When we approach a new year we do so with high hopes and a history. We have high hopes for what a new year holds as well as a history of not fully realizing our full potential.
This post will help you address the history part of planning for a new year as well as provide you with a greater sense of hope for 2019.
Each year I run a program called Mastering The Leadership Mindset. It’s a nine week mindset training program that helps leaders train the one area of their personal and professional life that holds the greatest potential positive impact for them as a leader and team member … their mindset.
After the orientation 50% of the participants report that the performance improvement they expect from the program will be between 50% and 75%. The remaining 50% of participants say their performance improvement will be between 75% and 100% improvement. One week before the program ends I ask participants if they are on track to get the performance improvements they anticipated. 80% say they are. While these are encouraging percentages, I’ve learned two things about mindset from running this program that I think can be valuable to you in 2019.
1. The Imposter Phenomenon is alive and well. In the 1970s Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance identified a fear many leaders have and termed it Imposter Phenomenon. This is caused when someone is incapable of internalizing their successes and suffers from self-doubt, anxiety and insecurity.
From the executive suite to the front lines there are employees who see themselves as imposters and live a fearful professional life. They are afraid of holding people accountable, of losing their seat at the executive decision making table, or losing a key employee or customer.
2. We are the enemy of our own growth. When learning a new skill the ideal mindset is the “I’m getting better” mindset rather than the “I need to get this right” mindset. When we don’t know how to do something the likelihood of doing it right is very small, but far too frequently we use the get it right mindset.
Yes, we want to be the smart, successful and dependable employee who has high job security and believe getting things right is ticket. However, when we use the get it right mindset in areas where we have low levels of experience our creativity, willingness to take risks and challenge our own assumptions is stalled.
Hugh’s 2019 Mindset Challenge
1. Think about one or two of your key employees. Do you observe any tentativeness or apprehension in thier behavior? If you do, is the tentativeness a skillset issue? In other words, is the employee capable of doiong what you believe needs to be done? Or is it a mindset issue? They know how to do what needs to be done but aren’t taking the action required.
If you identify mindset issues download a copy of my Mastering Your Mindset Special report here. It lists the 9 most common mindset barriers we have and provides 27 success strategies for reducing or eliminating them.
I wish you a happy, prosperous and rewarding 2019.
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