How To Be Open Minded During Your Career

An open mindset can change the way you work and expand your skill set. Be conscious of whether you operate out of a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, which is less inclined to learn new ways of operating. Imagine you’re starting over in your role or industry to gain perspective and reevaluate your habits.

By Timothy Mably

Success in any industry depends partly on open-minded professionals. Compromising your way of doing things for the sake of your employer, coworkers, and clients can demonstrate a strong work ethic and willingness to accomplish tasks. However, it’s easy to fall into your preferences and become closed to alternative solutions.

Open mindedness often begins for professionals during their job search. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people have around 12 jobs throughout their lifetime. Although their field may stay the same, some roles can be very different from others. Professional growth and other circumstances can enable someone to become more open minded regarding their career.

What Is An Open Mindset?

Even though professionals are encouraged to have an open mindset while looking for new opportunities, it can be a forgotten attitude within a workplace. Bosses and managers tend to look for workers who are open in their way of operating. Companies aren’t interested in hiring employees who are stubborn and unwilling to compromise.

Career coach Niki Woodall describes an open mindset as being composed of various skills and qualities such as listening, eagerness, and proactiveness. She says, “You can listen in meetings for new ways to bring value. Find new projects to take on or strategies to create more efficiencies in your day-to-day. Learn new skills. Identify new ways to delegate, empower your team and be a better leader.”?

By incorporating open mindedness in your work, you might not feel as personally attached to your role. Instead, there will be a healthy distance between your preferences and your workplace.

An open mindset begins with the realization that you always have more to learn. Professionals can fall into the danger of thinking they don’t need to grow their skillset. There might be a particular set of skills you feel efficient in, but you never truly “arrive” as an expert in a field.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Julia Howard is an account executive at TraceLink and a member of Chief, a network intended for women in executive roles. She believes that being open minded and flexible in and out of the workplace is key to sustainable growth. Howard says, “This growth applies to thought processes, not just itemized activities like meetings or processes.”

She explains that a growth mindset is led by the idea that you can do anything you want, or that your effort and attitude determine your success. In contrast, the fixed mindset operates out of the idea that you’re either good at something or you aren’t as you assume your potential is predetermined.

Howard says, “If you see yourself with a fixed mindset, it lends itself more to negative thought patterns. Challenge yourself in small ways.” If it’s your natural disposition to think "we've always done it this way, why change?” consider asking a boss or coworker questions to understand why they perform tasks in a different style. “Staying curious breeds thought diversity and a healthier mindset that only adds to positive culture and team building.”

Imagine You’re Starting Over

If you’ve been employed at your workplace for a long time, it’s especially easy to fall into habits and routine ways of doing things. Woodall recommends a thought exercise by imagining you’re starting over in your role. Similar to Howard’s suggestion, find opportunities to challenge yourself.

“Network internally with people at your company you rarely interact with,” says Woodall. “Treat your current job like you are starting over again with the new employee mindset.”

Give yourself a clean slate, rethinking how you might function on a regular day if it was your first day at your company. It might provide additional perspective to imagine if you had just recently entered your field.

Woodall says, “Professionals can remain open-minded throughout their careers by continuing to learn new skills, having mentors that are also growth-minded, and trying new things even outside of work.”

Be Open Minded In Your Job Search

For jobseekers, Howard says that open mindedness can look like allowing space for a variety of roles, while focusing on a strategy to find new opportunities. She also brings up the other side of the dynamic, saying that employers can practice an open mindset by thinking outside the resume . She says, “Relevant experience breeds thought diversity, and if we gave more people a chance who also had the key pieces of relevant experience? That translates to success and breeds a healthy and thriving team.”

Depending on your employer, you might already be in an environment that functions out of open mindedness. This atmosphere can enable you to experiment and consider the best way to do something.

Howard also demonstrates how an open mindset can be advantageous while networking. She shares her own experience, saying, "My network brought me many diverse roles that makes me a very competitive and well-rounded candidate. I have both a successful sales career , and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Without being open minded to the roles that my mentors and network teed me up for, I wouldn’t have had the chance to expand my education and impact.”

As you adopt an open mindset in your workplace, it will make looking for work with an open mind come more naturally. Employers will recognize your commitment to fulfilling your responsibilities in the best way you can, even if it means breaking habits that you had always been comfortable with.

Top Takeaways

How can an open mindset impact your career?

• An open mindset consists of various skills and qualities such as listening, eagerness, and proactiveness.
• An open mindset begins with the realization that you always have more to learn. Professionals can fall into the danger of thinking they don’t need to grow their skillset.
• Challenge yourself in small ways.” If it’s your natural disposition to think "we've always done it this way, why change?” consider asking a boss or coworker questions to understand why they perform tasks in a different style.
• Give yourself a clean slate, rethinking how you might function on a regular day if it was your first day at your company. It might provide additional perspective to imagine if you had just recently entered your field.