Recent research by Prof Carol Dweck and her teams demonstrated that growth mindset leaders had more engaged teams and that a growth mindset culture lead to greater levels of innovation and integrity.
In fact, growth mindset leaders were more likely to believe in their team’s potential and believe that every member had the potential to perform better. Leaders with a fixed mindset were more likely to believe that only some team members had potential and were less likely to develop their team.
In a recent study with a client in Australia we assessed the mindset of 600 managers. Overwhelmingly, growth mindset leaders had higher team engagement scores than fixed mindset leaders.
The research also indicated that fixed mindset leaders were less likely to recognise improved performance from those team members they labelled as being untalented. Once they labelled a team member they were unable to update their assessment regardless of future performance. How demotivating is that for the hard working team member that puts in the effort to improve?
Mindsets matter when it comes to team performance. Fortunately, you can change your mindset with effort and good strategies over time.
See the related HBR article: How Companies Profit from a Growth Mindsetleaders
Originally published on Growth Mindset Institute