Hello everyone! Today, we’re going to talk about something that makes all the difference between being a good leader and being an excellent agile leader: it’s about developing a growth mindset.
Does that sound a bit nebulous? Don’t worry, I’m here to clarify all of that.
Are you ready? Let’s get started!
What is the point of developing a growth mindset?
Well, it’s as if you had a magic wand that allows you to transform each obstacle into an opportunity, each failure into a learning experience.
In our current world, everything changes very quickly. Developing a growth mindset allows you to navigate these changes, to learn constantly, and to improve yourself.
And when we learn, we perform, and when we perform, we generally feel quite good about ourselves.
What is a growth mindset?
If you really want to understand the growth mindset, I recommend you read “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck. It is THE reference book to explain how our mindset influences our lives and how we can change it.
She explains that we can learn about everything, at any age… provided we want to. She invites us to have a flexible mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, about our learning capacity. You might have heard people around you – or perhaps even yourself – say “I’m too old to learn!” or “I no longer have the abilities…”
I also invite you to consider your reaction to failure. If you’re depressed and think all is lost, then you probably have a fixed mindset. But if you see this failure as an opportunity to learn and improve, congratulations! You have a growth mindset.
- Does this mean we should always seek to grow and improve?
- Does this mean we should never be satisfied with where we are?
Perhaps! It’s a new mindset to implement. You can recognize the value of your current knowledge, but also explore what makes you grow and evolve, as an individual. You are probably already doing it, without even realizing it, through your life experiences. What I love about the growth mindset is that this mechanism becomes more and more conscious, and it allows you to learn more deliberately about the aspects that YOU have chosen.
At this point, you may be wondering how to develop a growth mindset?
4 steps to developing a growth mindset
Step 1: Create awareness.
For that, take note of your thoughts and reactions to the challenges you face each day. If you find yourself thinking, “I can’t do this,” stop and tell yourself, “I can’t (yet) do this.”
Step 2: Train yourself to see challenges as opportunities.
If something doesn’t go as planned, ask yourself: “What can I learn from this situation? How can I improve?” List the possibilities.
Step 3: Be curious.
Explore topics that interest you or new ones. For example, sign up for trainings, read different books than usual.
Step 4: Practice continuous improvement.
Especially with your teams, through retrospectives for example. Celebrate and learn from your mistakes together. Remember that the important thing is not to be perfect, but to constantly improve.
And as usual, nothing beats practice and experimentation to find what suits you best! Ask yourself what resonates the most with you from what I proposed today and what you would like to test right away.
On that note, I hope this article has been useful to you. Take care!
