17. Path to Elevate and Sustain – Growth Mindset in Leadership

Leadership is the CAPACITY to TRANSLATE a VISION into REALITY. Because, a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. But, without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.

The growth mindset is based on the belief that abilities, intelligence, and talents can be developed through persistence, hard work, and learning.

A growth mindset is an important quality for leaders because it encourages continuous learning and improvement. Leaders must cultivate a growth mindset in their teams by modeling these behaviors themselves.

The growth mindset is a principle that can and should be applied to organizations globally because employees need continuous challenges to keep their roles interesting and should view setbacks as opportunities for growth. Modern organizations follow this principle for employee productivity, growth and retention and using it for the organization’s sustainability and growth.

However, a fixed mindset accepts personal abilities and qualities as fixed and resistant to change.

Skills in Growth Mindset:

Successful leadership styles vary based on the leader and organization. A growth mindset helps leaders thrive in any situation. Individuals possessing a growth mindset approach challenges with assurance. Leadership qualities commonly associated with a growth mindset include:

• Open-mindedness: A growth mindset involves being inclusive and listening to others' unique perspectives.
• Comfort with uncertainty: Embracing uncertainty helps shift from a fixed to a growth mindset. Companies thrive during uncertain times when leaders view them as opportunities for growth.
• Individuality: While like-mindedness is important, individuality encourages innovation, growth, and diversity of thought.

Steps:

Great leaders embrace a growth mindset and continually enhance their leadership skills, fostering development in their employees. Shifting from a fixed to a growth mindset requires planning and diverse leadership styles. However, fostering a growth mindset can help your organization thrive, with employees feeling more satisfied and productive. 

These steps can help to develop, promote and practice a growth mind set.

a. Welcome Criticism

We often avoid criticism, but what if we saw it as a tool for growth? Leaders should seek 360-degree feedback from bosses, peers, stakeholders, and teams.

Embracing constructive feedback is important for your development as a leader because it prevents complacency and encourages continuous growth. Create a space where your team feels comfortable discussing your leadership style and encourage them to do the same with their colleagues. Handled properly, this can resolve workplace conflicts and promote inclusivity.

b. Normalize Mistakes

Remind your teams that success includes both ups and downs. Embrace failures as well as successes. Celebrate efforts, not just outcomes, and encourage self-reflection to analyze mistakes and explore alternatives.

For major projects with multiple participants, consider conducting a lesson learned exercise. Encourage team members to provide suggestions for areas of improvement to reduce the risk of repeating mistakes.

Also, as a leader, embrace vulnerability and share your mistakes and lessons. This fosters connection and creates a safe space for calculated risks.

c. Make Learning A Priority

Make learning a continuous part of your employees' journey, not just during initial training or annual refreshers, but every day. Encourage diverse learning by offering stretch challenges, role swaps, flexible modules, coaching, external training, and both peer and senior mentorship.

Incorporating these practices can improve your company's culture, boost retention and talent attraction, and build resilience against challenges.

Challenges:

Selecting inappropriate leadership development programs can misalign organizational objectives. Having selected the appropriate development opportunities and secured management’s support in fostering a growth mindset, organizations may encounter several common challenges when integrating this mindset into their culture.

a. Misunderstanding the Concept

A growth mindset is not limited to positive thinking or merely valuing effort. While these are components, a growth mindset is fundamentally about the understanding that abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication.

Some individuals might perceive mindset as being either fixed or growth-oriented, without any middle ground. Individuals may find it easier to identify growth opportunities in one area of their expertise but not in another. Similarly, an organization may collectively have a blind spot in its approach to the market. 

Regular education and training are essential to clarify the concept of a growth mindset. Leadership ideas won't last after just one presentation if not continually reinforced. Encourage open dialogue to help clarify concepts for those with questions. 

b. Overcoming Cognitive Bias

Leaders and teams often struggle with cognitive biases that hinder objective thinking and growth. These established mental shortcuts may hinder us from adopting a growth mindset. Confirmation bias directs our focus towards information that supports our preexisting beliefs while disregarding evidence that challenges them. This can limit our ability to see things from different perspectives and identify areas for improvement. Status quo bias encourages us to avoid change. Since change is essential for growth, resistance to change contradicts a growth-oriented mindset. 

Some strategies to overcome bias include:

• Regular self-reflection: Practice makes perfect, even within the realm of self-improvement. Take the time to examine possible areas of biases and assumptions and address them. 
• Encourage diverse views: Differing opinions shouldn't be tolerated; they should be encouraged. Healthy disagreements are the anvil upon which the strongest strategies are forged.
• Data-driven decisions: Relying on data rather than intuition can help mitigate the impact of cognitive biases.

Showcasing:

To inspire a growth mindset, companies should invest and showcase in developing their people. Offering skill development opportunities helps cultivate strong leaders with diverse leadership styles. Executives and managers employ various strategies to foster a growth mindset in others:

• Recognize effort: Praising employees for their efforts, even in failure, encourages them to keep trying and improve.
• Reframing: Problems are largely dependent on one's perspective. The word "yet" is particularly significant in promoting growth mindset thinking. By incorporating the word "yet" negative beliefs can be transformed. For instance, when someone states, "I don't know how to do that," appending "yet" can reframe and positively alter the situation.
• Set an example: The way you communicate and behave around your employees significantly impacts their thoughts, speech, and actions. By adopting a growth mindset, you can encourage your team to do the same.
• Encourage collaboration: Shared learning introduces new perspectives and problem-solving approaches. Working together boosts critical thinking and highlights the importance of listening.
• Let them struggle: Let others struggle for a bit. Jumping in to solve their problems hinders their problem-solving skills. Giving them space allows for independent thinking and solutions you might not have considered.

Benefits:

Having established what a growth mindset is and its significance in business leadership, let's look at the benefits of adopting this framework throughout the organization. A growth mindset can prove invaluable in achieving both short-term goals and long-term vision. Each of these benefits contributes to a healthier and more positive work environment and drives organizational success in measurable ways.

a. Increased Productivity

Employees with a growth mindset see challenges as opportunities to learn. This attitude fosters a team culture of initiative, innovation, and problem-solving. Growth-oriented leaders make data-driven decisions and welcome constructive criticism. By reducing fear, they encourage action and support idea testing, even when facing obstacles.

b. Increased Employee Satisfaction

In today's competitive business environment, employee satisfaction is crucial. Leaders with a growth mindset foster a culture where employees feel engaged and valued. These leaders recognize potential in every team member and provide opportunities for growth, boosting morale and satisfaction.

Growth-minded leaders foster a psychologically safe environment by viewing failures as opportunities for learning. In such an environment, employees experience reduced stress and increased job satisfaction, as they are unafraid to take risks or make mistakes.

c. Increased Adaptability

A growth-minded professional views change as an opportunity, promoting a flexible organizational culture. This adaptability aids in quickly adjusting strategies or adopting new technologies. Growth-minded leaders implement iterative project cycles for rapid adaptation.

d. Positive Impact on the Bottom Line

Study and research show that companies without leadership development programs have the worst financial performance. Although measuring the impact of such investments is challenging, evidence indicates that companies investing in leadership outperform their peers. For high performers, hiring a dedicated coach is a highly effective way to quickly enhance potential.