Why Adopting a ‘Growth Mindset’ Will Improve Your Team’s Communication Skills - Tips for Leaders, Managers and Team Builders
A Growth Mindset is rooted in the belief that intelligence and talent can be developed through hard work, dedication, and feedback from others. This exists in direct contrast to a Fixed Mindset which stems from the notion that intellect, talent, or ability is innate (either you have it or you don’t).
How do these two concepts translate to teams and communication in the workplace? See if either of these scenarios rings a bell:
Scenario #1: My company has a handful of highly talented employees informally referred to as ‘rockstars’. Everyone else on staff is capable yet there’s a widely unspoken belief these people will never attain the level of success the ‘rockstars’ enjoy.
Scenario #2: There are varying degrees of talent and ability at my company. Leadership deliberately carves out opportunities for those at the top of their game to share strategies with the rest of the team helping position everyone to attain the same level of success.
Research shows that employees at companies which embrace a Growth Mindset report feeling more committed and empowered at work. Versus at companies with a Fixed Mindset where it’s not uncommon for employees to lie or take credit for the work of others in order to get ahead in the talent race.
“Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it even better with training).” - Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford and the author of Mindset, a classic work on motivation and "growth mindset”.
Here are 5 important areas to embrace a Growth Mindset in with your team to improve their communication, increase morale and encourage effective collaboration. Look for our #protips below each on how to actively work towards implementing a Growth Mindset.
Skills + Intelligence
A Growth Mindset believes that the skills and intelligence your team possesses can be grown and developed. A Fixed Mindset rests on the notion that your employees have the skills they have and there’s no changing that.
#Protip: Send out a company-wide survey asking people to respond with the communication skills they’d like to learn or improve upon. Pick the top three most common answers and designate three days throughout the year to bring in an expert for a workshop on each topic.
Effort
A Growth Mindset believes that putting forth effort is a key component of learning something new. A Fixed Mindset stems from feeling effort is exerted when one tries to do something one is not good at; it’s an indication the goal falls outside their wheelhouse.
#Protip: Have supervisors ask their direct reports to rate the top ten ways they collaborate and communicate while on the job along a scale of 1-5, 1 being the easiest, 5 being the hardest. Connect them with a mentor in any area scoring 4 or above.
Challenges
A Growth Mindset embraces perseverance, grit, and dedication in the face of a challenge. Within a Fixed Mindset, when a challenge arises the tendency is to give up or abandoning the initial goal.
Protip: Hold a Troubleshooting Brainstorm where everyone is encouraged to offer ideas on how to effectively combat the challenge at hand. Kickoff the meeting by asking everyone in attendance to share with the group one thing that motivates them to persevere.
Feedback
A Growth Mindset desires feedback, likes it, and uses it to learn in order to improve in the future. A Fixed Mindset takes feedback personally, gets defensive, and is resistant to hearing constructive criticism.
Protip: Build into your company’s performance reviews a question that prompts the supervisor to ask their direct report, “What was the most valuable piece of feedback you’ve received since your last evaluation? Why was it valuable? What did you learn from it?”
Mistakes
A Growth Mindset treats mistakes as a learning opportunity and appreciates they are often an unavoidable part of any learning process. A Fixed Mindset hates mistakes and tries to avoid them at all costs.
Protip: When an employee makes a mistake, instead of immediately doling out criticism or a punitive measure, carve out an opportunity to ask them directly what they learned from their mistake and how they will use it to positively influence their job performance moving forward.
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Anyone that has successfully improved their communication style will tell you: changing long-ingrained habits takes time. And patience. The same holds true with encouraging your team and organization to embrace a Growth Mindset.
For example, if your company’s culture currently views mistakes as anathema to be avoided at all costs, then certainly embracing a Growth Mindset won’t be an instant fix for this particular pitfall. Yet, with commitment and consistency, small seeds can be sown which, over time, will encourage a Growth Mindset to take root and flourish.
About the Author
Jackie Miller launched Bespoken in 2015 to channel years of professional performance experience into techniques that improve public speaking, presenting, and professional communication skills. She holds a B.F.A. and M.A. both from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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