The Power of a Growth Mindset to Navigate the Future Workplace

“You’re in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way.” – Carol Dweck

Our minds are powerful tools that heavily influence how we perform at work, cultivate new skills, and push ourselves to new limits. As the world is moving at a faster rate each day, it is more important than ever for us to keep up with the imminent changes and challenges we may face in the workplace by developing a growth mindset. According to the Harvard Business Review, employees who work for a company that fosters a growth mindset culture are 34% more likely to feel committed to their organisation, with a further 65% agreeing that their company would fully support them taking risks.[1] But what is a growth mindset, and how can we develop one? In this article, we will explore how powerful a growth mindset is in the workplace and unpack 5 ways we can develop one.

What is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is a term used for someone who believes they can develop and improve themselves by spending a good amount of time, energy, and effort on specific development areas.[2] It allows people to learn from their mistakes and helps them take the positives in situations rather than focusing on the negatives. In the workplace, it is reported that 70% of employees would leave their current job to work for an organisation known for investing in their employee development and learning.[3] What this statistic shows is that creating a growth mindset culture is more than attending a few discussions and workshops. A growth mindset helps people develop in their professional roles and equips them with the necessary skills to navigate future challenges and change in the workplace.

5 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset

Embrace Challenges

Someone who adopts a growth mindset is more likely to find challenges exciting and beneficial for their development. Challenges are a constructive way for someone to put their knowledge to the test and help them see how they can transform it into a learning experience. Embracing challenges will help individuals learn new skills, accept constructive feedback, and discover how to tackle even harder challenges in the future.

Cultivate a Passion for Learning

Learning is how we develop as people in both our professional and personal lives. Cultivating a passion for learning enables us to be more open to exploring new skills and helps us to improve our understanding of certain situations. Asking questions and participating in extra workshops, reading engaging material, and participating in thought-provoking discussions will help develop a healthy growth mindset.

Seek Feedback

Listening to criticism can be hard at times, however, it is extremely beneficial to make people aware of their own development areas. Actively listening to constructive criticism and receiving feedback from peers allows individuals to recognise areas where there is room for improvement, even if they do not realise it. Being open to criticism and seeing where certain faults lie is a huge step in developing a growth mindset and an important way to see where new skills and knowledge can be applied.

Failure Leads to Success

Failures should not be treated as defeat but be seen as a gateway for more opportunities to learn and grow. Embracing failures and making mistakes are all part of the learning process and are a constructive way to help people realise where they can improve in the future. Finding ways to see why something was deemed a failure and taking it as a learning curve will contribute to future development and reinforce a positive outlook to situations.

Celebrate the Small Wins

A win, whether it is big or small, is still a win. Either way, small wins should be celebrated just as much as big ones, and this is what significantly develops a growth mindset. Teams and peers that show appreciation to the time and effort that was put in to achieve these small wins means people are more likely to be engaged and driven in their next challenge.

So, why is a growth mindset important?

Adopting a growth mindset is crucial for individuals to recognise their development areas and apply the learning taught in a productive way. That is why at Ashorne Hill, we help learners embed a growth mindset by taking them on a journey of self-reflection and discovery with our blended learning techniques and programmes. Our immersive and interactive learning approach enables learners to develop a growth mindset so they can fully embrace their strengths and development areas to successfully navigate our uncertain future workplace.

Find out more about how we help people develop a growth mindset for the future world please click the button below:

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Article written by Ashorne Hill’s Victoria Sparkes

References

[1] Dweck, Carol. “How Companies Can Profit from a ‘Growth Mindset.’” Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2014, hbr.org/2014/11/how-companies-can-profit-from-a-growth-mindset.

[2] “Growth Mindset Definition and Meaning.” Top Hat, tophat.com/glossary/g/growth-mindset/#:~:text=Those%20who%20hold%20a%20growth.

[3] Lorman. “39 Statistics That Prove the Value of Employee Training.” Www.lorman.com, 1 Sept. 2021, www.lorman.com/blog/post/39-statistics-that-prove-the-value-of-employee-training.