7 Motivation and Mindset Strategies for Business Growth in Any Industry
Important achievements require a clear focus, all-out effort, and a bottomless trunk full of strategies. Plus allies in learning – Carol Dweck
Success and growth cannot be achieved by sitting idle and assuming that business can now run on its own. It is not your DNA which will decide how far you will go and neither will the success of your predecessors determine your own success. “Motivation” and “Mindset” are the two key elements of achieving business growth in any industry. Goals give direction while motivation and mindset help achieve them. Every day going to work, with a fixed mindset, may help you achieve your goals but it will not inspire anyone to do better. To achieve the wow! factor, you need to have a growth mindset which provides the right motivation to improve and persevere at all costs.
Impact Of Mindset On Workplace
To understand how a boss with a fixed mindset and growth mindset can impact the employees and their performance, let us consider an example.
Boss 1 is very set in beliefs. He has a definite way of working and does not believe in constructive criticism. Achieving goals is important to him even if it means playing the blame game when matters go awry. Employees under him constantly feel stressed and just want to finish their piece of work. If the goals are achieved, good, if not, its somebody else’s headache. Until the blame is fixed everyone is dispensable and on the chopping block. There is no motivation to do things differently or try something new. Why poke the calm waters and stir up trouble for themselves? Such employees will never try to achieve anything bigger. The fault here does not lie with the employees but with the boss who is unable to motivate them to think out of the box. A boss so rigid breeds unrest and dissatisfaction. The employees also feel threatened by the success achieved by others.
Boss 2 is open and flexible. He believes in taking feedback and moving ahead as a team. According to him ever idea, big or small, counts. He wants to achieve the company goals in such a manner that focus is on “a job well done”. Employees under his command are a motivated lot who inspire to achieve big things in life. They drive others similarly and believe in becoming “experts”. Challenges make work meaningful and success of others is a learning opportunity. This is the growth mindset which instils confidence in all concerned parties.
The difference between these two workplace environments lies in how the work gets done. The people under Boss 1 fear challenges and don’t want to take any additional responsibility. Minimum effort is their primary focus and criticism means that they are clueless (read suck at the job). On the other hand, those under Boss 2 are a happy lot who want to take on challenges and foray into territories unknown. They not only accept constructive criticism but work on the feedback received. Challenges are new opportunities to learn, excel and prove their worth. These employees are in for the long haul and will help you get to the top.
Motivation And Mindset Strategies
1. Coach – Coach your team to be different and think differently. Walk the talk. Expand their horizons through new opportunities and challenging situations. Don’t mould them into a second “You”, help them become confident individuals by gaining the necessary experience. Instil leadership qualities in them and help build a culture of mutual respect.
2. Set Team Goals – Many times while looking at the big picture we overlook the fine points. Fixing team goals will sharpen your edge over others. As a team, you will now look at how your bit of job can be completed better and faster. Setting team goals will increase the team performance by proper assigning of tasks and responsibilities. This will increase the overall team productivity and make them more efficient.
3. Ask For Ideas – Never commit the mistake of thinking that you know the best just because you are the boss. New and innovative methods will find their way into the system only if you stop and ask what others think. Sometimes, the best ideas come from those who are down the corporate ladder. Asking for ideas and views makes the employees feel valued and appreciated. Give them a chance to feel good about getting a job well done.
4. Give and Take Feedback – In order to make the employees receptive to taking the feedback, you have to work towards building a culture where criticism is taken as an area of improvement and not punishment. People make mistakes, accept the fact. Move a step ahead and teach your employees to learn from them. Take feedback yourself so that it does not look like one-way traffic. If you don’t take the feedback you have no right to give one.
5. Share Knowledge – In business knowledge is power. As a business owner, having the knowledge yourself is not enough. It needs to pass down to the ranks because those are the people actually involved in getting the work done. If necessary you can do this through team huddles, company-wide townhall, a newsletter, training session etc. Sharing knowledge will empower your employees with the right tools to do a knockout job.
6. Positive Reinforcement – The days of the carrot and stick approach are long gone. Now is the time for positive reinforcement. Motivation is all about making the employees feel good about working and do justice to their job. They need to get a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from whatever they do in the capacity of an employee. Positive motivation will make them better individuals who aspire to do even better.
7. Inspire Confidence – As a leader, you need to inspire confidence. Become approachable, listen to others, don’t panic and create chaos, take time to sit with your employees one on one etc. Small steps like these will help you progress in leaps and bounds. Mentor the most capable people and pass this mentoring chain down the hierarchy. If your employees are confident that you have their back, they shall do their very best at all times.
Closing Thoughts
The motivation and mindset strategies for business growth in any industry mentioned above are as old as the industrial revolution. Somewhere down the line, as business owners, we lose focus on what really matters, which is the employees and growing the business. In the end, a business is only as good as the people who help run and manage it. Be focused on your employees and company goals equally. Work as a team always for the best results.
When it is obvious that goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps – Confucius
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