Growth Mindset – we need to have one!

In their 2020 Workplace Learning Trends Report, Udemy noted that the fastest growing soft skill in 2020 is “growth mindset”. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, learn from feedback and criticism and see failure as an opportunity for learning. They tackle obstacles and turn them into opportunities. Their mantra is “I can do it”. These are the type of employees you want to have in your team.
But it’s not realistic to expect that all individuals will come to the workplace with a growth mindset. In her book Mindset, Carol Dweck notes that “our best bet is to look for managers who also embody a growth mindset: a zest for teaching and learning, an openness to giving and receiving feedback, and an ability to confront and surmount obstacles”.
The specific actions she notes include conveying that the organisation values learning and perseverance and giving feedback in a way that promotes learning and future success.
Dweck references global leaders Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner and Anne Mulcahy and notes their way of working “As growth minded leaders they start with a belief in human potential and development – both their own and other people’s. Instead of using the company as a vehicle for their greatness, they use it as an engine of growth-for themselves, the employees and the company as a whole…… They talk journey. An inclusive, learning-filled, rollicking journey.
I’d love to hear if this resonates with you – either as a reality or “just not going to happen”!