“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”
Image: Pixabay (CC0 Creative Commons)
Author: Beatrice (Page 6 of 7)
William McKnight was the CEO of 3M, also known as the “innovation company”, from 1949 to 1966. He was a living example of how all managers should create an environment which fosters a growth mindset (you can read more about that here) in order to create a successful, thriving and long-lasting business.
In McKnight’s own words, here are the principles to follow in order to build innovative companies:
“As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way.
“Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.
“Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it’s essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”
Image: AZquotes
Though this TED talk suggestion may seem rather strange for a blog focusing on leadership and business skills development, it actually gives us an important message about how to accompany other along a path of growth by adopting an encouraging rather than punitive attitude. Julie Lythcott- Haims reminds parents (but leaders and managers too!) that there are many ways of reprimanding a person and some are much more fruitful than others in actually determining a change in the other person’s behavior.
Another important message is this: managers should always be on the lookout for situations they can learn from. In fact, some of the most important lessons often spring from situations which have nothing to do with the business environment!
Taken from (https://twicsy.com/u/snoopy)
“The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Pixabay – CC0 Creative Commons
Many of us wish to reach success. What the definition of that is varies from person to person, but #1 New York Times Best Selling author Brandon Burchard has put together the 6 High Performance Habits that people that are considered successful generally share:
- Seek clarity
- Generate energy
- Raise necessity
- Increase productivity
- Develop influence
- Demonstrate courage
High Performance therefore seems to be the result of simply performing specific actions day in and day out: you have no more excuses! The book also includes a professional assessment to measure one’s own progress in reaching his or her goals.
“Selecting the right person for the right job is the largest part of coaching.”
Pixabay – CC0 Creative Commons
Piggybacking on our last post, here is Dr. Carol Dweck’s TEDx talk about the power of adopting a growth mindset and believing that you can improve your skills in just about anything!
Ever heard of mindset? This word is becoming more and more common in the modern world because experts in many fields such as sports, parenting, business, school and relationships are becoming aware of the importance of mindset in facing life’s challenges. In her insightful book “Mindset: The new psychology of Success”, Carol Dweck talks about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset through real-life examples and then gives us the tools to apply a growth mindset in all aspects of our lives. Basically, people with a fixed mindset believe that you either have it or you don’t: natural talent is the only possible way to succeed. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their talents can be developed (through hard work, successful strategies and input from others).
Many studies have shown that having a fixed mindset can help us to reach our goals and to do so with greater ease and enjoyment: we can actually appreciate the process of learning, regardless of the outcome.
Be sure to check out Dr. Dweck’s book, it is sure to give you a new perspective on how to go about life and how to interact with others, whether they be your children or you colleagues.
https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means
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