As a leader you can strengthen many leadership skills. Which one really deserves your attention?

Your first reaction might be strategy. A leader needs to formulate a strategy to realize the vision. That’s a good one. Every leader needs to do that. It goes back to the distinction that John Kotter made between leadership and management. Leaders focus on formulating a vision and realizing that same vision through a strategy. That’s crucial skill that each leader needs to have.

And although I agree that a vision and strategy are super important, I was thinking of something else. A leader combines strategy and mind. Strategy in itself is not enough. That’s why even if you would read all the leadership books, articles, and blog posts available – be warned, there are quit a few – it still won’t make you a great leader.

Your mindset is a crucial part of becoming a leader – it might be even the most crucial part. Your mindset is the engine that fuels your leadership. Your mindset behind a vision, strategy, for other implementations determines it success.

The Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck distinguishes two different kinds of mindsets. Let’s have a closer look at those mindsets.

Mindset One

You believe that your basic qualities – think of your intelligence or your talent – are fixed traits. Then you have according to Dweck a fixed mindset. You belong to the group of people that uses their intelligence and talents but don’t develop those. You believe that talent and intelligence create success.

Mindset Two

If you believe that your basic intelligence and talent are just the starting point and through hard work and dedication you can develop those, you belong to a group of people with in Dweck’s terms the growth mindset. People with this mindset have a love of learning and a resilience that allows them to come back even after the biggest challenges. It’s the same resilience that many CEOs ask questions about before hiring someone.

[ Note: see article on interview questions]

Years ago, Albert Einstein formulated it so well:

“I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.”

The difference between people with those different mindsets shows already at an early age. In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Dweck writes that even at the early age of four years the two different mindsets show.

A leader and the other people in the organization flourish if the growth mindset is embraced. It’s the difference between wanting to make sure that you succeed, no matter what or defining success as stretching yourself with an eagerness to face new challenges.

Successful leaders operate from the growth mindset. Like the famous coach John Wooden:

“The best competition I have is against myself to become better.”

So, what is your mindset? And if needed are you willing to change your mindset? I hope so because then you are on the fast track to become a much better leader.

Let’s use the power of the LeadershipBeyond community and let’s all of us learn something new today. Please let me know how it worked out for you.