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Driving Performance Is as Simple as Changing Your Mind(set)

Data tells us that the best leaders decided at some point to shift their thinking into a hyper-performance-driven mindset to power their organizations forward. Organizations benefit when this occurs with higher productivity, greater innovation, and a better bottom line.

Companies know this and spend more than $350 billion annually on training programs to help their leaders get their heads on straight. If you're ready to improve your (and your organization's) performance and results, you must change the mental lens through which you view and process information. Here's how.

Move Toward a Growth Mindset

Dale Carnegie's institute talks in terms of fixed thinking versus a growth mindset. The idea of the growth mindset was created by Carol Dweck in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

A fixed mindset avoids challenges and change, gives up quickly, retreats, ignores feedback, and feels threatened by other people's success. A growth mindset seeks to learn, grow, and change. Challenges are not daunting; they are opportunities to learn something new. The success of others inspires us, and constructive criticism guides us.

A growth mindset illustrates the difference between studying the numbers and innovating new achievements beyond net profits and revenue indicators. The pursuit of traditional performance goals just isn't enough anymore; Dale Carnegie points out that 52% of the Fortune 500 companies have been acquired or gone bankrupt since the year 2000. They suggest that had these companies and their leadership created teams with this more positive mindset, the outcomes may have been different.

The Best Environments for High Performance

Mindsets create and influence positive work environments. Google studied what sets individual and group performance ahead of the competition. They looked at 180 of their best teams to determine what drove their high-performance levels. What was different about these solo and group performers was a growth mindset that enabled:

  • Confidence in voicing an opinion.
  • Critical thinking skills and the ability to take calculated risks.
  • A desire and ability to create win/win situations.
  • The space to learn from mistakes without fear of reprisals.

The Google study suggested that managers who created a psychological mindset allowing a feeling of security were more effective. This requires leadership to shift how they look at situations. Embracing a more positive and open mindset enables managers to trust their employees, which gives teams the latitude to shift their thinking and improve performance. Negativity, fear, and the traditional emphasis strictly on production does not lead teams to do their best work.

Happiness Psychologist Shawn Achor gives a TED Talk where he describes this shift in thinking, "It's not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality." If your goal this year is to shift your mindset, consider focusing on:

  • Believing you can do this. Then imparting this belief to your teams. It's so common to have doubts and fears that you're not enough, don't have the skills, or just not worthy. This is one of the most difficult mindsets to overcome because it may have been embedded in your psychology for decades. Making the shift to silence this inner critic will give you the lens to try new things you never thought possible.

  • Empowering yourself to create change. Thinking you are stuck or don't have choices limits your ability to move forward. The same thing can happen to teams. This stifles innovation and engagement in a corporate setting. Shifting your mindset requires analysis every time you tell yourself you have no choices. There are always options. Identify them and move forward.

  • Looking for and believing in the good. This requires a mindset shift that assumes positive intent. It's easier to assume an employee's behavior has a negative backstory. Lifehack suggests a solid approach, "Assuming positive intent requires us to consider another's intention before we judge the behavior. This might lead you to ask questions or seek to see things from their point of view."

While many of these mindset shifts seem internal or personal in scope, leaders should easily see how these changes could carry over to the teams they guide. Forbes says, "Our mindset can define our character and decide the course of our life." But the key to this process of change is that we recognize the value in this opportunity.

Looking for new ways to drive performance?

Partner with a qualified staffing or recruiting agency. They will work with you to identify qualified individuals with the right mindset to mesh with your culture, thrive in your organization, and help your team achieve its goals.