweck/Huberman 🫶

This one is important. It’s one thing to know that talent and intelligence are just the starting points; it’s another to turn growth into a daily habit. For me, growth isn’t about giant leaps but those small, “ta-da” moments that steadily build confidence and skill. I often advise my clients to take a moment each week to jot down a small win or lesson learned—like handling a tough conversation or sparking a new idea. This regular habit does more than track wins; it keeps learning and resilience in focus. For leaders, valuing these small wins sets a powerful example, building a culture where growth is a journey, not a destination.

Consistent reinforcement solidifies a growth mindset, especially when balancing resilience and flexibility. Recognize individual and team progress in adapting to customer-driven challenges. For example, highlight instances where the team successfully adjusted processes to meet evolving demands. Regularly communicate how a growth mindset fuels success, building a culture that values learning, innovation, and adaptability in the face of uncertainty.

A crucial aspect of the growth mindset involves separating our identity from outcomes. Rather than defining ourselves by our failures or successes, a growth mindset encourages us to view challenges, setbacks, and criticism as opportunities to learn and improve. This perspective allows us to stay motivated and keep progressing, despite the inevitable obstacles we encounter along our journey. In a nutshell, the growth mindset is about believing in our “potential” to develop and grow. It a mindset of staying open to feedback, and seeing challenges as opportunities, all of which can lead to greater success and satisfaction in our personal and professional lives.

Building a growth mindset also requires celebrating stories of resilience within the team. Share examples of how adaptability led to positive outcomes, such as pivoting strategies to meet a challenging customer request. Use these stories to inspire confidence and showcase the value of persistence. Additionally, integrate growth-focused discussions into one-on-ones and team meetings to embed continuous improvement into daily operations. These practices ensure the mindset becomes part of the team’s DNA, enabling sustainable success.