How To Nurture A Growth Mindset And Prepare For Business Success

What do Michael Jordan, Richard Branson, J. K. Rowling and Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, all have in common?

 A growth mindset.

Success takes consistent hard work and perseverance, combined with unstoppable self belief.

But… It starts with a growth mindset and most successful business owners weren’t born that way!

If you try to learn about, nurture and change to a growth mindset, the magic may just happen…

First, let’s explore the word mindset.

Your mindset is the way you think, the way you perceive the world, your mental attitude – do you see the glass ‘half empty’ or ‘half full’? In business, what risks do you take? How do you deal with success and failure? What do you want to accomplish and how do you do that?

Second, fixed mindset and growth mindset.

Psychology professor Carol Dweck created ‘the growth mindset’ during her study to change and improve student education and performance outcomes. The study questioned whether we teach and develop intelligence or if it is, in fact, fixed?

If you have a fixed mindset, you’ll believe that you’re good at something or you’re not! Your thoughts may turn to:

• ‘I’m not a natural leader.’
• ‘I’m a terrible communicator.’
• ‘I can’t cope with stressful situations.’
• ‘I’m a failure.’

This mindset is limiting, stagnant and oppressive and it’s not the mindset of a successful business owner or entrepreneur. 

In business, if you lead with a fixed mindset, your employees will exist in an atmosphere of self doubt, fear and confusion. It’s human nature to want to be challenged, to learn and develop. After all, these are the type of employees you want to support you in your business, right? Negative business environments are never a good idea.

And those of you with growth mindsets? You have a learning mindset. The belief that you will improve all areas in your life, and in business, by focusing on consistent learning and development. A growth mindset gives you the power to believe in yourself, never give up, learn if you set your mind to it. You aim to win. 

In business, if you lead with a growth mindset, your employees will feel safe and flourish. When you invest in their learning and development, you will cultivate a ‘can do’ culture and productivity will increase.

Your team’s motivation will increase and your employees will buy into your business’s vision, mission, and goals. 

In a nutshell, a growth mindset inspires. If you lead your business with a growth mindset, those working with you will support and produce for you. Your team will be strong and positive. Your business will have a better chance at success.

Perhaps you don’t know that you’ve always had a fixed mindset, or that there is an alternative? When you realize there is another way and apply this to your business, real business success may show up in your life.

So, how do you do this? How do you change from a fixed to a growth mindset? How does this lead to business success?

As a leader, retrain your subconscious mind.

1. Stop asking yourself, ‘What if the business fails?’ ‘What if it doesn’t survive?’ and replace it with questions such as, ‘How can we really make the business succeed?’ ‘How do we make it thrive?’
2. Get rid of negative self-talk. Stop the ‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘It’s too difficult,’ ‘I can’t sell,’ ‘Who am I kidding that I’m a successful business owner?’ As Henry Ford said, ‘ Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t… you’re right!
3. Download positive affirmations such as ‘My business is an enormous success,’ ‘I easily attract clients,’ ‘My business energizes me,’ ‘We turn over £10,000 per month,’ ‘I operate a six-figure business.’
4. View challenges as opportunities, not threats.
5. Don’t assume the worst. Change your assumptions regularly. Rather than assume you will get no new clients this week, assume there’s more than enough new potential clients out there, you just have to figure out a way to find and attract them.
6. Practice gratitude at each stage of your business.
7. Reflect on mistakes and focus on what you have learned, as opposed to stressing over failures.
8. Acknowledge and celebrate your business successes.

Employ the right people.

Depending on the position, qualifications may be important, but they are not always the most important criteria. A heavily qualified employee with a negative attitude can have a detrimental effect on your company, as one bad apple can ‘upset the apple cart.’ Employ people who embrace challenges and like to collaborate. Improve and encourage team development, which ultimately increases positivity and innovation.

Plan.

Focus on scheduling quality time to work on your business. Set learning goals, review, change goals and repeat. Take step-by-step actions for continuous improvement. Plan to grow slowly but efficiently. 

Risk and resilience.

Be confident in taking calculated business risks. Forecast potential risks to your business and develop contingency plans to deal with any difficult situations.

If you lead with a growth mindset, your team will follow and your business will be well on its way to success.

Think about your mindset. Is it a fixed or growth one, or is it mixed? Some days, you may be in a fixed mindset, others a growth one. Whatever mindset stage you are at, aim towards a growth one as often as possible!

Committing to a growth mindset may be a long procedure, but the key is to start by taking small, progressive shifts in your thought processes. 

It will all take time. Your employees, suppliers and collaborators are all human with differing emotions but, if you lead with a growth mindset from the top and practice a culture of positivity daily, business success will happen a lot quicker.

Your subconscious mind has an integral part to play. Work on retraining it with positive affirmations, get rid of negative self-talk, and practice gratitude. You may see the difference in as little as two weeks, with positive changes occurring within your business.

Surround yourself with the best people. It all begins with leadership. What they see in you, they will follow. Let them see a positive growth minded leader.

And… Plan and protect. Take step-by-step actions for continuous improvement and calculated chances for growth. Protect your business from unnecessary risks and power out strong contingency plans.

As Stanford University Psychology Professor Carol Dweck says,

‘Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning.’

 

Richard Pulitzer