Now, I want to encourage you to think about how prepared your mind is.
Let's start by considering your repertoire.
As you assess your own repertoire, I'd like you to consider the following.
I'd like you to make a list of all the key positions you've held.
For each one, include the organization, the
functional area and the two or three experiences
that gave you the most new perspective and skills.
Now, I'd like you to assess that list and look
for themes, areas of concentration and broad capabilities you've developed.
Drill down on one or more of those
experiences by asking, what was the challenge or opportunity?
What were my options?
What did I do. What were the results?
And, most importantly, what did I learn?
And then, look for what's missing. What are the industries or functions or
experiences I need to get more of for my current and future leadership development.
Think about some ways you can expand your repertoire.
If you're really committed, you're going to have to step out of your comfort zone.
Here's some suggestions for how to do that.
First examine different businesses and industries,
either directly by working with them or
indirectly by researching them on the
internet or in forums where they're represented.
Seek out and get to know different kinds
of people, both inside and outside of your organization.
I'd like you to look for patterns and interconnections between seemingly
disparate ideas or functions or people or options, and then build on them.
Try to understand the context of problems and
opportunities, and always keep the big picture in mind.
If things start to fall apart, find a common
thread that you can use to pull them back together.
I'd also like to suggest that you spend more time talking
to entrepreneurs, participating in start-up initiatives,
reading or attending conferences about entrepreneurship.
Take on some different roles within the organization where you currently work.
And finally, learn from your failures and successes and apply what you've learned.
You can expand
your repertoire by making an intentional commitment to
expand your knowledge and what you expose yourself to.
But to do so, you have to give up this
notion that you have to be good at everything you do.
And that sticking with what you already know, and what
feels familiar will keep you from experiencing pain or disappointment.
If you do that, it will broaden your options and capabilities.
To address problems, take advantage of opportunities and lead innovation.
Now, how about your mindset? Do you have a fixed mindset like George?
I'd like you to ask yourself a few questions, to assess your mindset.
Do you spend a lot of energy worrying about making mistakes or looking foolish?
Do you tend to consider your ideas
fully formed rather than as starting points?
When you're confronted with disconfirming data, do you find yourself
debating the data's validity, or instead, trying to understand it?
Do you measure your progress relative to others?
Or to your own improvement. And finally, how do you handle setbacks?
As signals
to abandon ship or as opportunities to learn and to try something different.
Your brain is designed to develop new circuitry.
To rewire itself based on new thoughts and behaviors.
Let's talk about some ideas about how to get that started.
I suggest that you find some quiet time every day for reflection.
Ask yourself about what you're thinking and why you're thinking it.
When you find yourself in a fixed mindset, ask if it's coming
from a discomfort with change or maybe a fear of making mistakes.
Make it a priority to try and learn something new every day.
Try asking questions more often than you give answers.
And doing something that stretches you beyond
your comfort zone, beyond your current capabilities.
Imagine what success looks like and feels like on a regular basis,
even when, maybe especially when, it seems like it's outside of your reach.
I believe there's a successful innovator inside every one of us.
We can all prepare our minds to find innovation.
I want to challenge you to find and develop that unique set of
qualities inside of you. A learning mind set, a broad
repertoire, and customer empathy in order to maximize
your success.
To help you explore these ideas further,
I've added some resource suggestions to the portal.
And I'd like to ask you to think about your repertoire.
And how you can become more growth oriented and less fixed.
Finally, to learn more about the tool of storytelling,
we've created a short video on it's power, featuring Andre
Martin, Chief Learning Officer, at Mars.
I'd like you to take a few minutes now and watch that.
I hope you'll join us in our forums to keep our class discussion going.
Until next week. I'll see you then.