According to McKinsey, roughly a quarter of companies experience no financial growth, and between 2010 and 2019, only one in eight grew their revenue over 10 percent annually. This statistic may seem surprising considering how growth is a core goal for most businesses. What this tells us is that despite sustained efforts, growth remains a real challenge for most organizations.
There could be any number of reasons why a business is struggling to achieve significant growth: a poor product or service, a dwindling audience, unmotivated employees, or poorly managed budgets. One way to combat these challenges is for business leaders to intentionally employ a strong and active growth mindset throughout the organization.
What is a Growth Mindset?
Entrepreneur defines a growth mindset as the belief that one’s foundational abilities and skills can be developed through dedication and effort. A crucial factor in embodying this way of thinking is a strong sense of self-motivation and determination. These traits exist in employees who are looking for challenges to further develop their professional skills and enhance their innate capabilities to get to the next level. They’re exactly the type of leaders businesses need to achieve aggressive growth goals.
Becoming a Growth-Mindset Leader
Embrace failure
Making mistakes is a normal part of the work (and human) experience. Mistakes are inevitably going to happen in anyone’s career. The goal is to learn from failures and turn them into learning opportunities that motivate you to succeed in your future endeavors. Don’t be shy or embarrassed about failing. Connect with peers, your manager, or a mentor to receive constructive criticism and advice on how to better navigate challenges and improve in the future.
Experience is everything
You’re never going to know everything, but your experience level with a specific skill will be beneficial as you grow within your career. Gain as much knowledge as possible in your field. This goes beyond your day-to-day work on the job. Consider joining professional organizations with people who work in your industry, subscribe to notable blogs and newsletters, and attend workshops or conferences that discuss the most relevant trends. The more you immerse yourself, the more experienced you’ll be.
Don’t get comfortable
You can’t grow if you’re stagnant. The purpose of embodying a growth mindset is to continually evolve. It’s common to get comfortable in your career at a certain point. This may be after achieving a certain job title, reaching a salary goal, or landing a role at a dream company. While these are amazing accomplishments, it doesn’t mean there’s no room for further growth. Always remain curious and keep looking for new problems to solve.
Company growth begins with every employee. When employees are empowered to grow individually, the likelihood of a business achieving larger growth goals increases significantly. MasterClass at Work offers 180+ classes taught by the world’s best instructors to help promote and enhance the growth mindset. Companies can provide every employee with an annual subscription so that each person can choose unique learning experiences tailored to their own growth. Are you ready to help your employees and company start growing? Learn more about MasterClass at Work now.