“To change your life, you have to change yourself. To change yourself you have to change your mindset.” -Wilson Kanadi
In life, it is imperative to master a strong and disciplined mindset. It can be developed and nurtured over time and gives you the ability and agility to own your thoughts. Your thoughts and way of thinking determine how you feel and therefore the action you do or don’t take.
In a leadership role, if you are focusing and building your thoughts on catching your team out then I can almost guarantee you will. The mind is an amazing machine and will actually sort and perceive the world to tune in on what you are focusing on. On the flip side, if you have the belief as I do, to build a strength-based team, you will identify strengths in all team members and leverage this for the good.
Mindsets are basically beliefs, beliefs about you such as talent, intellect, skill and who you are. Carol Dweck, a renowned Stanford University psychologist believes there are two types of mindsets we can apply to these factors.
Fixed Mindset:
This is where you apply the belief that what you have and what you are is a given and can’t be changed. You see this as fixed and cannot be changed or developed. A typical behaviour of somebody with this mindset is that they give up easily, avoid anything that challenges them and believe effort is wasted time. They are usually not open to feedback and self-growth and believe that intellect is something you have or haven’t got. Many times when stuck in a fixed mindset you feel threatened by the success of others. Overall this mindset keeps you “frozen” in time. We all come across people with this mindset, and if like me, being the polar opposite it can be really frustrating and toxic
Growth Mindset:
When you adopt a growth a mindset the sky is the limit! You believe intellect can be increased and developed. You take feedback on board and apply it to better yourself and you believe in the effort to grow yourself and make the effort to do this. Successful leaders have a growth mindset and this is vital as your mindset can instil belief not only in you but in your team and their abilities and your overall connection with the team and results. People with a growth mindset enjoy seeing others succeed and use this as inspiration and some even emulate this success as a motivator.
It makes sense to nurture and develop a Growth Mindset. It has been proven this mindset can foster motivation and productivity, especially in a leadership role. It also contributes to one of the most important aspects of leadership, which is developing and enhancing relationships.
What mindset occupies your thinking the majority of the time? What do you need to let go of or let in to further develop a growth mindset?
Kind Regards
Renée Giarrusso
“The Top Fifteen Percent Leader”
A dynamic interactive leadership program, run as an openly facilitated program 3 hours a month over the year!
Contact us for our FREE whitepaper and program details
Renée Giarrusso is an accomplished Lead Coach, Trainer and Keynote Speaker who works with high performing leaders and their teams across a myriad of industries and organisations.
She passionately helps leaders fulfil their full potential resulting in increased motivation and performance. Her expertise in growing and developing capability and behavioural change around leadership, communication, transition and sales effectiveness leave her clients inspired, re-energised and with improved results.
Contact us for a chat and see how we can collaborate with you for even more success!
