The work mindset of high performing leaders
If you believe that too many of your leaders do not possess a high performance mindset–even though they may possess highly, developed technical skills–then you may well have discovered the ‘real’ cause of your organisation’s leadership talent insufficiency.
If you are concerned about whether your organisation’s leaders have what it takes to meet workplace challenges that might affect your company’s bottom line, know that you are not alone. Here’s what we know:
- We have a new understanding of the positive psychological capabilities that leaders need to have to guide your organisation in the post-GFC, 21st
- What takes leaders and managers from good to great, is psychological capital; or what I call the high performance mindset at work.
What percentage of leaders in your organisation demonstrate a high performance mindset?
How many of your leaders have a strong commitment to success? How many display high self-directedness, optimism, creativity? How many demonstrate high levels of frustration tolerance and believe in the importance of continuous self-growth? How many of your leaders have a strong commitment to others–empathy and respect–and believe in communicating regular performance feedback? How many have a strong commitment to self? And finally, what proportion of your leaders possess the resilience, self-belief, perseverance and organisation required to respond calmly, positively and effectively to tough leadership situations?
L&D opportunities for developing the capacity of your leaders
From the field of neuroscience and the emergence of neuro-leadership, we have discovered that the neural connections in the brain are highly plastic and can be created by changing the way we think about things.
I think it’s unreasonable to expect leaders to engage in difficult and challenging ‘high impact’ leadership behaviour, and to respond positively to new business directions, without providing them with opportunities to expand their capacity and develop new neural pathways.
This can be done by collaborating with your organisational development, HR and/or learning and development manager, and identifying areas of opportunity for introducing a high performance mindset in your organisation. For instance, there may be opportunities to incorporate high performance training in your induction program, your basic leadership program or as a specialisation. For example, Monash Health licensed my company’s High Performance Mindset program for its 13,000 employee as a blended on-line, e-learning program.
ROI
If you invest in high performance mindset training that is customised for your organisation, you can expect the leadership behaviours you want to see in practice–for example better and more frequent performance management discussions–to take place more frequently. Additionally, you can expect your employees’ individual capacity to respond effectively to tough work situations to increase, and team leaders and team members working more collaboratively. Overall you will see better performance and improved results.