The last competency is the second one related to self-development. It’s a key competency for really having an impact in an organization and for influencing others.
One of my favorite leadership and life books of all time is “Mindset, the new psychology of success” by Carol Dweck. If you’ve not read it, please get it and read it over and over. It has great relevance to both work and family. She presents two types of mindsets, the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. In it she says
“the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. That a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training. The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.”
I was at a picnic with friends yesterday and one of the guests who was in attendance had recently changed careers to finance. He commented that his new boss was discouraging him from taking classes and getting certified in his new field. That led to a great conversation on the fixed versus growth mindsets. The boss had a bit of a fixed mindset and seemed very set in his ways and in the ways that his employee should operate. The growth mindset says there’s a ton to learn, so reach out for it, learn and grow. Learn from the books and learn from the experiences.
Some examples of not having a growth mindset include: unwillingness to talk about complex and conceptual things, believing your ways are always the best and only way, rushing to judgments without evaluating all the data, and letting emotions drive your actions. Some good practices that can help develop a more growth oriented mindset include:
Develop checklists, pros and cons tables, etc:this helps you dissect the problem and consider the most relevant factors affecting the decision or problem. It also helps you weigh which are the most important elements. Often two or three factors will dominate the decision making process and having the checklist or pros and cons list will help bring that clarity.
Get comfortable with living with paradox: tough love is a great example of living in paradox. How you can be tough on a person you love because you know that this is the best thing to help them take action for themselves. Another example is standing up for yourself but in a way that does not crush others. People who are good with paradox are able to act differently depending on the situation. They are also in touch with what could be overused skills and they pull back on those skills when the situation calls for it.
Catch yourself if you find you are overly opinionated:be more aware of how you’re “showing up”. Catch yourself when you’re overly opinionated and where you find yourself less willing to listen to the views of others. Talk less, listen more. Ask more questions and make fewer opinion statements.
Read about a wider range of views and topics: I’ve been making sure I have a range of liberal and conservative material to read so I understand both views and can assess for myself where I want to land. One problem with the internet these days is the news feeds will feed you only what you want to hear based on your searches, rather than what you need to hear to understand all perspectives. Study other industries and fields as well. Appreciate art and the sciences to develop all parts of the brain.
Delay decision making when emotions are high: if you find yourself getting overly emotional on an issue, take some time away from it so you can be more objective in your analysis and decision making. Delay making a decision, talk with others, reflect more on the data and then make your decision. Separate your opinions from what are the facts.
Draw pictures, tables, graphs to help visualize the problem: this is one of the things that most helps me in thinking through issues and problem solving. I consider the key factors influencing the decision and then create a graph showing the tradeoffs of the factors or create a table listing the factors and the impacts and likely behavior that might impact the issue. This helps me understand the dynamics influencing the problem or issue and the potential tradeoffs and implications.
Develop “lessons learned” from past challenging experiences: I’ve learned that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them to prevent them from happening again. When things don’t go as planned, sit down with others involved and brainstorm “lessons learned” from the experience and what changes in your systems or processes should be made as a result. Learnings gleaned from mistakes tend to be deep and life-long learnings so don’t let those go to waste.
Find reverse mentors: find someone different from yourself (different ethnicity, younger person, different gender) and ask them to reverse mentor you so you can better understand their perspective on issues of life and business. This will help you develop a broader range of perspectives and help reduce biases you may have towards others as you come to understand their journey and how that journey has led them to where they are.
Teach others what you know: preparing to teach gets you to really internalize the lessons. It also forces you to prepare for possible questions others may have about what you are teaching them. Some of my best thinking and frameworks have come as a result of preparing to give presentations or to teach others.
Thanks for staying with me these past seven weeks. This concludes the seven key competencies for leadership success. My hope is that these seven blogs have stimulated your thinking around leadership and perhaps you have taken away some nuggets to practice in leading your organization.
