Thinking Bigger, Acting Bolder: The Leadership Mindset & Actions for Breakthrough Impact

We have to believe it before we become it.?

And as leaders and executives, it’s our job to create the vision and structure for our teams to do big things, and to create supportive environments so teams can be successful.?

It’s our job to clearly articulate our targets and speak those BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) into existence so that we can collectively go after what might seem impossible together; and create, produce, design, form, imagine, engineer and EXECUTE in big ways. It’s fairly simple when you think of it this way:

Average Actions = Average Results

Big Actions = Big Results

(I know it’s not that simple, but conceptually, let’s go with it)

But how can we set the tone for our teams and organizations to aim higher and make an even bigger impact in 2024?

Well for starters, we’re touching on this topic at the right time: it’s still the beginning of the year/Q1, and the beginning of any “new thing” often brings fresh perspectives and ambitions which is good–let’s channel this.?

Exec Pro Tip #1: Now, to really make impressive things happen, it’s on us as leaders–we must adopt the Think Bigger, Act Bigger mindset and set audacious goals with our teams.?

Science backs the power of expansive thinking: studies show that embracing a ‘growth mindset’—believing that our abilities and intelligence can develop with effort—leads to greater success and resilience. Let’s do this in the workplace.

Here's a quick exercise with three reflective prompts:

• What is one area at work/with your team where you could THINK and ACT a bit BIGGER?
• What do you and your team need to (re)prioritize to make sure that you can give that area of your life the time and attention it deserves??
• What would the impact be to your team/organization/company+ when you’re successful?

Once you’ve thought about this, bring your team in and share the goal and vision (the WHAT), and solicit engagement from team members on the HOW, so everyone is bought in and knows how/where to contribute. Put a plan in place to execute and as the leader, remove barriers. Check in often.

Exec Pro Tip #2: Continue to model and encourage expansive thinking by embracing the power of “yet” throughout the discussions and execution efforts. Words matter. The difference between saying “I can’t do this” versus “I can’t do this, yet” is huge–the latter implies a permanent limitation or impasse, and the former encourages a temporary struggle. When we tell ourselves that something is temporary we start to problem solve a way past it, thus increasing resilience and success. This concept is linked to extensive research on growth mindsets from research by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck. In short: modeling a "yet" oriented language, encourages teams to cultivate resilience while pursing big bold goals over time.

Exec Pro Tip #3: Create big thinking environments where intelligent failure is expected and supported.?

When pursuing big ambitious goals, some failure is inevitable and necessary. And it’s best when done quickly to allow for faster learning, productive risk-taking and iterative tests. Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow and sharpen our skills, and failure is an excellent way to obtain feedback. Fail early and often—failure is feedback.

As leaders, we are the culture creators and we must deliberately create psychologically safe cultures where people feel supported AND see setbacks as data, not deficiencies—environments where teams don’t flounder, and do fail forward. Research shows when setbacks are collaboration opportunities, managed without blame or criticism, teams become 13% more likely to spark game-changing innovation long-term (HBR, The Business Case for Curiosity). Check your reactions to the messiness, and rather than reacting negatively, transform failures into launchpads. The right culture helps teams fail forward fast.

"Do not be afraid to make gigantic blunders, to make tremendous errors, but never fail to take gigantic actions." - Indra Nooyi, Former PepsiCo CEO & Chairwoman

What insights and tools do you have in your leadership flight bag to think bigger, and to act more boldly this year? When we believe in human potential and raise our ambitions, we give our people, teams and organizations more lift, and help our companies fly higher.?

It’s still the beginning of 2024. Let’s get to work.

Cheers,

Danielle Vardaro