Leaders come from all different backgrounds and cultures. Some would say that they are born with leadership properties (the specific traits of the person) and others will argue that they can be formed and molded into leaders (emergent leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, etc.). This article analyzes the mindsets of individuals who believe or want to believe that they could become leaders. The article also looks at those who feel that they are limited in their abilities to be a leader.
The Mindset
The one area that was very interesting to read was about the different mindset that individuals have from one another. The mindsets are broken up into two segments. There are those who believe that they can grow and change to reach a new level of leadership. Through some untapped potential they could get better at what they were set out to do. Those people have, what Carol Dweck, called a “growth-mindset”. The flipside to that would be the individual who thinks that their talents and abilities will only be able to take them so far in life. This thought process seems to derive from the thought of failure as being a terrible outcome rather that a way to improve oneself. Again, Carol Dweck calls this a “fixed-mindset”.
These “mindset” are very similar to the idea that leadership is based on traits for those individuals who are in the “fixed-mindset”. Others in the “growth-mindset” seem to be on the idea that leadership skills can be developed and the individuals are not necessarily born leaders.
Why are they in that Mindset?
Opinions as to why people would consider themselves to be or not to be a leader seemed to revolve around the environments in which that they learned and developed, at least for post high school education. Those who were supported by the notion that they could become better, to evolve, where much more likely to feel that they could grow. They were considered to be growth-minded individuals. The author of the article stated that he was a graduate of the Naval Academy, and being a graduate he had a strong sense of leadership once he graduated. The Naval Academy set the expectation for their students to be effective leaders. The author also suggests that those individuals in state universities are well prepared in terms of knowledge and practical skills, but they are lacking in leadership skills where little emphasis is placed.
-Brandon Leitschuh
I believe that all leaders are able to grow into better leaders. Though i think it is true some leaders are born, its not impossible for people to learn and develop the skills for what it takes to become an effective leader.
ReplyDeleteTherefore I think a growth mindset is much more effective to have for a leader. Someone who is always looking to go further and look for the "untapped" knowledge they have to better their situation. Someone with a fixed mindset seems like someone who will just barely get the job done and not look to go beyond what is expected. I think this article relates to chapter nine in our Northhouse book. This chapter is based on transformational leadership and these leaders always look to go beyond what is expected and through their behaviors try to get their followers to go beyond what is expects which is like a growth mindset.
Transactional leadership just gets the expected outcome. This relates to the fixed mindset because they don't believe in growth and expanding their horizon. They do not think they can improve.
-Matt Kester