Ep 96 The Importance of Growth Mindset at Work
Episode notes:
In today’s podcast I want to talk to you about the concept of Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset, and how what you learned in school growing up does not always serve you in the corporate world. Here’s is some of what I see in my clients – the need to always have a right or wrong answer, the need to always do it right, the need to get the A, the need to not be wrong, and the need to get the external approval. But this fixed mindset thinking holds us back from cultivating our qualities, taking on new projects and truly excelling in our lives.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- Mindset; The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
- Fixed Mindset
- Growth Mindset
- Mindset in Sales
- Change as a Constant
- Learn more about upcoming group course – www.michellebourquecoaching.com
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Episode Transcript:
Hello hello hello
Welcome back to the podcast
I’m so happy you are here
Honestly
I love seeing more and more people tuning in
It’s so exciting
Please keep sharing
We need to help the young women of the world
Especially the sales/corporate world
Be able to excel in your career
But without the stress and overwhelm
So you can do more of what you want
Better work-life integration
Keeps you going long term
Making the money
Changing the lives
And living your life
So much fun
Ok – now for todays podcast I want to talk to you about
Fixed mindset and growth mindset
And I want to begin with looking back at how
Perhaps some of what we learned in school
Holds us back in the corporate world
Now listen
I know I’m on the older side perhaps ..lol
But – I know I am not alone in some of this mindset
It’s funny
The idea for this podcast came up recently in a conversation
I was having with Marc
I was saying how much that red pen from elementary school papers
Scarred me
And Marc was like
I didn’t really care about that
I’m like – ummm – doesn’t everyone care about that?
Who’s with me?
In fact –
We recently had some tests that needed to be completed for work
And my name was on an email
In red
Signifying mine was late
For the record
On my portal it said no due date
lol..
But I immediately went back to like 4th grade panic
lol..
I sent a message to my manger it will be done asap
Clearly I have some lingering thoughts..lol.
And then
I was telling Marc –
How only A’s were acceptable back in the day
For the record – another area he didn’t seem to be on the same page as me
I think he said a C was fine
OMG
Never ..lol..
First off
My aunt Betty gave everyone a dollar for every A
Cha Ching
And – if I got a B
You know the question right?
Why wasn’t it an A?
Now these are just two examples
Of what I’m talking about when I say
The mindset doesn’t serve us in today’s world
Here’s is some of what I see in my clients
The need to always have a right or wrong answer
The need to always do it right
The need to get the A
The need to not be wrong
The need to get the external approval
So much of it sounds lovely right?
Who wouldn’t want the A?
Of course we want to do it right
But this thinking totally leaves us in a fixed mindset
And before I get too far in to this
I would suggest for even more info on today’s concepts
That you check out Carol Dwecks book
Mindset
The new psychology of success
You can apply what she talks about to business
Parenting
School
Relationships
Highly recommend
In it she says
Fixed mindset is the mindset that says
You have your basic qualities
They are what they are
Fixed
And you spend
More time documenting
Vs developing them
Think Memorization
Think taking tests
Think we’ve always done it this way
That statement is like nails on a chalkboard to me
The alternative is a growth mindset
Growth mindset is more along the lines
Of
knowing That you can cultivate your qualities
And that your true potential is unknown
Think always learning
Think trying new options
I feel like now more than ever
Especially as a sales rep
You need to be able to think out of the box
Listen
Change has always been the one constant in my career
It can be change of what you are selling
Change of your territories
But change happens
And if you are not open to it
You will not be successful long term
Think about these concepts for any of your corporate jobs
I mean seriously
Stop to think about your personal life
Thank goodness for growth minded people
They developed online banking
I know – you miss out on the lollipop at the bank but really
You can totally be going to the bathroom and pay your bills
Who would’ve ever imagined
Or
Instacart
Love it
I was chatting with my 11 year old niece
And she was like
Who would’ve imagined other people do your grocery shopping
I’m like right?
Lets imagine
Lets think big
Who knows
I mean
Think about when you have the opportunity to suggest a new idea
Or To offer a solution at work
But maybe you don’t step up
Because you think it might be wrong
Or you might fail
Insert red pen
Vs
Thinking you can alway learn something from a situation
This just happened to one of my teams
We are implementing some new projects
And something with a link didn’t quite go as it was supposed to
But instead of thinking
All the crazy thoughts your brain wants to offer
You know
Things like
We should’ve never did that
I can’t believe it messed up
What will everyone think
And on and on
Instead
It’s a very simple alternative I’m going to offer you
You are either winning
Or learning
And you know what
Typically once something doesn’t go as planned
Or we learn…
We remember lol..
And we don’t do it again
And the gifts you get along the way
All of the byproducts of trying new things
And learning
That’s the growth folks!
You evolving to your next best version
It’s fascinating
As I was preparing for this episode
I wanted to go flip through Dweck’s book again
To see where I had some notes
Or areas that stood out my first time reading
And I came upon two pages that were earmarked
And starred
And circled
And underlined..lol..
So I think it resonated
Dweck discusses how so many females
Have problems with other peoples opinions of them
By trusting them too much
Especially high achieving females
Like yourself
Because when we are little girls
We do our best to be perfect
And
we delight in everyone telling us all the good things
Things like
How well behaved we are
How great we are doing in school
How helpful we are
And what happens is
We learn to trust other people opinions of us
And that’s how we get our validation of doing it right
Our validation to “know” our abilities
We get so focused on that data collection
Fixed mindset
Vs
Truly believing
We can do anything we
Put our minds to
On the flip side
Interestingly
Dweck discusses how they observed
boys in grade school classrooms
And how they were 8 times
More likely to be criticized for their conduct
Over girls
And she uses the example of how boys
Are constantly calling each other names
Like slob and moron
And so for the boys other peoples evaluations
Of them quickly lose their power
I see this at work
Where we know women are more likely
To wait
Be sure to check all the boxes to what
they think they need
Before going for a promotion
But guys
They are more like
Sign me up
Oh – wait – what is the job again? lol..
Listen we know
There are gaps
And part of that is when we have a fixed mindset
And trust others more than ourselves
Vs
Trusting we will always figure it out
Knowing we always have our own back
The takeaway for me is
In order to foster a growth mindset
We must begin to see all of our limiting thoughts
I encourage you to pay attention to when you tell yourself
You can’t do something
Question it
Pay attention to all the ways you might allow others to define you
What I have found for myself
And many clients
Is we simply aren’t aware
We just think this is the way life is
But once you stop to question it
Wow
You might surprise yourself
You are stronger and more capable then you could ever imagine
My goal is to help you see that
In fact –
I’m developing a new mastermind group course
Specific to a growth/sales mindset
Because
I want women to see how they can truly
Excel at work
Without the stress and overwhelm
And do more of what you want
How much fun does that sound?
Make the money,
Help the people
Live a life you want
You in?
If you want to know about the course
As it launches in the next couple of weeks
Head to www.michellebourquecoaching.com
You can start by downloading the free guide 3 simple steps to improve work-life integration
And then you will be on my email list
And that’s where it will be first announced
Even if you don’t end up doing the course this first round
You will be kept up to date on all new info coming
So much fun
And I want to leave you with something I heard today
In my meditation class
Have the courage to be in radical acceptance of your whole self
Once you do that friends
You don’t need everyone else approval
And that is the magic to make more of what you want in life happen
Ok –
Thats what I have for you today
Let’s circle back next week
But for now
Stay safe and
Make it a great day
Take care!