- Do you believe in change?
- Growth Mindset
Do you believe in change?
Change is common place in business and life and most of us have come to expect regular systematic change. A business’s success is built on their ability to continually change to meet the market’s needs. Most people expect technology to continue to change how daily tasks are completed and it is now commonplace for people to change jobs every 2 to 5 years. While external change is expected, it is harder for us to imagine personally change. For that type of change to happen, you must think about the future and be open to new ways of viewing yourself or others. You need to believe we all can change our behavior and we are capable of learning to apply the new behavior to new situations and settings.
10 questions to ask yourself about change:
- Do you see people as either trustworthy or not?
- When trust is broken in one situation, do you change the whole way you see that person?
- When you explain why you don’t like someone, the example you give takes place more than a year ago?
- Is your first thought when given a difficult task, “I can’t do this?”
- When conflict arises, do you seek only opinions from people that you know will uphold your position?
- Do you think you can learn new things, but you can’t change your underlying level of intelligence?
- Do you think people can change what they believe?
- Have you ever said to yourself, “if I don’t do it, it will not get done correctly?”
- Are you quick to call the change in others a fad and believe it is only temporary?
- Does it make you suspicious when someone starts acting a new way?
If you answered yes to many of these questions, it might be time to think about how you view change. Your attitude is your tendency to evaluate a person, place or thing and your behaviors refers to how you act to a person, place or thing. Strong leaders recognize that you can change your attitude and behavior, but for real sustainable personal change it happens slowly and is a more a transition than an event. Believing in change is having a growth mindset and will positively affect your interpersonal relationships.
Growth Mindset
People with a growth mindset focus on improving, learning, and effort; compared to a fixed mindset which views that our abilities are unlikely to change and based on inborn talents and traits. Dr. Carol Dweck coined the mindset phrase after decades of research on achievement and success. Dweck observed that children with a growth mindset “understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.” In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Dweck says that the view you adopt for yourself around your intelligence and personality profoundly affects the way you live your life.
Companies are increasingly investing in creating a growth culture. In Tony Schwartz’s Harvard Business Review article, “Create a Growth Culture, Not a Performance-obsessed One”, he says a growth culture is focused on connections. “How people feel – and make other people feel – becomes as important as how much they know.” One way to create a growth culture like the one Schwartz describes is to focus on improving how well you communicate with others. How feedback is given is a great place to start thinking about which mindset you are using. Look for examples of when feedback in given or received and ask yourself if it was communicated in a defensive way or in an open, accepting, gracious way. The goal of feedback should be improvement. Also look for times when you can give positive feedback for hard work instead of for talent.
Organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich believes that becoming more self-aware can lead to greater success, personally and professionally, which she talks about in her book, Insight: The Power of Self-Awareness in a Self-Deluded World. Insight: The Power of Self-Awareness in a Self-Deluded World. Her research estimates that 95% of people think they’re self-aware, but the real number is closer to 10% to 15%. She jokes that, “on a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about whether we’re lying to ourselves.” If self-awareness is the “keystone” of emotional intelligence, like Daniel Goleman says it is, then we all need to spend more time on it.
In my experience, leaders who take the time for self-reflection and identify areas they need to grow (and change) are the most successful. One of the first things I encourage new clients to do it is to review their goals and values to find out what matters to them and what motivates them. I have found that it is almost impossible to change your behavior if that behavior is at odds with what motivates you.
Since 2001, Harmony Coaching & Consulting has partnered with organizations, industries and individuals to maximize human talent for improved efficiency, profitability and personal growth. Once we understand your business model, Harmony helps you identify obstacles to human resource effectiveness. This allows us to design and implement Human Resource Programs, Professional Development Training, Personal/Executive Coaching and Assessments that are tailored to your specific needs and goals.
In a coaching relationship you would work with your coach, in most cases Bill, to identify your current state (strengths, performance, and challenges) and the “perfect” or future state you wish to achieve. Working together, a plan/strategy is developed to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Meeting with your coach on a regular basis for support, guidance and encouragement you work through the co-developed strategy. The coach acts, in a totally confidential manner, much like a navigator and accountability partner while you take the actions necessary to achieve your goals. But we don’t only work on the “what,” we also work on the ‘who,’ who you are and want to be.
Harmony is here to help you with organizational development consulting, professional development programs and individual coaching. If you’re ready to take your organization/department or yourself to a new level of effectiveness and efficiency give us a call for a complimentary consultation at 901-272-7390 or [email protected].
