Leadership development is not exactly an exact science, due in large part to the general fuzziness around what exactly good leadership looks like. New research from Virginia Commonwealth University aims to shed a little light on the subject by exploring the mindsets that contribute to leaders’ decision making.
The researchers assessed a few decades worth of research on the kinds of mindset that play a crucial role in leaders’ decision making. They believe this is an area that is often overlooked by current leadership development initiatives, yet it’s fundamental to how leaders think and behave.
“Mindsets are leaders’ mental lenses that selectively organize and process information in unique ways, guiding them toward corresponding actions and responses,” the researchers say. “In other words, mindsets dictate what information leaders take in and use to make sense of and navigate the situations they encounter. Simply, mindsets drive why and what leaders do.”
All in the mind
The researchers identified four kinds of mindset that had a clear impact on leaders:
- Growth vs fixed mindsets
- Learning vs performance mindsets
- Deliberative vs implemental mindsets
- Promotion vs prevention mindsets
“If organizations want their investment in leadership development to more fully pay off, it is essential that they prioritize mindset development, specifically by targeting growth, learning, deliberative and promotion leader mindsets,” they explain. “If organizations focus on and help leaders hone these mindsets, they are much more likely to give their leaders and their organization the gift of lasting and meaningful development.”
The growth mindset has been well documented since Stanford’s Carol Dweck brought it to popular attention. A learning mindset, however, is perhaps less well known, yet it’s fundamental to any innovation, as it prioritizes learning and improving rather than performance and results.
Similarly, the deliberative mindset may be less well known, but discusses those who have a particular receptiveness to information that can truly help them. By contrast, people with an implemental mindset are often focused purely on implementing decisions, which can shut them off from different ideas and information.
Last, but not least, those with a promotion mindset are often preoccupied with winning, whereas those with a prevention mindset are more preoccupied with not losing.
The researchers believe their work has some important implications for leadership development, not least because it can help leaders to develop the self-awareness and leadership effectiveness that are such a crucial part of their job.
