Why Your Mindset Matters More Than Your Skills

What if I told you that the biggest thing holding you back as a leader may have nothing to do with your skills?

It’s not your ability to delegate, give feedback or think strategically.

It’s your mindset about those abilities.

I was working with a leader the other day who said, “Vanessa, I don’t think I’m a good leader.”

This caught me off guard because she’s incredibly smart and articulate. So I asked her, “What makes you say that?”

Her answer? “I struggle with giving feedback, I’d rather do the work myself than delegate and I never have time to coach my team.”

Here’s the thing.

Every leader has parts of their role they find rewarding and parts they find challenging. That’s completely normal.

But before we could tackle any of her leadership gaps, we needed to address something more fundamental. Her mindset.

She needed to shift to what Stanford Professor Carol Dweck calls a “growth mindset.”

What Is a Growth Mindset?

In simple terms, a growth mindset means believing that nothing is set in stone. You can grow and develop with hard work and practice.

Your mindset is essentially your beliefs about yourself.

If you believe you’re a bad leader, that belief will limit what you can achieve.

But if you believe that all leaders have strengths and weaknesses (because they do!), then you can focus on developing the areas where you need to grow.

How to Know If You Have a Growth Mindset

I walked this leader through some questions to help her shift her perspective. And I want to share them with you.

Ask yourself these 4 questions to see if you’re using a growth mindset:

1. When you receive criticism, do you see it as an attack on your character? Or as a chance to confront your challenges and work on them?
2. When you’re not good at something, do you give up? Or do you lean into the discomfort and work at developing that skill?
3. When you make a mistake, do you beat yourself up? Or do you see it as an opportunity to learn and grow?
4. When you face setbacks, do you ruminate over them? Or do you see them as a normal part of life and a chance to develop?

If you resonate with the second part of each question, you’re already using a growth mindset.

Your goal isn’t perfection.

Your goal is to be kinder to yourself and shift to a growth mindset when you notice you’re being too hard on yourself.

So please, never label yourself a “bad leader.”

Yes, you likely have some areas you need to develop. We all do!

But that belief will only hold you back.

Instead, focus on developing a growth mindset and improving yourself a little bit each month, each quarter and each year.

Thank you for sharing!

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