Growth Mindset

Even when you feel like you’re at the top of your game, there’s always more to learn. You could always think faster, dig deeper, and reach further. The marketing profession evolves constantly around new technology, rules and regulations, theories, best practices, consumer engagement preferences and more. The need to learn never stops. Marketers must remain aware of the world around them as their profession can change from one sunset to the next. If there’s one thing all marketers embrace, it’s having a growth mindset.

What’s a Growth mindset?

First off, a growth mindset is different from a fixed mindset which is the belief that you were born with certain skills and abilities. According to What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means, people who believe in a growth mindset put more emphasis on learning by putting in the work. If you wanted to run a marathon, you would practice running long distances, time yourself and try to beat that record next time. Your success depends on your work ethic, not your natural abilities. If you learn and acquire your skills through strategies, hard work and guidance from others like mentors or colleagues, you have a growth mindset.

How can you develop yours?

A growth mindset isn’t something you can just turn on or off like a light switch. You need to invest time to learn. It’s a way of thinking and working – it’s a way of life. A growth mindset could mean understanding that you don’t know everything – but are eager to put the time in to learn. Futurelearn’s article titled, What is a growth mindset and how can you develop one?, goes into depth and outlines 10 techniques you can use. Here are our top 5 from the list:

Identify your mindset

Being aware of how you see the world is the first step. You need to know how you approach challenges and maybe how you handle setbacks. A comment like “Mary could do this in her sleep” while it’s an exaggeration, may signify a fixed mindset if the individual believes Mary is more capable because she was born with certain skills they don’t have – yet.

Look at your improvements

When reflecting on past challenges at work, you’ll likely discover areas where you once struggled but now excel. If you can recognize why the tasks or the job itself got easier, that may lead you to the revelation that it took time for you to get where you are today.

Make mistakes

While no one wants to make mistakes, they are an opportunity to learn, develop and gain a deeper understanding you can learn from. While it may be hard to accept in the moment, you will never get everything right the first time around – so don’t be too hard on yourself.

Be kind to yourself

The next time you make a mistake, try to think about how you would treat a colleague if it was them. Would you be so hard on them or would you coach them on how to avoid repeating that mistake in the future?

Seek feedback

Seeking feedback from others will undoubtedly highlight areas where you have improved along with those still requiring some work. Constructive feedback is something you can learn from which can only make you better.

On the Other Hand

If nothing else, having a growth mindset, can change the way you think and how you perceive success and missteps. Adopting a fixed mindset, may make it difficult to come to terms with not hitting a mark or meeting a goal. On the other hand, if you have a growth mindset, while you aren’t ecstatic about failing, you will understand why you did. You will recognize areas that need improvement, and with the right guidance and support you will get there. As Langston Hughes once said, “The only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you’ll finish it.”

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