Leadership Mindset

American psychologist Abraham Maslow was most famous for his hierarchy of needs model.  This model, taking the form of a pyramid, describes how we fulfill our innate human needs in a priority order.  At the bottom of the pyramid are the necessities for human survival; food, water, and warmth.  At the top of the pyramid is the drive to achieve Self-Actualization.  Referring to the Oxford Dictionary, once again, Self-Actualization is, “The realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone.”  This is where, if achieved, the promises, hope, and future possibilities of potential are fully realized and achieved.  The seed, once tiny and meek, has grown into the giant oak tree.  Unfortunately, not everyone lives up their full potential and become self-actualized.

So what about you?  How do you reach your full potential?  Congratulations, you’ve already taken your first step.  If you are reading this, it means you have the desire to do so.  Desire is not enough; you need to grow.  The first step on the path to growth is to develop the proper mindset.

Carol Deck, Ph.D. is the premier researcher in the area of mindset. In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success she uses a series of questions to determine her reader’s mindset.  The following are modeled after her original questions.  Ask yourself if you agree or disagree with:

My leadership ability is something very basic about me that I cannot change very much.
I can learn new things, but I can’t really change how good of a leader I am.
No matter how much leadership ability I was born with, I can always improve quite a bit.
I can substantially change how good of a leader I am.
Questions 1 & 2 are fixed mindset questions, questions 3 & 4 are growth mindset questions.  By the way, you can substitute intelligence, artistic talent, sports ability, etc. for “leadership ability” or “leader.”  What is a fixed and growth mindset?  I’m glad you asked.

According to Dr. Dweck, a fixed mindset is when a person believes their intelligence, leadership ability, creativity, etc. are all static and cannot change.  If you have a fixed mindset, you believe your qualities are carved stone.  Who you are is who you are, period.  You were born with a certain amount of ability, and there is nothing you can do to change it.  Failures in life, says the person with the fixed mindset, are due to hitting your limits and is proof you have no more ability.  Failures will be avoided at all costs as they reinforce the idea of limitations.

A person with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believes they can grow in all areas.  You believe that your qualities can be developed through dedication and hard work.  The brain is viewed as a muscle, the more it is pushed to its limits, the more it expands.  If you have a growth mindset, you believe you have the ability to learn from your failures and become a better person from experience.  Failures are not negative, but seen as opportunities to learn.

So what is your mindset?  If you already have a growth mindset congratulations, welcome to the lifelong learner’s club. Your brain is already programmed to learn and grow.  Do you have a plan for personal growth? I suggest starting a growth journal.  Write down the areas in which you would like to develop.  If you want to grow in your career, what skills do you need to develop?  If you have yet to discover your purpose, you need to grow in the area of self-awareness.  The area of relationships needs to be grown if you want to be a better parent or spouse.  No matter what area you choose to focus on, I suggest you make a small change in the behavior you do every day.  These small changes need to be tracked to see your progress.  Track your changes in your journal.

What about those who have a fixed mindset?  Chances are, they stopped reading this article several minutes ago.  On the off chance, there are still one or two of you reading here is my suggestion.  Stop it!  You have a choice on how your brain operates.  Stop limiting your beliefs.  You DO have the potential to grow.  You DO have the potential to learn new things.  You DO have the potential to develop new skills.  The first step to change your mindset is to change your mindset.  That’s right, it is a conscious choice, but you MUST choose to do so.

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