Mindset for Success

Lydia Gadd
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
Director of Community Services, City of Westlake
Based on the work of Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. –
Stanford University
• Story of Dan--

What you THINK Impacts how you FEEL---What you BELIEVE impacts what
you think. Why are some people more vulnerable to the fear of being
judged by others as a failure?
Mindset for Success

• What is Mindset?

• How does it apply to

your professional life
and beyond

• How can you change

it?
 Mindset
Mostly Agree Agree Mostly Disagree Disagree

• You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do

much to change it. (intelligence)

• While we can learn and get stronger in certain areas, our IQ’s remain
fairly static throughout our lives. (intelligence)

• People are born with artistic ability and talent, you either have it or
don’t. (artistic ability)

• The great athletes are “naturals”—i.e. naturally talented-born with

great physical ability. (sports ability)

• You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be
done to really change that. (personality qualities)
History of IQ and Implications
• Alfred Binet father of the IQ test developed the test to identify
children who were not profiting from the Paris public schools to
design and improve better educational systems
• He did NOT believe that IQ’s summarized unchangeable intelligence-
--just the opposite. He believed practice, training and method can
increase our intelligence

• IQ tests evolved to be used as fixed classification systems.

• Both the students and educators had expectations that were
influenced by these scores.
• A straight A student with a modest IQ “I’m good at being a student,
but not very smart” perpetuates self limiting beliefs
• A student on the developmental disabled spectrum of IQ has a
teacher who does not believe in challenging the student to learn
beyond what the IQ score indicates.
What are IQ Tests?
• Measure CURRENT academic abilities (quantitative reasoning,
visual-spatial processing, fluid reasoning etc.)
• IQ tests rely heavily on a person’s skill in defining words and in
knowing facts about the world.
• IQ scores CAN change dramatically, (but mostly remain stable as
most people settle into a particular academic standing early in life)
• IQ score of 100 means 50% of people your age scored higher and
50% scored lower than you—raw scores are converted to correlate
to a bell curve.

• DO NOT measure: a fixed, innate intelligence, creativity, emotional

intelligence or street smarts—Do not correlate well with
performance of everyday tasks.
To answer the age old question
Nature versus Nurture?
• BOTH!!!!!

• We each have a unique

genetic endowment where
we will start with different
temperaments and
aptitudes……but clearly
experience, training and
effort takes you the rest of
the way.

• Genes and environment

cooperate as we develop.
Genes REQUIRE input from
the environment to work
properly.
“Great Athletes are Naturals?”
Muhammad Ali Sonny Liston

• Failed the “tales of the • Power was legendary

tape” • Perfect physique
• Lacked the strength • Experience and strength
• Lacked the classical • “Tales of the tape”
showed him to be a
moves “boxed all wrong” natural
• Didn’t block punches
with arms & elbows Their matchup was so
• Kept jaw exposed ludicrous the arena was
only half-full
 Great Talent is Developed
• Ali studied Liston’s fighting
style as well as his life
outside the ring
• He pictured how Liston’s
mind worked
• Other athletic greats that
weren’t “naturals”: Ben
Hogan, Larry Bird, Babe Ruth
& Michael Jordan (who was
cut from his high school
varsity team)
• Other “greats” who were
told they lacked talent and
potential: Lucile Ball, Elvis
Presley, Ray Charles, Paul
Cezanne, Jackson Pollack,
Charles Darwin
Fixed Mindset “Greats”
• John McEnroe: Was #1 Tennis player in the world for 4 years
• Believed that talent was everything. He did not love to learn
• Notorious for his temper tantrums when he failed
• Loss was blamed on others, on circumstances…never on self
(it was too hot, too cold etc.)
*************************************
Excuses are to protect confidence (with
Fixed mindset confidence only lasts with
The next win---otherwise not sustainable)

People with fixed mindsets who are very

Talented and successful tend to be more
Arrogant and Superior. When they fail they
Behave badly. If Success is EVERYTHING the
Implications of failure are enormous.
Praising Talent can be
Detrimental
• As parents, supervisors, coaches:
in the name of self-esteem we started to praise our kids
for their talent, their intelligence….and often over-did it.
Too much reliance on talent and ability, without the focus
on development does not help anyone reach their
potential. They do not develop mental toughness which
is needed in a clutch.

Rather than praising talent and intelligence----praise or

encourage the effort, the hard-work, the persistence.

2006 Olympians in Torino, Italy---no stand-out athletes---lack-

luster performances. “I guess I just didn’t have it today”
 Mindset
Fixed
• Intelligence is static
• Athleticism: something you are
born with
• Artistic talent: you either “have” or
“don’t”
• TALENT = Success
*************************
• “Prove” and “document” their
intelligence rather than develop—
they CANNOT make mistakes—it
defines them and labels them as
failures. They have a need to prove
that they are special. More likely
to cheat, blame, become defensive
• Preschoolers: easy puzzle over and
over “smart kids don’t do mistakes”
Growth
• Intelligence can be developed
through dedication and hard
work
• Brains and talent are just the
starting point
• Have a love of learning
***********************
• Have resilience for mistakes
and failures, as this just adds
to
“learning”
• Preschoolers: chose
progressively harder puzzles
and excited about the
challenge
Mindset for Success

• What is Mindset?

• How does it apply to

your professional life
and beyond

• How can you change

it?
 Two Mindsets
FIXED MINDSET: leads GROWTH MINDSET:
to a desire to look smart leads to a desire to learn

• CHALLENGES: avoid • CHALLENGES: embrace:

• OBSTACLES: give up “stretching”
easily • OBSTACLES: persist in
face of setbacks
• EFFORT: see effort as
• EFFORT: see effort as
fruitless or worse the path to mastery
• CRITICISM: ignore useful • CRITICISM: learn from
negative feedback criticism
• SUCCESS OF OTHERS: • SUCCESS OF OTHERS:
threatens you inspire and teach you
How to be more “Growth Minded” with:
Challenges, Obstacles, Effort
• Create a culture that forgives
and gives leeway to mistakes
versus a culture of perfection
(promotes team work)
• Discuss the “screw up of the
week” – tell stories of
learning
• Take calculated risks
• Take advantage of educational
opportunities
• Be careful not to be overly
“Outcomes” focused—
• leads to more of a culture of
blame/less team-work
• Don’t “attach” to a single
outcome….be open, flexible to
possibilities
• Don’t expect things to work out
perfectly….expect mishaps and
set contingencies
Enron – and the “fixed” - talent mindset
• American Energy and Commodities company – proclaimed a
poster child of success in corporate America
• Claimed $111 billion dollar revenue in 2000
• Filed Bankruptcy in 2001 - Amid Systematic Accounting Fraud

• Leadership style mindset was FIXED:

• Talent obsessed – recruited big talent, for big money and
Worshipped talent
Employees had to live up to this bar of talent: the culture did not allow
mistakes or any perceived weakness (like needing education) and was
ripe for unethical behavior---to survive in the culture employee’s
developed fixed mindsets
Criticism & Success of Others
• Research shows that people with fixed mindsets are not
accurate self-assessors
• They are defensive when given feedback
• People with growth mindsets are accurate self-assessors
• They relish constructive feedback
• Who would you rather sit with for a performance review????

CEO DISEASE: the need to be perfect

If a leader with a fixed mindset doesn’t appreciate honest
feedback and criticism, they will punish or weed-out the honest
and surround themselves with “yes” men
• “I’m a Hero”
• Initial success at Chrysler
but need to prove his
superiority was greater than
investing in car designs and
improvements
• Surrounded self with
worshippers
• Exiled critics
• Stopped challenging
shortcomings
• Kept bringing out same car
models with minimum
changes over and over
• Created culture of
Groupthink---Group put
unlimited faith in a talented,
genius leader. No one
disagrees or takes a critical
stance.
Mindset for Success

• What is Mindset?

• How does it apply to

your professional life
and beyond

• How can you change

it?
Developing a Growth Mindset
Step 1: Learn to hear your “mindset voice”
Are you afraid of failure and backing away from a challenge?
Making excuses when there is a setback?
Feeling angry when receiving constructive feedback?

Step 2: Recognize that you have a Choice

It is up to you how you interpret challenges, setbacks etc.

Step 3: Talk back to it with a Growth Mindset Voice

FIXED “If you don’t try, you can protect yourself and your dignity”
GROWTH “If I don’t try, I automatically fail”
FIXED “It’s not my fault. It was something or someone else’s”
GROWTH “If I don’t take responsibility, I can’t fix it. Let me listen
and learn what I can”
Developing a Growth Mindset
• Step 4: Take the growth mindset action
• Take on a challenge wholeheartedly
• Learn from your setbacks and try again
• Acknowledge and embrace imperfections
• View challenges as opportunities
******************************************************
“What are the opportunities for learning and growth today? For
myself? For the people around me?

Then make a Plan: WHEN, WHERE, HOW will I embark on my plan

When faced with a set-back, form a new plan (repeat)

Developing a Growth Mindset
Acknowledge and View challenges as Try different learning
Embrace imperfections opportunities tactics

Replace the word Take ownership over Cultivate a sense of

“failing” with the word your attitude purpose
“learning”

Celebrate growth with Emphasize growth over Reward actions, not

others speed traits

Redefine Genius Disassociate Place effort before talent

improvement from
failure

Use the word “yet” Learn from other Make a new goal for
people’s mistakes every goal accomplished
The Habit Brain (basal ganglia) organizes automatic thoughts,
feelings and actions. Maladaptive beliefs can be revised by the
self-aware prefrontal cortex and practiced until they become
healthy mindsets. Keep Practicing!!!!!

I don’t know how It wasn’t my

to fix it yet but I’ll fault…someone
see what I can else can do it.
learn

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every
time we fall” ----Nelson Mandela