How can growth mindset change your future?

In today's fast moving life, we always find problems in almost everything. In office, we end up facing lot of work related issues. At home, we have lots of responsibilities to take care of. In middle of all this, we often become habitual of fixed mindset and stop taking challenges. I have always been firm believer of growth mindset. I recently read an article titled "Are You Trapped In A Fixed Mindset? Fix It!" on Forbes, by Carol Dweck, who is a professor at Stanford University and a social psychologist.

In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol writes "For 20 years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life." She asks each one of us to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth one. She also explains that if you have a full-on growth mindset, anything and everything is possible. Carol explains that there are following steps for everyone to move from Fixed mindset to growth mindset.
1. Begin by seeking evidence for the growth mindset in your life.
2. Next, learn to recognize your fixed mindset when it takes over.
3. Recognize that you have a choice.
4. Put the growth mindset into action.

You can also see following video from Carol.



I am impressed by the view and approach suggested by Carol. We all hear about successful entrepreneurs, sports persons, cinema stars and many more in their own areas of work. None of them was an expert from birth in their respective areas of work. Each one of them faced problems on the path to success. They are successful today because they decided to come out of comfort zone and accept challenges, with belief in capabilities of self. It was their passion that made it happen. Leaders and successful persons are persons like us.

I still remember that I used to hesitate speaking in English till second year of my undergrad. But with conscious effort and exposure to organizing various events in college and my work organization, I could improve and become comfortable in talking with people. I feel that one's interest in something and attitude can change the things drastically.

We need to change our mindset and acknowledge the failure and criticism. Every mistake presents an opportunity to do something better. Let's stop blaming the circumstances and accept the challenges. There is solution for every problem. It is about whether you try to find the solution. Mindset plays a big role in life and it can change your future. If you dream big, you will be able to achieve your dreams. Believe in yourself and you can do anything. Let's take actions to achieve bigger goals in life !!!

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What does it take to revolutionize a mammoth organization?

I have been thinking about how difficult it is to bring about change in an organization that is facing growth challenges and tough competition with other organizations. While theoretically it might be as easy as top management passing on orders to all the employees, but practically it is a huge task which becomes successful only when the workforce truly gets involved for to bring about the change.

Recently, I read an article in The McKinsey Quarterly on an interview with Om Prakash Bhatt, Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), which is largest bank in India. Om Prakash Bhatt graduated with BS in Physics and MA in English. He went on to become the Chairman of SBI in year 2006. That was at a time, when SBI was losing market share and was lagging behind in race with growing private banks which offered new products to lure customers.

Om Prakash Bhatt knew that success lay in innovation, however the challenge was to energize and provide right direction to 200,000 Government employees stretched across 10,000 branches. One statement of Om Prakash Bhatt which really impressed me was: "If you look at any transformational effort at any institution across the world, most of the things people have done are common sense. There is no magic to it. The secret is how you do it, how you build a team, and how you build consensus around what you’re doing. Only then are you able to execute your plan. I had a vision for the bank, but I needed to communicate it." As part of his strategy, the top management of SBI started interacting with branch managers with in groups of up to 80. This kind of direct interaction had never happened before in SBI. It gave a sense of need and involvement to employees across all levels of the organization. The idea was to create an environment where people were free to voice their ideas, to criticize and to accept criticism, and ultimately to build consensus and alignment. The moment employees of an organization start feeling that they are part of it, they become more engaged and energized to generate higher results.

SBI which was facing in losses in market share, recently became a Fortune Global 500 company. I am sure, like me many of us would agree with the fact that services of SBI in past 3 years have improved a lot as compared to earlier. While business approach and providing new offerings with changing customer needs is the need-of-the-hour for any organization, it is very important to have employee involvement for an organization to succeed. All of us with our talent and collective team effort can do wonders. We are already seeing tremendous benefits of collaboration within organizations and this is poised to continue and evolve further into tomorrow's global world. Om Prakash Bhatt is a great inspiration for me and I am impressed with his leadership. It would be unfair, if I did not quote his words here: "I want us (SBI) to be available to every Indian, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, to both individuals and institutions. I want to do all this by instilling in my people a sense of service and helping them realize their work in the bank is not only about excellence in the workforce but also about self-development, evolution, and excellence in life."

Thanks for dropping by. Your comments are source of encouragement for me. I will be glad to hear from you.
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You can share this article with your contact(s) using the link below.