WHAT ROLE DOES DEVELOPING YOUR MINDSET PLAY IN DELIVERING RESULTS?
As leaders, Is there a missing piece of the learning and development puzzle when it comes to our immense responsibility to train, teach, and develop those for whom we are responsible?
I have been involved in a deep dive exploration of these questions over the past couple of years- ever since I decided to leave executive leadership in the retail world after 25 years and start my own coaching business. During those 2 decades I was privileged to lead multiple teams across many well-known and world-class organizations. And while many of those organizations were highly people-centric, the teaching and training curriculums focused strictly on skills development, not necessarily mindset development. I believe that everyone has skills- but not everyone has the mindset to identify, embrace, and develop those skills to their highest potential, because of a faulty self-image that distorts their ability to do so. This, to me, is a huge missing piece to guiding an individual or a team to achieve their highest potential.
Fact– it is impossible for a person to outperform their self-image for any sustained period of time. We all have a conscious or subconscious image of ourselves that usually determines the levels at which we operate.
Fact– it is highly possible for a person to change or enhance their self-image and maintain or continue to elevate that image. When this is the circumstance, elevated results are sure to follow. It’s simple physics.
HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU HEARD SOMEONE FRAME A CIRCUMSTANCE AS A PERSONAL JUDGEMENT OR INDICTMENT VS. SIMPLY STATING A FACT?
FOR EXAMPLE, “I’M A FAILURE BECAUSE I DIDN’T GET THE JOB DONE ON TIME” VS., “I FAILED TO GET THE JOB COMPLETED BY THE DEADLINE”. ONE IS A REFLECTION OF ONE’S NEGATIVE SELF-IMAGE, VS THE LATTER BEING SIMPLY A STATEMENT OF FACT. FOR THE FORMER, HOW DO YOU THINK THAT PERSON WILL CONTINUE TO PERFORM, GIVEN THEIR VERY CLEARLY UNHEALTHY SELF-IMAGE? OVER TIME, THEIR SELF-CONFIDENCE AND CREDIBILITY WILL BE CRIPPLED, ERODED, OR ELIMINATED, RENDERING THAT PERSON NO LONGER EFFECTIVE IN WHATEVER ROLE THEY PLAY FOR THAT COMPANY, OR IN LIFE IN GENERAL, FOR THAT MATTER. WHATEVER POTENTIAL THEY POSSESS WILL REMAIN UNTAPPED AND UNDEVELOPED, AND BOTH THE EMPLOYEE AND ORGANIZATION SUFFER AS A RESULT. IN THEIR NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND HIGHLY ACCLAIMED BOOK, ‘THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE’, AUTHORS JAMES KOUZES AND BARRY POSNER TALK ABOUT THE CRITICAL NEED TO ENHANCE SELF-DETERMINATION AND PERSONAL CONFIDENCE:
“CONSTITUENTS WHO FEEL WEAK, INCOMPETENT, AND INSIGNIFICANT WILL CONSISTENTLY UNDERPERFORM; THEY WANT TO FLEE THE ORGANIZATION AND ARE RIPE FOR DISENCHANTMENT, EVEN REVOLUTION.
PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CONFIDENT ABOUT THEIR POWER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR ORGANIZATIONAL POSITION OR PLACE, TEND TO HOARD WHATEVER SHREDS OF INFLUENCE THEY HAVE.
…FEELING POWERFUL- LITERALLY FEELING ‘ABLE’- COMES FROM A DEEP SENSE OF BEING IN CONTROL OF YOUR OWN LIFE. PEOPLE EVERYWHERE SHARE THIS FUNDAMENTAL NEED.”
WHERE DOES THE ABILITY TO CONTROL ONE’S OWN LIFE COME FROM? CLEARLY, IT ALL STARTS WITH THE
LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT:
o CAUSE: The Conscious Mind chooses a thought- be it positive or negative or neutral- which then flows to the Subconscious.
o EFFECT: The Subconscious Mind has no choice but to accept that thought, and as our built-in, goal-seeking organism, begins working 24/7 to make that thought/choice a reality.
o EFFECT: This process creates a vibration in our bodies that we recognize as a Feeling.
o EFFECT: That Feeling prompts an Action or Reaction.
o EFFECT: Those Actions/Reactions create a Result
o CAUSE: The Conscious Mind chooses a though based on the Result…
o ….and the cycle perpetuates.
It stands to reason that, when the input in this cycle is consistently positive and affirming, the output will reflect that. And vice versa. Over time, this cycle creates a habit and becomes ingrained in an individual’s self-image and thus, performance. On a broader scale, this can be said of an organization as well.
So what responsibility does an organization have in helping individuals and teams to improve their self-image?
I believe the answer to that question lies in the answer to these two: 1) what is the value that is placed on people as an asset, and 2) how important is it to consistently improve people skills and leverage them to achieve sustainable results? The degree to which those two elements are of fundamental importance will determine future steps.
HOW DOES A LEADER- OR BETTER YET- AN ORGANIZATION- BEGIN TO INVEST IN THIS CULTURE/RESULTS-CHANGING PROCESS?
1. Decide to do so. Sound too simplistic? Then consider this- when President Kennedy asked the premier aerospace engineer of his day, Werner Von Braun, what it would take to send a man to the moon and return safely by the end of the decade, Von Braun’s response was, ‘The Will to do it.’ The rest of that story is history.
2. Embrace The Law of the Lid as a fundamental operating principle. This Law, by world-renowned author and mentor, John Maxwell, states that a leader (thus an organization) is only as effective as the leadership’s continued investment in their own personal growth. Maxwell states, “Your leadership ability- for better or worse- always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your organization.” He goes on to say that if you rated yourself a ‘5’ in your leadership abilities, for example, you can only lead your team to a ‘5’ level of achievement- there isn’t a capacity to outperform that leadership level. Investing in one’s personal and professional growth- and applying that learning is the only way to move up from a ‘5’ and thus, move the team/organization. By raising your leadership ability, you can increase your original effectiveness a tremendous amount. That’s because leadership has a multiplying effect.
3. Teach the current leadership about the Law of Cause and Effect and understand the role it plays in the current environment. What results are reflected in the positive/negative input? In what department? In which leader? This isn’t meant to be a ‘gotcha’- quite the opposite. It’s determining a starting point upon which to build a new or renewed commitment in the value of every individual and the potential they bring to your company. Develop effective action plans that create traction to move this to a cultural norm.
4. If you already have a strong people-centric culture that consistently embraces The Law of the Lid, then create an ongoing learning and development curriculum addendum that includes The Power of the Mind/Law of Cause and Effect training, as well as The Power of Choice, understanding that a person can never outperform their own self-image in any sustained fashion.
5. Coach performance. Everybody needs a Coach– even the world’s top athletes have Coaches. Speak to any professional athlete at the top of their game and they will tell you that their coach is critical to their success. The relationship between observation® feedback (both positive and constructive, a critical balance)® support ® results is undeniable. It should be a mandatory skill taught to every person in a leadership role how to coach effectively. This includes starting with understanding the Law of Cause and Effect or The Mind/Body/Result connection, and how to help someone develop a sustained, positive self-image, where real power originates.
