The quote by British anthropologist John Lubbock aptly sums up the importance of having a leadership mindset, “What we see depends on what we are looking for.” Perspective is everything.
Consider the two charts in the graphic above. The first one represents a leader who is focused on the “dot”. This is a leader who judges team member’s trustworthiness based solely on how they are performing today. They take a pessimistic view of the team member’s ability to learn and grow and see team members as a set of fixed attributes.
Because this leader has a short-term view of people, they are looking to find fault and see only what team members get wrong, not what they get right. This short-term view causes them to place excessive weight on the most recent success or failure instead of seeing it in context. For this reason, their trust in others rises and falls rapidly based on circumstances and emotions, but it is never an accurate assessment of team members’ true trustworthiness — it is a counterfeit trust.
The second chart represents the leader who is focused on the “line”. The line represents a mindset that sees people for who they can be rather than seeing them only as they are today. This is a leader who evaluates team members’ trustworthiness based on their potential and their desire and ability to learn and grow. Just as important, they see themselves as part of the trust equation; they are comfortable extending trust since they have confidence in their own ability to coach through failure.
When I see people through a growth mindset, my assessment of their trustworthiness changes — trust becomes more resilient.
Because this leader takes a long-term view of people, they see individual success or failure as one dot on a learning curve. For this reason, they practice an enduring trust — one that is resilient in the face of disappointment and failure. Their trust in others is not shaken by failure but instead is strengthened when the other person learns and grows through failure.
The “line” leader is the one we all want to work for. This is a leader who builds enduring trust, the kind of trust that makes it safe for team members to take healthy risks. The “dot” leader will win some games in the short term, but the championship will elude them. Why? Their team is not growing. Team members will be suspicious of the leader, and they will be operating in fear and self-protection. Because this leader's team members know they are only one mistake away from losing the leader’s trust, they will avoid taking healthy risk, which is another way of saying they will disengage.
Which leader are you?
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