Growth Mindset Immersion with a LeaderMom Twist
Recognizing a great idea is one thing; practicing it consistently is another.
Carol Dweck’s work on growth vs. fixed mindset is one of the most powerful leadership frameworks out there. In our latest eblast, we discussed the latest fast-skills session with Rob Fazio, PhD; along with specific tools to enable you to practice it at work and home; and a book summary to reinforce it. Putting this growth-mindset thing into practice is a game changer.
In addition, we want to share how we are putting the growth mindset into our leadership practices at LeaderMom. Our second board meeting was held last Friday in Rockefeller Center in NYC. It was amazing not only because of the caliber of the people, but because of examples like these of how we are bringing growth mindset to our work:
Our team shared progress on goals and milestones achieved with joy and pride, and we openly talked about a couple of targets that we missed. We talked with ownership of strengths and curiosity, naming our wins and our learnings about what is taking more effort or time than we anticipated without embarrassment. We talk about how we are “moving rocks” day by day.
Our board chair, Lauren Zajac, set and protected a tone that artfully honoring our contributions, challenges and learnings. She called out strategies we are using that are working, and applauded us for learning fast.
Anna Gauthier provided a competitive analysis to understand our relative strengths and to pay attention to, and learn from, other organization’s successes. (Please share any organizations you admire too.)
Steve Lindia asked beautifully hard questions and is providing insights to make our self-assessment even stronger (more on that soon!)
Jessica Bishop listened hard, captured key points, and held us all accountable at the close of the meeting. “Twice now we have skated over that. We have not made a decision yet, and we said we were going to do that.”
Nasheela O’Dowd was praised for the work and wisdom she put into very cool mockups, and she immediately booked time to seek people’s feedback to make those drafts better.
On a personal note, there is positive work-life spillover to be had from the growth-mindset modeling, too. When I got home late Friday night, my youngest said this: “Mom, hi! I waited up for you. I know you worked really hard to get ready for this meeting. How did it go?”
I told him our board meeting was incredibly additive and inspiring. No one tried to look smart; everyone worked hard to clarify and advance the mission. There’s joy in working hard on something challenging and being encouraged to be braver, and it’s amazingly powerful when it’s shared by your teams at work.
P.S. This is why we wrote that blog on recovery skills!