What is a growth mindset? The chances are you’ve already heard about the work of Stanford Professor, Carol Dweck (if you haven’t, where have you been?). The increasing popularity of mindset alongside positive psychology has seen it applied within the workplace, coaching, sports psychology and education. There’s a huge buzz around Carol Dweck’s growth mindset research and how it can be used to improve performance in a multitude of areas. But what is a growth mindset and how can you develop one? We take a look at the definition of mindset, growth mindset, fixed mindset and how to grow your own.
3 Steps to Introduce Positive Psychology at Work
If you’re new to positive psychology or thinking about how you can implement it on a practical level in your workplace, you’ve come to the right place. Unlike traditional psychology it doesn’t focus on dysfunction, what’s broken or what’s not working. Nope. By looking at what works it aims to create more of it. Positive psychology is a new, science backed paradigm that will enable your team to flourish, optimise performance and even, wait for it, feel happier at work. We show you how.
Increase Your Wellbeing & Resilience With Sleep
Could you really increase your wellbeing & resilience with sleep? Can you remember the last time you had a really good night’s sleep and woke up feeling well rested? Are you burning the candle at both ends and feeling it? Or wondering why you’re tired all the time? Maybe you’re constantly cranky? Or perhaps you’ve never really considered how your sleep affects your health but you frequently feel rundown?
Poor sleep is linked to an array of health problems from weight gain to depression and diabetes. Lack of sleep wrecks our immune system and is linked to an increased risk of cancer, alzheimers and cardiac problems. We spend a third of our lives asleep and yet the World Health Organisation has declared a sleep loss epidemic in the western world. Just why is sleep so critical to wellbeing and resilience?
Personality Type & Stress
Personality type and stress, we’re all different and here at PCG we say that’s a good thing, it’s what makes life interesting. It’s also what can make life complicated at work and at home when we’re stressed. Examining your personality and type and stress offers an opportunity to take a look at what might jam your inner gears. What results in stress for you may not be the same for others, we all have different triggers and respond in incredibly different ways to stress. So how do you work it all out? A good place to start is with yourself. Take our free personality test here https://planetpositivechange.com/discover-your-personality-type/ and read on.
How Positive Psychology Can Transform Your Leadership
Positive psychology has turned traditional leadership metrics upside down. This new science of success examines strengths rather than weakness, celebrates failure as the path to mastery and encourages a culture of learning rather than competition. We dive into three tried and tested, evidence based kick ass positive psychology practices that will positively impact upon your leadership.
Need a January Pick me Up?
Need a January Pick Me Up? A winter boost? It’s that time of year again. The days are short and the nights are long and you wonder if you’ll ever see the sun again. Fear not. We have a whole host of free stuff to build your resilience, improve your wellbeing and make you feel warm inside as you toast yourself by the fire. Go on. Treat yourself. It’s time to grab a mug of hot stuff, take time out and give yourself lashings of self care. We’ve got your back this winter gorgeous!
Need a January Pick Me Up 1:
Check out our fab podcast. We’ll take you through a whole host of topics ranging from positive psychology, resilience, mindfulness, self care and tons more.
Need a January Pick Me Up 2:
Dive into our extensive library of blogs. We’ve got hundreds of blogs, just for you. They’re right there at your fingertips – go on treat yourself.
Need a January Pick Me Up 3:
Sprinkle on our huge range of free resources. You can try everything from psychometrics to emotional intelligence tests. Whether it’s for your own personal development, to use with loved ones (and yes, we include your furry friends in that) or to use at work with your team, there’s something for everybody. Feel free to share ’em.
How to Develop a Growth Mindset Team_ Episode 005
Are you developing a growth mindset team? Start with our ten tips and tricks to develop a growth mindset culture.
1. Promote problem solving through failure
A growth mindset team problem solves by analysing failures. Help your team understand that taking reasonable risks and experiencing a few failures along the way is an essential part of the process that leads to increased creativity and innovation. Encourage your team to anticipate setbacks and ask..how will you overcome them?
2. Encourage your growth mindset team to talk about how they overcome challenges and setbacks
The culture you create within your business is reflected in everything you do and say. Encourage your team to understand the value and benefits of talking about their professional challenges and setbacks and sharing the tools and techniques they’ve used to overcome difficulties.
3. Encourage the process
Avoid the fixed mindset trap of only focusing on successful outcomes. A purely results driven business risks losing the fertile learning ground that’s contained within both successes and failures. Results matter but learning from the process that your team is constantly engaged in is just as important if you want to create an innovative, agile and resilient culture. Ask your team, what did you learn from the process?
4. Ask your team …where is the challenge?
Invite people out of their comfort zones by asking them to constantly choose and immerse themselves in new challenge. A fixed mindset approach encourages us to stick with that which we’re confident we can achieve and a fear of failure prevents us from breaking free from this limiting approach. In contrast, a growth mindset enables us to take on new challenges wholeheartedly, taking failures in our stride as we relish the new opportunities that a challenge can bring.
5. Encourage a culture of development rather than genius
Carol Dweck’s research has shown that organisation’s who worship a culture of genius rather than development can become places where the majority of employees feel undervalued, disengaged and unsupported. When you encourage a development culture research shows your team is more likely to feel committed, engaged, supported and more able to take on innovative and challenging tasks.
6. Make sure you don’t just talk the growth mindset
At PCG we sometimes hear people in organisations complaining that although leaders talk about growth mindset they do little to embody it. Let your people know that you’re serious about developing as a growth mindset team by talking and walking a growth mindset. Lead by example and talk your team through how you’ve overcome setbacks, dealt with failures and challenged yourself to develop skills and abilities.
7. Encourage reasonable risk
In fixed mindset organisations innovation can be stifled because people resist taking risks for fear of being blamed when things go wrong. Encourage your team to take on acceptable risk in order to support them in developing new strengths and skills.
8. Emphasise that errors are the route to mastery
A growth mindset team understands the need to embrace failure as part of the route to success. When a team member talks about their failures and tells you, “I can’t do this” encourage them to add “yet.” Encourage your team to embrace failure and learn from it by explaining that real mastery is impossible without encountering and surmounting failures.
9. Growth mindset teams ask…who are you collaborating with, who are you mentoring?
In growth mindset teams people share information across teams and networks and support each other to achieve the organisation’s goals. Mentoring and collaboration can spark innovation, improve performance and increase organisational resilience when the going gets tough. Regularly ask your team to share who they are mentoring or collaborating with and how this has benefited them, the team and the organisation.
10. Look for your fixed mindset triggers and encourage others to do the same
The first step to develop a growth mindset team is to recognise what triggers our fixed mindset responses. Learn to listen out for your own fixed mindset triggers and encourage others to do the same by monitoring your inner dialogue and emotional responses.
We love to talk about all things growth mindset at Positive Change Guru. Check out our forthcoming events or get in touch to find out more about our suite of courses and discuss bespoke growth mindset training for your organisation.
Discover How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Podcast_003
Hi Friends,
Welcome to the third episode of The Positive Change Guru Podcast, the podcast for a positive community. We want you to be inspired, achieve your dreams and take action. Our mission is to help you achieve your goals and unleash your awesomeness by providing you with practical, actionable tools for positive change. So what better place to start than with the subject of our third episode, the imposter syndrome podcast all about feeling like a fake and how to overcome it. Let’s go! [Read more…]
Growth Mindset: Building your Mindset Muscle
Growth mindset is one of the key differentiators between people who achieve their goals and those who don’t. Recognising a Growth mindset (and using it) dramatically impacts upon your performance whatever you do in life. Achieving your goals with a growth mindset is a lifelong habit worth investing your time in. But what is it and how exactly can you build your mindset muscle? We give you the lowdown.
Develop a growth mindset for success_001
Hi Friends,
Welcome to the first episode of The Positive Change Guru Podcast, the podcast for a positive community. We want you to be inspired, achieve your dreams and take action. Our mission is to help you achieve your goals and unleash your awesomeness by providing you with practical, actionable tools for positive change. So what better place to start than with the subject of our first episode – developing a growth mindset for success. Let’s go! [Read more…]