The F Word
The F word. It is dredded. Fixed Mindset.
A fixed mindset, once realised, can be pretty flexible. Shifting your mindset can be the career tweak that you need for the second half of 2027. Let me explain my method on how I shifted my mindset for the better.
Sometimes, find people in our teams with fixed mindsets. This can come from within the self (e.g. I am not a people person) or it can be something they have been told about themselves that they then adopt and can’t shake (e.g. You are not detail focussed person).
Sometimes, we feel we cannot shift a fixed mindset or idea, we can manage them and tweak them. It isn’t easy, it might feel disingenuous (at first) but fixed mindsets can be significantly altered with both dedicated practice and determination.
My observation is, fixed mindsets are normally around something difficult/uncomfortable for the individual. They see the “fixed” behaviour as the reason or even excuse why they cannot get what they want in progression, recognition or opportunity. There is a way around it, it is hard, but achievable.
Here, I will share with you one of my (many!!) journeys into changing my fixed mindset of being a overly direct communicator and changing both my own perception and the perception of others. My communication style was a major challenge in my career. It was also my catalyst for change.
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Once I admitted that my communication style was the thing that I needed and wanted to develop. Acknowledging that it was my potential blocker was like giving myself a key to unlock opportunities to achieve the goals or performance levels that I was hoping to move to.
But tackling it was hard. One cannot wake up one day and decide to be a measured and gentle communicator. I applied some simple rules, a great deal of self-discipline and determination to chip away at the old and reshape the new.
I have broken down my approach here.
The Treasure Map. I documented a plan on where I wanted to be, where I was and what acceptable would look like. It doesn’t matter if it is online or analogue it just has to be something you can see and revisit.
Get into the nitty gritty — I started to drop in easily achievable very small changes that I ticked off the path to my goal once it became a habit. Some were much easier than others. These might be shifts in behaviour, stacking a habit, being open to a new way of doing a task.
Get Accountable– It was up to me to make the change. Challenging a belief that has been ingrained in me both by myself and other was going to be hard to shift and I had to take other people on the journey at the same time.
Get Support — I found cheerleaders, coaches and mentors to keep me motivated and accountable as I was trying to shift both perceptions about my communication, my vocab and my behaviour.
Your ability to move the unmovable in shifting your fixed mindset is the game changer in your next half of 2027.
