Written by: Delanie Jooste, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Our mindsets hold the key to increased resilience, motivation and innovation.
Leaders and teams are constantly faced with new challenges and obstacles. How they approach these can make all the difference. This is where the concept of mindset comes into play. It subtly impacts the way we speak and how we view failures and mistakes, effort, challenges and feedback. An important consideration then becomes how we can cultivate a growth mindset to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep learning. How can we liberate ourselves from being slaves of praise and continuously build self-confidence as we grow and learn? How can we acknowledge and value the impact of hard work and dedication more in our teams?
Our mindset is formed by subtle assumptions and expectations we hold about ourselves, our lives and the situations and people around us. These subtle assumptions shape the way we speak, think, and see others and the world around us and it impacts how we respond, which plays a significant role in the outcomes we generate.
The most exciting, yet at times very challenging, part of this remains that we can change the outcomes, or at least how we engage and respond to them, by cultivating self-awareness and an experimental approach to these underlying habits of thinking that are not supporting us and our teams.
Why am I passionate about cultivating a growth mindset? Because I’ve seen the harmful impact it has both in my development and the development of the leaders and teams I work with. A fixed mindset lives in a world of "perfect", "good", "bad", "right" and "wrong" which when it comes to the development of a skill, relationship or even a mindset, can be very limiting. It often sets off a not-so-kind, complete opposite of a cute "Oops, I did it again", inner dialogue of harsh criticism which leaves you feeling drained, demotivated and defeated.
Alarm bells might be ringing at this point. In what world of mediocrity will you be living if not for the concept of "good" and "bad"? Simple, you’ll be living in a world where "good" can always be improved on and "bad" is how we get there. That sounds like a win to me.
In this article I am, again, inviting you to adopt a curious mindset with an experimental approach, playing with the concept of cultivating a growth mindset. To support you in doing this, we will look at some questions that will identify where a fixed mindset might still be present in your team, and we will look at practical steps you can take to cultivate a growth mindset in your team.
Let’s start at the beginning. A fixed mindset is the belief that your intelligence, talents, and abilities are fixed traits that cannot be changed. In contrast, a growth mindset is a belief that these traits can be developed and improved through dedication and hard work. The impact of these mindsets on the way teams approach each other and their challenges can be significant.
For me, even the concept of labelling yourself as either having "a fixed mindset" or "a growth mindset" runs the risk of catapulting you into a "fixed mindset". In my experience, I find it more helpful to imagine these two concepts as pools that you are swimming in and at times you dip your toe into the other.
It then becomes helpful to determine:
"Where am I (or is our team) mostly swimming and dipping my (our) toes into? ", and
"What are some of the impacts of a fixed mindset that we are aware of that are restricting us in any way?", and take it from there.
I’ve also found that under stress/pressure, it’s easier to fall back on our fixed assumptions and beliefs. So, working on cultivating a growth mindset continuously will support you at times when you need it most.
A fixed mindset can sneak up on us in very subtle ways, so let’s explore how limiting fixed mindsets or expanding growth mindsets can affect us when we look at:
Failures and Mistakes – With a fixed mindset we tend to see failures and mistakes as a reflection of our abilities and may give up or avoid future challenges. With a growth mindset, we see failures and mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve, leading to increased resilience and perseverance. We should accept our and others’ failures and mistakes as unavoidable contributors, and even beneficial, to our learning. How are we responding to our own and others’ mistakes? What can we say and do differently to change how we respond to mistakes? How are we responding to failures? What can we do to cultivate a growth mindset when it comes to our failures and those of the team?
Effort – With a fixed mindset we may avoid challenges that require significant effort because we believe that talent alone is enough to succeed. When we employ a growth mindset, we understand that effort is essential for success, which allows us to embrace challenges that require hard work. What often feels like an effort in our team and how can we respond to that in a new way that values effort as part of continuous improvement?
Challenges – When we look at challenges with a fixed mindset we may shy away from challenges because we fear failure and exposing our weaknesses when a growth mindset allows us to embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. Which challenges do we shy away from, and what small steps can we take as a team to embrace challenges in a new way?
Feedback – When we receive feedback with a fixed mindset, we may be more likely to discount negative feedback because we see it as a reflection of our abilities, while a growth mindset allows us to see it as an opportunity to learn and improve. One of the most powerful lessons I learned from Dr Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset, was that even positive feedback, like praising yourself or your team by celebrating those "good job" moments, can subtly strengthen the fixed mindset because it reinforces the idea that there is a "perfect" answer or solution. For me, the balance remains important here in always celebrating the successes and learnings – acknowledging the presence of both in every situation. How am I receiving and giving feedback?
Now that we understand the difference between a growth and fixed mindset and how it impacts us, and we’ve explored some questions that will allow your team to explore new ways of engaging with failures, effort, mistakes, challenges and feedback, I’m curious. Which of these aspects would you like to focus on in cultivating a growth mindset? One, two, all of them?
Let's explore some practical tips for cultivating a growth mindset in your team for each of these concepts.
For failures, encourage your team to reframe them as opportunities to learn and improve. When a challenge is not met, take the time to debrief and discuss what can be learned from the experience. This will help your team develop resilience and perseverance.
For mistakes, create a safe space for your team to make mistakes and learn from them. Encourage them to see mistakes as opportunities for growth and development.
For effort, celebrate hard work and dedication, not just talent or natural abilities. Encourage your team to embrace challenges that require effort and praise their dedication to the task at hand.
For challenges, provide support and guidance to your team as they tackle difficult tasks. Encourage them to see challenges as opportunities to learn and improve, and celebrate their progress and growth along the way.
Finally, when it comes to feedback, encourage your team to embrace both positive and constructive feedback on areas where one can improve, as opportunities to learn and grow. Ensure that, as their leader, you prepare and offer feedback with a growth mindset; this too is a skill that can be cultivated. Rather than focusing on the “perfect” answer or solution, encourage them to focus on growth and development.
According to Dweck, you can also:
Encourage a love of learning: Emphasise the value of effort, growth, and learning over achievement alone. Celebrate progress and effort, not just the final result.
Emphasise the power of “yet”: Encourage your team to adopt a growth mindset by using the word “yet” when faced with challenges. For example, “I don’t understand this concept yet.”
Encourage risk-taking: Emphasise the value of taking risks and trying new things, even if they fail. Encourage your team to view mistakes and failures as opportunities for growth and learning.
Provide specific, constructive feedback: Feedback should be specific, focused on the process rather than the person, and provide constructive suggestions for improvement. Negative feedback would for example focus on the person: “You are lazy and slow” as opposed to framing it more constructively to clarify your expectation: “I did not have enough time to review the previous report before our meeting, I need the updated report completed and checked by noon, today.”
Foster collaboration and teamwork: Encourage collaboration and teamwork, emphasising that everyone can learn from one another, and that success is often a result of working together.
Lead by example: Model a growth mindset by being open to feedback, taking risks, and embracing challenges, failures and mistakes as opportunities for growth.
In conclusion, cultivating a growth mindset is a crucial component of effective leadership and team development. By understanding the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, teams and leaders can shift their way of speaking and thinking towards growth, leading to increased resilience, motivation, and innovation.
Understanding is only the beginning of the process, and that knowledge can only become part of your new way of thinking, speaking and doing if you reflect on how you are engaging with failures, effort, mistakes, challenges and feedback as a team and if you experiment with thinking about and doing things in a new way.
Our responses and ways of thinking are habitual and can be changed if we cultivate self-awareness in a team, allowing us to choose a new way of responding in situations where a fixed mindset creeps in.
Teams must actively create conversations about how they engage with failures, effort, mistakes and challenges to continuously cultivate a growth mindset.
As Carol Dweck said, "Becoming is better than being. " So, let's strive towards becoming better leaders and teams. Let’s share these concepts and talk about how we can become more fulfilling and successful workplaces.
For a quick reference, download the one-page summary that includes reflection questions for you and your team, and strategies to cultivate a growth mindset.
Please reach out via email if you’d like to work together on developing customised strategies for you and your team to cultivate a fixed mindset when it comes to dealing with mistakes, failures, effort, challenges and feedback.
If you’d like to know more about practical steps that you can apply to adopt a curious approach to cultivate new habits in the workplace that lead to continuous improvement, read my previous article on "6 Simple Steps to Get Unstuck in Stale Work Relationships".
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Delanie Jooste, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
I am a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West and the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. I am also a passionate Certified Enneagram Practitioner through Integrative Enneagram Solutions and run my own Consulting Business and Coaching Practice. I am creative and analytical and incorporate LEAN principles with Positive, Conversational and Emotional Intelligence concepts in Team and Leadership Development Programmes which integrate coaching, training and development initiatives to build the systems, skills, competencies and habits that allow teams and individuals to develop agency, expand their perspective and increase their capacity to achieve their desired outcomes.
