We know that one of the biggest challenges in growing a business is building a great team that can support you. Having a more innovative, resilient & inspired team reaps the rewards of delivering on your promise, whether that’s in providing a great experience for your customers, developing a new product that solves a challenge in the world, or by providing first class, reliable and quality services. Making sure that your team is equipped with the tools to be great is our responsibility as business leaders and growth mindset training might be just the ticket.
In the last twelve months, we’ve invested part of our training budget in growth mindset training. We caught up with Ruth Gawthorpe, CEO of the Smart Working Revolution, a successful workforce transformation business based in Cornwall that helps leaders across the UK and Europe to get the best from their workforce. Ruth explained to us her experience of building a business on the foundation of a growth mindset culture:
“We weren’t always this successful and as a start-up, we struggled to find our feet. That’s when we began to embed the principles of a Collective Growth Mindset. It worked for us – it’s now working for Harland Accountants – so it can work for other business leaders too!”.
Why training the whole team is the key to success
Whilst inspiring a growth mindset in one employee is a positive step, it is unlikely to make a significant difference to the performance of the whole business. Rather, the goal is to apply the growth mindset principles to the entire organisation, known as developing a collective growth mindset.
Ruth explains the differences between an individual and collective growth mindset:
“On a personal level, a growth mindset is an individual’s belief in their own ability to learn, grow and improve through effort and perseverance. Developed in the US by Carole Dweck, it’s about pushing out of our comfort zone, enjoying personal development, being resilient and having the willingness to take on challenges and learn from failures. It is the opposite of a fixed mindset – one that doesn’t like change, challenge or failure”.
We can see how this growth mindset could help allow a business owner to develop a high-performance workplace culture; whereby employees are continuously seeking to improve, learn new skills, and provide more value to their organisation.
Harland Director, Deborah Edwards adds:
“To build a team that truly supports our clients in a way that contributes to their success, we realised it was about more than providing technical, accountancy related training and skills development. In todays environment, we want our team to embrace challenges together, be proactive & confident in the expertise that they provide. By investing in growth mindset training, we ensure that each team member has the chance to be the best that they can be with confidence. It’s a win / win because clients receive the highest level of service, tailored to their evolving needs whilst our team reap the rewards of the satisfaction knowing that they are making a difference & knowing they are doing a great job.”
To illustrate the stark differences between fixed and growth mindset thinking please see the table below:
On the other hand, it’s clear how a fixed mindset culture could negatively impact an organisation’s performance, for instance by reducing the chances of innovative and creative thought, generating lower motivation and engagement among employees, and enabling worse adaptability and resilience within an organisation.
Individual vs Collective Growth Mindset
Whilst inspiring a growth mindset in one employee is a positive step, it is unlikely to make a significant difference to the performance of a medium or large organisation. Rather the goal is to apply the growth mindset principles to the entire organisation, known as developing a collective growth mindset. We asked Ruth to explain the differences between an individual and collective growth mindset:
“A collective growth mindset extends to the whole organisation. This is where growth mindset becomes about a shared commitment to continuous learning and improvement across the business. It’s about building an environment where team members support each other’s development and embrace life’s tough challenges together. This mindset encourages collaboration, open communication and a unified approach to overcoming obstacles and achieving collective goals. In short, whilst a personal growth mindset focuses on individual development, a collective growth mindset can drive the growth and improvement of the entire organisation.”
Recap: The Benefits of a Growth Mindset
Ruth’s quick summary of the key benefits of implementing a collective growth mindset culture:
- Growth: Crucial for a company’s growth because it builds a positive culture that drives success and encourages continuous improvement.
- Employee Engagement: When the whole team believe in their collective ability to develop skills and adapt to new challenges, they are more likely to embrace change, collaborate effectively and pursue ambitious goals.
- Organisational Agility: This mindset drives productivity, enhances problem-solving and enables the company to respond swiftly to market demands and opportunities, ensuring sustained growth and competitive advantage.
Growth Mindset Strategies for Business Leaders
So, a collective growth mindset certainly sounds like a powerful tool but is it easier said than done? Ruth highlights 3 key strategies to implement a collective growth mindset within the workplace:
- Psychological safety: A Growth Mindset will only develop if you have a ‘speak up’ culture, so foster one. Ensure ideas and concerns are shared without fear. Encourage open communication and value all contributions. That might be uncomfortable for some initially but gets easier when everyone knows it’s a safe place to do it.
- Fail-fast policy: Take the stigma out of the term ‘failure’. Fail Fast business know that by learning from a failed attempt, they increase the probability of eventual success. They encourage experimentation, treat failures as learning opportunities and promote fast adaptation based on lessons learned
- Invest in team development: Provide quarterly workshops to equip your team with the skills needed to grow individually and collectively, and to continuously push beyond their comfort zones.
“Even if you’ve got a mainly growth mindset, you’ll still fall down on something. I think it’s important to just keep pushing yourself out of the comfort zone.”
Next Steps
Many thanks to Ruth for sharing her time and expertise on the principles of growth mindset and high-performance culture within the workplace. To learn more about Ruth’s work by visiting the Smart Working Revolution website.
If you’re interested in hearing from the pioneer of the Growth Mindset theory directly, check out Carol Dweck’s TED Talk, with nearly 16 million views, outlining the principles of growth mindset.
And finally, if you’re interested in learning more about our Harland team and how we implement a growth mindset on an individual level click here:
