Whether you know it or not, a growth mindset is one of the most important attributes a small business owner can develop. Embracing a growth mindset can help anyone to better face challenges, learn from constructive criticism, and persist in the face of adversity. It may seem obvious given its name, but achieving and maintaining a growth mindset is a crucial aspect to becoming an adaptable leader who can help both your business, and your employees, find success.

But how does one go about obtaining one? Like almost anything else, growth mindsets take a lot of effort and hard work. They also take a plan, one you can start to put together by reviewing some of the initial steps below.

5 Steps To Developing A Growth Mindset

1. Honestly Assess Where You’re At Now - The first step to developing a growth mindset is to determine where you stand now. Do you embrace challenges or shy away from them? Do you want to learn more about your field or believe you already know everything? Devising a plan for adapting a growth mindset is the same as anything else: you can’t know where to go, if you don’t know where you stand right now.
2. Start To View Challenges As Opportunities - One of the biggest aspects of a growth mindset is embracing obstacles as opposed to hiding from them. Remember that fear is natural, and we are often afraid of challenges because they are hard and we know that we might not always be able to rise up to meet them. But failure isn’t a sign of lack of skill or intelligence. It is an important part of the learning process.
3. Ask For Constructive Feedback - Receiving feedback or even criticism on our leadership style or performance can often be uncomfortable or even hurtful. However, without it we can’t improve or learn. Inviting feedback, and learning from it, is an important step to establishing a growth mindset and bettering our management skills.
4. Stop Caring About Others Approval - When we make pleasing other people our primary objective, we often lose sight of what our primary goal should be. If you are trying to learn and grow, then it shouldn’t be about seeking approval from others. It should, and is, about adapting and evolving into the best version of yourself.
5. Celebrate Others Success - A key component of a growth mindset is an ability to be motivated by the success of others. More than just celebrating the triumphs of your contemporaries and peers, approach them with a healthy level of curiosity, using them as a template from which you can learn to accomplish similar success of your own.
   

This is just a brief glimpse into some of the methods through which to emphasize a growth mindset in both your business and your everyday life. Please follow along with our social media for more information on how to take your business and leadership skills to the next level!