What is the biggest predictor for the success of a new leader?

Many new leaders tend to think that what they need is to learn more skills.

And while being a leader certainly requires some specific skills, what is even more important is the need to adopt a new mindset. Even with all the skills, a leader may not succeed, if they don’t have a growth mindset.

?

According to Stanford professor of psychology dr. Carol Dweck, we have two mindsets and how long you spend in each of them determines our success in life.

The first one is the fixed mindset in which we only have a certain amount of intelligence, personality, talents, and abilities. These qualities are innate, carved in stone in other words they are “fixed”.

In the other mindset, the growth one, innate talent, and abilities are only the starting point and they can be cultivated and developed through effort.

Effort requires challenging oneself and the willingness to step out of the comfort zone.

?People who are in a fixed mindset feel the need to prove themselves and are afraid of failing and being judged. They believe that effort is for people who can’t make it on talent. Often they don’t even try for fear of failure and they feel threatened by the success of others.

A person who’s adopted the growth mindset sees failure as a painful, but not defining experience. They know they will fail at first and take action anyway, knowing that if they try long enough, eventually they will learn enough to succeed. ?They learn from criticism and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

Success is not about being more gifted than others.

The biggest predictor for success is the tolerance of a person to be uncomfortable and the amount of work they are willing to put in.

?A leader with a growth mindset leads their people through uncertainty and ambiguity, takes the setbacks as learning opportunities and doesn’t give up when things get tough. As a result their team reaches a higher level of achievement than the ones who rely on talent.

We have a choice…. We can play it “safe” and miss out on opportunities because we believe we are not talented enough and are afraid to fail OR we can step out of our comfort zone, learn through experiences, and put in the work even when it seems like we are not getting the results we want.

Success is a matter of mindset, not circumstances.?