Do you Have a Growth Mindset? Answer these 5 Questions to find out …
How do you grow a business? It’s a simple but hugely important question. Yet while there are lots of ways to do it, there’s one essential first step that every business — and every business leader — needs: a growth mindset.
What is a growth mindset?
It’s not the only reason they grow. But it’s a fundamental building block for growth.
So do you have a growth mindset?
To find out, consider these questions:
Do you set goals?
It’s a whopping cliché, but the old mantra of ‘if you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know when you get there?’ is so important.
For example, if you’ve ever found yourself asking why, even though your turnover has increased your profit hasn’t, goal setting often lies at the core of it. Without a goal to drive your strategy, it’s easy to find your business generation activities focusing on things that are easy to do but don’t help your profit margin (things like discounting or untargeted marketing campaigns).
Set profit as a goal, however, and you drive different actions, such as removing waste from the business, selling more to existing customers, reducing errors and relentlessly focusing on margin.
When was the last time you asked for feedback?
How are you with failure?
People who have a growth mindset see failure as an inevitable step to success. Every invention ever made failed multiple times before it succeeded. With the same approach to your business, failure becomes an opportunity to explore what you learned from the experience, so you can tweak things next time around.
What’s your attitude to problems?
When the unexpected happens, some business leaders throw their hands up in the air and yell something to the effect of ‘why does it always happen to me?’. Other business leaders deal with things rather more constructively. They accept what’s happened and ask either how can they find a way around the obstacle, or how can they use it to their advantage.
How are you with risk?
Take your inspiration from the town. From its rollercoasters to walking on that glass floor at the top of the Tower, Blackpool is built on nudging people outside their comfort zones, even if it’s in a carefully controlled, well-managed way.
In business, someone with a growth mindset relishes a little risk. They see it as a vital step to making new discoveries that lead to growth, and take the attitude of ‘if you don’t make that step into the unknown, how do you know what’s there?’
So, how did you get on?
Whether you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, neither is right or wrong. And either can complement our team of growth specialists at The Blackpool Growth Business Academy. All our growth specialists have growth mindsets who have applied those mindsets to grow and scale companies locally, nationally and globally.
Imagine what’s possible when you share your mindset with a like-minded growth specialist. Someone who can share your growth journey, explore ideas, and discuss challenges. Someone who can cultivate innovation, help foster a culture of continuous improvement, and increased productivity, creativity and sustained success.
Fully funded personalised support is available to help your Blackpool business grow and scale sustainably.
