What do you do if you want to develop a growth mindset for career advancement and promotion?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record with some of my answers to these type questions, career advancement and promotions are not a product solely of the "development of a growth mindset" but a product of putting to use the skills, knowledge, and experience you gained from a commitment to the very growth being discussed. In other words, promotions and advancement come from you demonstrating that you continually bring more value to the organization in which you serve. Your value increases through your continued commitment to learn new skills, gain advanced knowledge, improve your emotional intelligence, and apply that learning in making the organization and the people you serve better for it. Growth comes from action.

We dread challenges while in fact they need to be honored. No challenge no growth no story! If we manage to change our mindset around challenges by trusting more the process and fearing less failure, we would certainly view challenges with a brand new lens!

The key thing here is to feel uncomfortable enough about the challenge ahead. If this feels easy or known, it is likely you are not growing but just going at the same pace/level. You do need to be intentional about the challenges you select, as these need to show extra value you can bring to the company. This is how you are showing value for promotion and career advancement within a company.

Some people are energized by roadblocks and challenges and others are not. There's not a one size fits all approach to embracing challenge. If you're the type that deflates when your progress and success are hampered, it's important to understand the core belief or existing mindset that drives that deflation. Perhaps you believe you're a failure (versus the thing was a failure), or maybe you were always told you'd never amount to something while growing up. Find that core belief that's bringing you down and make a shift at that level. By doing so, you're paving the way to create new behaviors and actions that will sustainably carry you through challenges in the future.

Always be curious about the world around you. Create space intentionally to be curious, take time to discover other parts of the company, network with different colleagues and see opportunities that would be obvious at first. THis goes beyong being on top of your industry trends for instance, it is a real mindset. Asking the right questions of your managers, peers, teams is another way to show curiositiy and be seen to embrace curiosity and learning.

Learn to teach and teach to learn. While executives are keen to add more certifications for their career growth, many do not explore the opportunity to teach. Today there lies a lot of tacit knowledge within internal employees. Executives who offer to teach or share knowledge can help expand their knowledge and also gain a lot of visibility which is essential for one's career growth.

Focus on two different types of learnings: 1. Skills needed for your role / industry 2. Things that pique your interest and curiosity The second will provide satisfaction and fulfillment that your job cannot, be it in terms of creativity, expanding your views, challenging your status quo, etc. This may also lead to career pivots in the future. When we "learn for fun," we often retain and apply that information the most.

Feedback fuels growth. To receive better, more useful feedback, ask concise, targeted questions. Accept feedback gracefully, inquire about potential improvements, and ensure it's actionable. Do this in tiny bites, tiny experiments on an ongoing basis (even daily) so that it becomes easier and more your "way of operating". Experiment with new approaches and act on feedback to foster personal growth. Reflection alone won't enable improvement—action is essential for progress.

Seeking out feedback and the feedforward ideas from those critical stakeholders who will be the key decision-makers and influencers in any upcoming promotion you aspire to is essential. This is the first smartest move you can make. The second, is to then act on this invaluable advice, putting it into action months in advance of your interview day.

Executives are wired to think that they can meant to deliver feedback while in reality seeking Feedback from both team members and co-workers is equally important. Seeking Feedback can be unsettling and challenging and the fact that it might be a choice to sign up for it makes it less frequent than delivering Feedback. When it is a well structured and constructive Feedback, balanced between Criticism and Praise, Feedback is the fast track to an enhanced performance.

Failure is a word to reframe into opportunity, dry-run or sprint. However, reflecting on failures should be regular, not at the end of a big project or deliverable. Can you create space every week for instance to reflect on what has been good and difficult this week. And what could be different. The reflection needs to be ongoing if you want to produce results and adjustments in real time.

You have to reframe the term "failures" in order to really embrace the growth mindset. Besides carrying negative connotations, failures often solely place of us. The term is too broad and rarely captures the reality of the situation. Instead, one of these might be more fitting: - Practice run - Opportunities - This was not meant for me - Learnings - New perspectives (often humbling ones) - Gap identifiers These will help you focus on forward motion rather than feeling stuck in the things that went awry.

One of the Leaders responsibilities is to inspire their team members. Inspiring doesn't happen though preaching them and instructing them with what the leader thinks would work. An inspirational leader is someone whose both success and failure are the best content for insightful stories for the team and who doesn't shy away from the original script as this is where the learnings reside.

Remember that you don't have to do this alone. Planning, setting, and staying accountable and motivated toward your goals is challenging work. This is where a coach can be invaluable. They can help structure your ideas into a clear, actionable plan. They can serve as your cheerleader, your accountability partner, a mirror, a challenger, a supporter, and so much more.

Too many advance without growth mindset. They spend energy to look good and get ahead. Then there are those who advance with growth mindset. These people make a real difference at every step. Growth mindset is less about where it gets you and more about what it gives you in terms of learning and fulfilment. If you want it, step into uncomfortable roles and spaces, ones where you do not know the answer, may not “look good” and are likely to make mistakes. These spaces are where the magic happens.

In my experience, to develop a growth mindset for career advancement and promotion, embracing challenges and learning from feedback is essential. Carol S. Dweck, in her book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success," discusses the power of believing that your abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Dweck emphasizes the importance of persisting in the face of setbacks, seeing effort as a path to mastery, and learning from criticism. By cultivating this mindset, you approach challenges with enthusiasm rather than fear, view failures as opportunities to grow, and continuously seek ways to improve, all of which are critical for career progression and earning promotions.