Do you inspire a growth mindset?
Some ways to evaluate this are by looking at the way that you and your people handle failure, the language and tone being used, and how leaders and teammates interact with one another.
For us to develop a growth mindset culture, we must:
- Be a life-long learner
- Understand that failure is an opportunity for growth
- Encourage open and candid conversations.
1. Be a life-long learner
How does your organization establish higher sustainability, competitiveness, profitability, and wins? John Maxwell states, “Leadership and personal development compounds. The more you invest in people and the longer you do it, the greater the growth and the higher the return.” Leadership must be concerned with human development, but they must first recognize each individual’s capacity to learn. Continuous learning takes many different forms. These include critical life experiences, failures, reading books, and structured classroom training. These are all effective methods of education. When an organization can capture these moments, and leverage them for growth, then everyone will be motivated to grow.
2. Understand that failure is an opportunity for growth
Thomas Edison said it this way, “I never lose. I either win or I learn.” Edison failed over 7,000 times inventing the light bulb. Our reaction to failure (and our people’s perception of that reaction) is critical in shaping the culture we desire. Instead of fleeing difficult issues, with the fear of failure minimizing their abilities, we want our people to run toward challenges with boldness, confident that leadership will have their back. Once our team knows that failure is not fatal, we will all be more focused and determined to do what is necessary to advance forward.
3. Encourage open and candid conversations
Do your people feel free to speak their opinion in a respectful manner? For us to maximize our team’s abilities in challenging times, we must have mutual trust, which will allow us to have constructive and balanced conversations. Everyone must be willing to listen to those around them with an open mind and heart. The best ideas will be a collection of the team’s thoughts. It is our job as the leader to create this environment. Therefore, when you can harness people’s passion and intelligence with candid, trusting conversations, something will ignite in their spirit, and everyone around us will be inspired to strive for excellence.
When our people know, see, and feel that you care about them, and you want them to be the best version of themselves, growth will ignite, and everyone will be liberated to take another step.
I would love to hear about your success stories of developing a growth mindset culture and how it impacted your organization, your teammates and families, and the results!
