Summary

Table of Contents

Lesson 1.3 Content

1. I have a question for you!

Do YOU have a fixed or growth mindset?

Well, if you have accepted this question and answered it one way or another, you already walked into a little trap. By answering the question as such, you sort of accepted that there is a binary choice.

However, even Carol Dweck (who popularised the concept of fixed vs growth mindset) says that on most days, we exhibit both mindsets. The topic of growth mindset is not as simple as it may sound.

In this lesson, we explore three things:

1. What is a fixed and growth mindset?
2. How is this relevant in our program?
3. How do I recognise if I am actually in a fixed mindset? It is often surprisingly hard.

“It’s hard to see the label of the bottle that you are in.”

2. What is a fixed or growth mindset?

Fixed Mindset

In a fixed mindset, you are either good or not good at something. You believe that you are either born with certain skills or you are not. Some people are good at certain things, while other people simply are not.

In short, the fixed mindset is underpinned by a belief that our abilities are largely ‘given’ and out of our control.

There is also a relationship to the concept of failure. With a fixed mindset, failure is a setback. “I will simply give up”. Failure is a confirmation of something I am not able to do, so there is no point of trying anymore. Someone with a fixed mindset will likely not put in a lot of effort to improve and to get better. The fixed mindset also gives an excuse to say “I am simply not good enough; there is no point in trying!”

A fixed mindset likely creates a NEGATIVE self-fulfilling cycle. If you believe you cannot do something, you will be less likely to try, thereby creating less chances for success. Ultimately you prove your own point.

How might a fixed mindset sound?

“I cannot learn this.”

“I can never figure this out.”

“I am absolutely not a math person.”

“She is a natural born presenter.”

“I could never do this.”

Growth Mindset

With this mindset you believe that skills and abilities can grow. They are a work in progress. Skill and mastery is something that is obtained.  We have significant control over it. There is a fundamental optimism that comes with a growth mindset.

In the words of James Clear:

“Optimists win in the long-run because their miscalculation of how long it will take or how likely it is to succeed motivates them to give it a try. If you knew how hard it would be and how long it would take in the beginning then you might not try in the first place. You can’t guarantee success, but you can guarantee failure: never try.”

A growth mindset likely creates a POSITIVE self fulfilling cycle. With a growth mindset, we are likely to engage in activities that mean growth and give ourselves exposure to success.

How might it sound?

“I have not figured out how to learn this yet.”

“I really don’t know how to handle this person, but I’m sure there is a way.”

“I know it didn’t work out, but at least I can learn something from it.”

3. What makes this important?

When we start building a new skill, we first have to go from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence. It is initially a bit painful to realise that a new skill comes hard and requires some serious mental ‘rewiring.’ With a fixed mindset, we are much more likely to give up too soon, before we have given it a real chance.

There is a truth here to remember:

Every new driver has a few thousand kilometres/miles of pretty poor driving in them that they have to get out first.

Every podcaster has a few bad podcasts in them that they just have to record, before things become ok.

And of course, every new coach has a few dozen bad coaching hours in them that they just have to get out. It’s part of the journey to become better.

For this first reason,

a growth mindset is absolutely essential to succeed in a high stakes growth training.

Secondly,

and on an even more basic level, without a growth mindset you simply cannot coach.

Why?

A growth mindset is a fundamental predisposition and believe that people can grow. If you do not have that for yourself, it is impossible to direct it and offer it towards your client. As a result, you are much more likely to slip back into the styles of advice, consultation, or mentoring, because deep inside, you believe that the other person needs help from you to figure something out.

For example, a Leader with a fixed mindset is much less likely to help their team members through coaching methods. When a team member approaches, they likely respond and answer right away, give solutions and solve.

Instead, a growth mindset that is directed towards others creates an unshakable belief that people are capable and can grow. It is the foundation of the coaching mindset, a central competency in the ICF Coaching Core Competency and focus of our Lesson 2-03: ‘The Foundation – Embodies the Coaching Mindset’

Third,

it matters because having a growth mindset makes you coachable in the first place! Think about it: A coach with a fixed mindset is a contradiction in terms.

Therefore, the strength of our own growth mindset heavily influences our ability to learn and be effective as a coach. Having this mindset is more important than any technique or coaching model that you can learn.

If you go into this course with the switched-on belief that you can grow and learn a new way of communicating, then you are much more likely to succeed and unlock the same mindset towards others.

4. How do we live the growth mindset in this program?

In our program, we do not ask people to write or describe their own mindset. We think this is a futile attempt. Instead, we relate directly to courage, humility, and discipline. We are familiar with these concepts from Lesson 1.1.

Because of a growth mindset, people are likely have the courage and confidence that they will figure things out.

A growth mindset is also related to humility. Someone with that mindset will not see themselves as a finished product. They know they have room to grow. They will also want and seek coaching for themselves.

Someone with a growth mindset will also have a much easier time to develop the discipline to move forward and grow. Discipline is like an internal engine. With a fixed mindset, discipline is something external. With a growth mindset, it is driven internally.

5. About Measuring a Fixed Mindset

It is phrased in such a negative way that it makes it hard for people to declare and recognise they are stuck in it. However, as Coaches we also want to help ourselves and others become more self-aware in this aspect. An easier way to detect the presence of a fixed mindset is to observe actual behavior.

6. Behaviors that indicate a fixed mindset

Language

“This is too difficult for a person like me.” “I can never do this.”

If language is chosen that links the inability to do something to personal identity (‘that is just me’), it is a perfect example of a fixed mindset. Watch out how frequently this kind of language slips into peoples words.

A lack of curiosity in conversation

Someone with a growth mindset likely believes that other people have things to add, that they have things to contribute. A Leader with this mindset will have genuine curiosity to understand how the team member would resolve issues themselves.

On the other hand, a Leader with fixed mindset will likely believe in the inability of the people around them to figure things out. They will approach them from the mindset of an adviser and consultant and mentor first.

A belief that they don’t need a coach

A Leader with a fixed mindset will also believe that they should coach others, but that they themselves do not need a coach. The coach who thinks they don’t need a coach does not live what they preach.

Coachability means: however senior you are in your organisation, you recognise that you are just a human, that you make mistakes, that you can learn, that you can grow.

A Leader with a strong growth mindset will approach every interaction with subordinates with the curiosity of what they can learn from that person, not if they can learn something.

Lack of ownership – external locus of control

A strong growth mindset is linked to an internal locus of control: The sense that I have control over my growth and my ability to change my path. When we observe moments of personal conflict between people, watch out for their language: Are they open to accept that they have a role in what is happening or is it entirely other people’s fault? In most conflicts between (non-sociopathic) people, the truth is somewhere in between both extreme positions.

7. How to build a growth mindset?

1. Flip your Assumptions

Too many managers have a fixed idea about the development potential of their team members. And because of this fixed idea and assumption, they will behave differently towards their team members, creating the mentioned self-fulfilling negative prophecy. They assume a certain lack of ability, and as a result, they give less developmental opportunities.

Instead, we can intentionally ‘flip’ our assumption and start off with the belief that people are resourceful, until proven otherwise.

As we will learn in the lesson around the Coaching Mindset (2.3), we can treat it like a ‘switch’ over our head that we can enable whenever we go into conversations with others.

2. Force a perspective shift

Another powerful way to trigger a growth mindset is to force a perspective shift through a set of smart self-coaching questions.

These questions are designed to challenge our basic assumptions about others and ourselves.

For example:

“How can I learn from what just happened?”

“What might we say about this in 6 months from now?”

“What would this person say I contributed to creating this situation?”

“What would drive a normal, rational person to react the way he did?”

“How could I view this, assuming the person had positive intent?”

3. Change our language

As part of the course, we will learn how to change our language and add intention every step of the way. Language is the Coach’s power tool. It changes the way we think and triggers either the mentioned positive or negative self-reinforcing loop.

One example:

‘I am not a good presenter.’

vs.

‘I have not learned presenting yet.’

One is fixed and the other is positive and open. The interesting thing is that both statements can be factually correct at the same time.

However, one opens up a possible avenue of growth, while the other keeps it firmly shut.

4. Experiencing Small and Big Wins

One cause of a fixed mindset and self-limiting beliefs is apparent evidence of inability. If we keep failing and failing and failing, it is no wonder that we eventually believe we are not good at something.

Often, the reason for failure is caused by the design of our goals and tasks. It is highly motivating to experience stretch, but only when we have a realistic chance to succeed and experience growth and learning. The important term here is ‘Deliberate Practice’.

As part of the Leader Academy, we will engage in solid, continuous, deliberate practice that gives small and big wins. This boosts our confidence and further nurtures our belief that we can grow.

8. Summary

We first define/refresh our knowledge what the fixed and growth mindsets are. We then argue that is useful to look at our own and others’ concrete behaviours to detect a fixed mindset, as most people would likely not self-declare to have it.

We dove into 4 observable behaviours that can help us track down a fixed mindset and share a number of ways how we can activate our own growth mindset.

Why do we share all this?

As we go along in our journey, we will notice ourselves and others occasionally slip into a fixed mindset.

Let us remember ourselves and remind others about this. It is likely unconscious, yet language shapes the way we think.

Enjoy your growth mindset journey!

9. Optional Material