What Does It Mean To Have a Leadership Mindset?

As a business leader, your goal should be to get the most out of your team through personal development so members grow within your organisation. To achieve this, you need to help your managers (and yourself) undergo a shift in thinking. If it’s true that leadership has very little to do with position and more to do with one’s ability to impact and influence others, then how do we change our mindsets to become better leaders?¹

Inside the leadership mindset

According to Scott Keller and Mary Meaney, authors of Leading Organizations: Ten Timeless Truths, there are ten critical and timeless challenges that every leader should address if they wish to maximise their team or business’s performance. They are:²

1. Attracting and keeping talent.
2. Developing existing talent.
3. Managing output and performance.
4. Developing leadership teams.
5. Making decisions.
6. Capturing value quickly by regrouping.
7. Cutting long-term overhead costs.
8. Creating a culture for competitive advantage.
9. Spearheading transformational change.
10. Transitioning successfully to new leadership roles.

Most leaders deal with some, or all, of these responsibilities, and a shift in mindset is required to successfully address the points above. When an agile organisation has effective leadership, there is more collaboration, the potential for greater innovation, and increased value creation.³ This will mean that your mindset will need to become one of discovery, partnership, and blue-sky thinking, so that you can lead from a position of service and passion for what you believe you and your team are able to achieve. This could start with developing smaller, more diverse, empowered, and connected teams that you lead with greater transparency.

In addition to changing your mindset to be a better leader, constantly developing your leadership skills is also crucial. When skills are fine-tuned, it results in the ability to attract and retain talent and customers, improve a company’s financial performance, among other skills explored in this GetSmarter article.

To evaluate your current leadership skills and establish the essence of what you have to offer your team, practice your elevator pitch.

Mindset changes to become a better leader

Your approach to team building, leadership, and management all reflect on how effective you are as a leader. Your impact boils down to your mindset. You might need to shift your mindset from one focus to another to become the best leader possible.

Here are some mindset changes that will help you become a better leader:

1. Go after growth. More often than not, leaders who are driven by a desire for career advancement – for all – are more open to change. The goal for all good leaders is for their team members to grow and develop; this reflects well both on the leader and team member. As good leaders it is important to invest in employees, helping them grow by investing in their job duties and education; this increases engagement and develops trust.⁴ And beyond your team members’ growth, it’s incredibly important to invest in your own growth, too. Executive development helps to continuously grow skills, making you better able to serve your team and your company, as well as your future endeavours.
2. Show openness and vulnerability. When a leader presents these qualities to their team, their employees are more likely to do the same, and go beyond the scope of what’s absolutely necessary for their role. This leads to a stronger team, where members feel safe to say what they mean and want.⁵
3. Prioritise continual learning and improvement over performance. Performance mindsets desire favourable judgement, whereas learning mindsets encourage employees to engage, adapt, and evolve, which naturally leads to better results.⁶
4. Share your company’s vision. Barking orders is ineffective; provide the ‘why’ behind the assignments. When employees understand the vision, then the overall picture matters more to them. This will bring better focus, clarity, and inspiration to the team.⁷
5. Focus on a deliberative mindset. Thinking and questioning – as opposed to implemental mindsets, where the focus is on implementing what has been decided rather than being receptive to new information and ideas – is conducive to impartial and better decisions.⁸
6. Be authentic. Leaders are followed for a reason – they provide inspiration. Bosses have direct reports that follow their instructions because they have to, not because they want to. Being authentic involves showing humility and being transparent and honest.⁹
7. Lead toward furthering the company, by achieving goals and progressing rather than preventing losses and problems. With a proactive mindset, there is more positive thinking and more innovation because there isn’t a focus on prevention.¹⁰ 
8. Ask for help. This allows for feedback and increased productivity. By asking for help, decisions can be made with more information, others will know that their opinions matter, team morale will improve, and the ability for team members to learn from one another will increase.¹¹

Leadership is a profoundly human process, where mindfulness is important. Becoming a better leader follows the same process as becoming a better person. All of these mindset changes will require discipline and care. It will mean a ‘letting go’ of old mindsets and embracing new ways of doing things. And the reward for making these shifts extends far beyond just business.

Learn to lead high-performing teams with an understanding of influence, authenticity, and purpose.

Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Oxford Executive Leadership Programme