Growth or Fixed Mindset in Leadership

With the ever-changing climate in behavioral healthcare, leaders need to develop growth mindsets. This means changing the way they see the world, its challenges, and its shortcomings. 

Dr. Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford University, published her book, Mindset, The New Psychology of Success in 2006. Her premise was that individuals develop different perspectives of the world, either fixed or growth. Those who professed a fixed mindset were not risk-takers and preferred to keep the status quo in their companies. They limited themselves to what they knew. Moreover, when problems occurred, they blamed others and took little self-responsibility for their actions. In reviewing company leaders, her book listed those (including Enron Energy from the early 2000s) as examples of people unable to change or those who gave up. 

We see this attitude in many behavioral health companies. Through regulation changes and COVID, we hear of leaders complaining about how unfair it is to adapt. In one webinar I recently heard, an executive stated, “We were told in the past that we were responsible for aftercare; now it’s being taken away from us. Why can’t anyone make up their minds?” It’s a common theme in meetings and conferences. Listen to those who, instead of embracing change, criticize it. That behavior is the sign of someone who wants to live in the past when healthcare will always be rapidly shifting.

In the article in the Harvard Business Review in 2016, Dr. Dweck wrote,

“Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning. When entire companies embrace a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive far greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation. In contrast, people at primarily fixed-mindset companies report more of only one thing: cheating and deception among employees, presumably to gain an advantage in the talent race.”

What can the behavioral health industry take from this point of view? Growth and change in organizations need to be evaluated, studied, and planned for. Mistakes will be made. Look at all the companies that are frustrated by their difficulty in hiring new talent. But through any change, those with growth attitudes keep trying and make progress rather than whining about the past. 

Praxes provides consulting to behavioral health organizations in areas such as employee performance and change management. For more information, please contact us.