What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means

One of the greatest challenges for business leaders in Singapore is adapting to the swift changes in the business landscape. There’s so much change happening in every aspect of markets and this calls for flexibility and solid organizational culture. As a business leader, your team is the most valuable asset if you’re to maneuver the turbulence in the business landscape.

At the heart of successful organizational culture is the growth mindset. Since Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University first described the growth mindset, it has become a buzz phrase in business management. But what does it really mean and how does it affect your organization’s success?

This post explores the growth mindset in detail and highlights the critical role it can play in the success of your company.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset?

A growth mindset holds that skills and abilities can be improved. When an employee joins your organization, they bring on board their beliefs and a certain mindset. The best mindset for the volatile business environment today is one that’s flexible enough to accept that everyone can improve their knowledge, talent or skills through hard work, innovative strategies, growth mindset training, and input from others.

On the other end of the spectrum is a fixed mindset which unfortunately is common in the organizational structure. This is a belief among leaders or employees that talent is an innate gift. Such individuals don’t value learning or improving what they know or accepting the input of others in the organization.

Individuals with a fixed mindset perceive change as a threat and they can inhibit growth in your organization. Such situations can lead to distress and anxiety, which affects productivity or affects the decision-making process.

What’s more, a fixed mindset can cause insecurity or defensiveness at the workplace, a natural response that inhibits growth. Leaders with fixed mindsets create a culture of fear in their organizations and this leads to poor motivation and myriad problems within the organization.

Because of the lack of flexibility in leadership, such organizations develop a defensive and finger-pointing culture where every employee cares about their own safety and not that of their organization.

Impact of Growth Mindset in an Organization:

To appreciate what a growth mindset really is, consider how it affects different aspects of employee behavior and consequently the organisational culture. Here are some aspects of the growth mindset at play:

Intelligence-

Individuals with a growth mindset are ready to embrace new ideas. They believe that intelligence can be boosted by integrating new knowledge. If you organize a growth mindset program for your team, such employees are open to learning and this benefits the organization.

A growth mindset in an individual manifests in the desire for lifelong learning. These individuals put an effort to learn new things, and this has a positive impact on the organisation.

Resilience-

The business world is tough and business leaders and employees face myriad challenges along the way. The way you respond to such challenges determines the success of your organization’s objective. People with a growth mindset are resilient and see setbacks as a chance to learn. They feel empowered to attain the set objectives despite the challenges.

Flexibility-

The organizational setup requires decision-making on the fly and this is only possible if you are a flexible leader with equally flexible workers. A growth mindset is versatile and ready to adapt to new situations fast. In a world where innovation is at the heart of business success, organizations need people who are flexible enough to leverage new technologies and ideas.

Motivation-

A person with a growth mindset is self-motivated and willingly embraces challenges as part of the learning curve. They go ahead with new tasks despite the risk of failure and this is an attribute that every organisation needs to succeed.

Motivated leaders and employees believe in making an effort to improve the situation, unlike people with a fixed mindset who believe they know everything. A leader with a  growth mindset is ready to develop talent in the team and inspires growth among the employees.

Feedback-

In an organizational setup, criticism is part of the job and as a leader or employee, how you react to such feedback determines how successfully you play your part. People with a growth mindset readily accept criticism and use it as an opportunity to grow.

Developing a Growth Mindset-

There’s no doubt a growth mindset culture can promote the success of your organization. For this reason, you have to take proactive action as a leader to grow such a culture. Start by partnering with a mindset trainer and enroll your team in a growth mindset workshop. Such training transforms your ordinary employees into a high-performance team raring to meet organizational goals.

Final Thoughts:

Like with many new ideas or concepts, a growth mindset is greatly misunderstood in the organizational setup. Many business leaders talk about it in meetings and exhort their teams to embrace new thinking while they suffer inhibitions of a fixed mindset. With this insight, you can now set a programme for your team to start developing the right mindset to meet your organization’s goals.

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