Dale Carnegie when asked by a journalist what was the biggest lesson he had ever learned? He said “That is easy, by far the most vital lesson I have ever learned is the importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are. Our thoughts make us what we are. Our mental attitude is the X factor that determines our fate”.
Carnegie recognized the importance of mindset. Mindset consists of our attitudes, thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and the world. A negative mindset invariable produces poor outcomes a positive mindset, good outcomes.
I know that if I want to be productive I have to organise both my day and my mind.
Starting the day with Doom Scrolling, which is spending lots of time going from one bad news story to another is detrimental to a positive mindset and leads to feelings of helplessness. However, there are also copious amounts of good news out there (just read a Priority One or Acorn Foundation newsletter, or an edition of BOP Business News!). This supports feelings of hope and optimism. Exercise, meditation or listening to a positive podcast is also a great way to start the day.
Being self-aware and taking responsibility for our mindset is critical for a leader and part of being professional (or being a grown up!).
A key competency that we coach for in our training is Self-Awareness as without awareness of our mindset the chances of successfully leading ourselves or others is minimal. An improvement in this competency is a game changer.
With the right mindset even bad news can be good. That is because every problem’s opposite is an opportunity. A negative mindset is fear based while a positive mindset is love based. Sounds a bit touchy feely but a positive mindset means that you act because you love the purpose of your company and product or service and the problems it solves for your customers.
Or maybe you love that you live in New Zealand and can provide for your family. A positive mindset leads to long term strategic thinking, a negative mindset is reactionary and often detrimental to our long-term wellbeing.
Creating the right mindset for the leaders in the training room is the first step of our training methodology then the knowledge part quickly translates into improved behaviors and results. The Dale Carnegie principles are also tools for how to think in different situations which also helps.
If you or your team could do with an enhanced mindset, we have great options coming up! https://www.dalecarnegie.com/en-gb/course-finder
