This past weekend, I posted a LinkedIn column attributing Microsoft’s recent success to the Growth Mindset culture encouraged by CEO Satya Nadella, because he urged his team to embrace the teachings of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck.
The book’s central premise is that the growth mindset helps you cultivate improvements in your life through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. It is based on the belief that everyone can change and grow through application and experience.
Be flexible in how you think of others. As master transformation expert Tony Robbins says, “The strongest force in the human personality is this need to stay consistent with how we define ourselves.” For a fixed mindset personality, that means you’re vulnerable for a downfall whenever you think you are the smartest in the conference room.
If you will put all your poker chips on your brilliance, what happens when someone one-ups your marketing strategy? Or worst yet, how’s your house of cards when your cutting-edge technology roll-out proves to be a strategy fraught with waste, and a source for great financial pain for your company?
Your “brilliance” is the dark shadow of a very insecure world.
“Lurking behind that self-esteem of the fixed mindset is a simple question: If you’re somebody when you’re successful, what are you when you’re unsuccessful?” Dweck asks.
Be ruthless in your pursuit for growth in every situation, even moments that may appear as a setback. Find potential where others see nothing, and your company and its customers will benefit.
Check out my LinkedIn column for five tips to protect yourself against the doom and gloom world of fixed mindset thinking.
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