This past weekend I read this thought provoking piece that may have a more profound effect on how we lead ourselves and others than I previously thought.  Basically it states that we may need to be asking ourselves if we see people (including ourselves) as what they (we) are or what they (we) can be.  It uses the work of Stanford’s Carol Dweck.

From the Fast Company Website:

There’s a long-standing debate about whether leaders are born or made.
But let’s not revisit nature versus nurture. Instead, let’s ask a
weirder question: Could it be that your point of view on this issue is
what actually makes you a better or worse leader? And if so, is nature
or nurture the more career-enhancing POV?

skipping down…

People with a fixed mind-set believe that intelligence is static.
Your behavior provides a sample of your true underlying intelligence,
like a taster spoon from a tub of ice cream. And because people will
judge your intelligence by the samples you provide, you’ll definitely
scoop out an Oreo chunk whenever you have the chance. The consequence:
You’ll avoid challenges. (If you fail, others will see that as a taste
of your true ability.) You’ll be threatened by negative feedback.
(Isn’t your critic just claiming to be smarter than you?) You’ll exert
less effort. (Really smart people don’t need to try hard.)

The second group, Dweck says, are those with a growth mind-set.
These people believe intelligence can be developed, like muscles. If
you’re in this camp, her research shows, you’ll test yourself more,
despite the risk. (After all, if you try to bench-press more weight and
fail, no one will mock you as a "born weakling.") You’re more inclined
to accept criticism–ultimately, it makes you better. You perceive hard
work as the path to mastery, not as a sign of insufficient genius.

Further in the article…

Dweck has begun to explore whether we can intervene and change
people’s mind-sets, and if so, will that make them more successful?
Earlier this year, Dweck and two colleagues, Kali Trzesniewsi of
Stanford and Lisa S. Blackwell of Columbia, ran an experiment on junior
high schoolers. If they trained the students to have a growth mind-set,
would the kids’ math grades improve? In less than two hours over eight
weeks, they taught the students concepts such as: Your brain is like a
muscle that can be developed with exercise; just as a baby gets smarter
as it learns, so can you; everything is hard before it gets easy–never
give up because you don’t master something immediately.

The results were astonishing. The brain-is-a-muscle students
significantly outperformed their peers in math, many showing dramatic
turnarounds, such as the student who went from a failing grade to an 84
on her next exam…..

Source and whole article.

How do you see this issue?  The impact may be greater than we thought.

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