Does having a Growth Mindset lead to better success?

There have been countless articles written about the Growth mindset. It's a common teaching in leadership programs, an expectation on job applications and a given in a startup environment. But how much does having a certain mindset help lead you to better success?

Before I jump into addressing these questions, let me give you a brief refresher if you haven’t read the book. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset, Changing the Way you Think to Fulfil your Potential, after over 30 years of research, found the “view you adopt for yourself” profoundly affects the way you lead your life.

She compares 2 distinct types of mindsets, the Fixed mindset and the Growth mindset. People with a Fixed mindset believe that abilities are fixed - that intelligence, a certain personality or moral character, cannot change with time. If I reflect on my upbringing, I came from a traditional Chinese household but grew up in Australia. Although my parents were relatively liberal in their views, they still believed that a successful career was growing up to be a doctor, an accountant or engineer (which both my parents and my siblings are!), so I had focused on (trying) to be smart and studious. I, however, did not do exceptionally at school nor did I achieve any of those professions. I often felt like the black sheep.

On the other hand, Dweck talks about the Growth mindset where people believe the “hand you are dealt” is just the starting point for development. The Growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies and help from others. People with a Growth mindset thrive on the challenges of life. Whilst I think my upbringing led me to have fixed mindset tendencies, I have later joked about my “black sheep” label and used this as a source of strength, pushing myself to be more adventurous and resilient and try new things.

Leadership and Mindset

So Dweck goes on to share a number of examples in sport, in leadership, in teaching, in relationships. Let's take the examples from leadership. Leadership mindset permeates throughout an organisation and it comes from the top. Companies would benefit from looking for growth minded talent and investing in regular training to foster growth minded managers. Leaders can sometimes stop learning once they receive their title, can stop seeking to improve and become stagnant and fixed minded. If company’s need to shift culture, they need to look firstly at the top for a humble CEO, that strives to learn more, listens to employees, maintains humanity and humility vs the larger than life persona CEO looking to better their own public image. Then implement values that help employees improve their abilities and self development.

Organisations can also develop a mindset - a culture of genius for example is focused on looking smart rather than working hard. This can encourage unethical behaviour. Price Waterhouse Cooper and the leaking of government tax plans is probably a recent doozy that comes to mind. Versus a culture of development seen in companies that focus on effort, mentoring and skill development, such as Canva. It means that employees are more likely to be retained, engaged and foster a better commitment to their company’s success.

So what can this all mean for me?

A Growth mindset, a positive outlook, can take you part way there. It's what you do next that makes the difference to your work and life success. The most talented athletes aren’t the ones that were necessarily the best at their sport. They are the ones that worked hardest at building their abilities, maintaining a character of integrity. Champions see success as improving, learning, giving their best effort, taking charge of their success vs presenting themselves as better than others or blaming other factors if things go wrong.

Mindset is not linear, as you progress over time old doubts will still pop up. Your belief system is deeply rooted. To grow and thrive requires a combination of effort, coupled with taking risks, trying new strategies and learning from setbacks and areas you fail in. Otherwise stagnation ensues.

Commitment to succeed or change is a long game and requires a clear action plan - timeframe, steps, goals, practice and action. Steps should be taken to challenge temptations, triggers and setbacks. In psychology, these are limiting beliefs. One strategy is to understand when these limiting beliefs start to trigger in you. Name it. Be clear on what you want to shift eg. if you hear yourself saying I’m not a confident or assertive person. Someone with a Growth mindset would add, yet. Can you visualise a time you were assertive? How did that feel? What did you notice about your body, your posture? If you find this exercise impossible for you, use someone else you see who exhibits this behaviour as a muse. Fast forward to a future state/goal/event such as a job interview or presentation, recall and visualise that state. Make time to recognise your triggers and practice recalling that state of confidence.

In order to build momentum for change, it requires you to accept that you have a fixed mindset to some extent and to gain momentum towards success requires effort - practice, action and boldness and some level of risk to move you forward. A Growth mindset is not the panacea for individuals to make the most of their lives, it's what you keep doing next that makes all the difference.

Posted by Amanda Behre, CEO of Dear Thrive

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