Developing a Growth Mindset
Developing a growth mindset can be a challenge for female business owners; as much like our own children; we need to learn to let go of the deep emotional attachment that we have with our business that reflects the passion and hard work that you we put into our business.
But babies grow up and this can be tough. Treating your business as your baby means you are likely to find objective decision making hard.
In many ways, starting a business is the easy part; and as an ambitious business owner, there will be tough decisions to be made with your baby. A lot of people start a business, but most of them fail within 10 years. Coming up with a great idea, and attracting customers to buy your product or service is just the first part of the journey. To grow, you need a plan and a change of mindset. It is time for your baby to grow up.
I started my first business in 2003. We found a great niche in the market and discovered the power of Google, which was very much in its early days of paid advertising. We grew quickly, turning over £500k in the first year. Great you may think, but it is not what we planned. We weren’t ready either mentally or operationally for that level of growth. We didn’t have the people or systems in place and inevitably a lot of mistakes were made.
Where are you with your business growth?
Have you proven your business model, found a way of marketing it and even started getting additional help with the day to day work? You have got so far, yet you know you want more. You are ambitious. You want to grow; yet something is holding you back.
Passion and emotional attachment is important but you will need to have a shift in mindset in order to implement the tactics and techniques needed to grow a business successfully. Running a start up business is very different to running a million pound turnover operation, so you need to ensure that you have the belief systems in place which will lead to the necessary shifts in behaviour.
For female business owners, this can be particularly challenging as historically the majority of privately owned multi million turn over businesses were run by men. Women are more likely to be running smaller businesses and often have limiting beliefs around growing their business significantly. They are held back by their belief systems, fears and sense of self-worth/image, as well as their emotional attachment to their business “baby” meaning they do not take the actions needed in order to grow their business.
In order to take your business to the next level you need to be a bolder and more courageous version of yourself by having a g growth mindset and using your emotions intelligently.
The importance of emotional intelligence? (a bit of theory)
The original theory of emotional intelligence (EI) was developed by two US psychologists, Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990. It is now often referred to as EQ and is relevant in all areas of your life. The five steps to emotional intelligence were first written about by Dr Hendrie Weisinger in 1997.
1. Self Awareness
This is the ability to see yourself with your own eyes and be aware of:
🔹 Your goals (short/long term)
🔹 Your beliefs (yourself/others)
🔹 Your values (things that are important to you)
🔹 Your drivers (that affect how you work)
🔹 Your rules (the shoulds, musts, oughts)
🔹 Your self talk (your inner voice)
You need to be able to identify those things that trigger your emotions, and use these mindfully to achieve positive outcomes.
2. Emotion Management
Managing your emotions effectively involves becoming mindful of those behaviours that really don’t get you anywhere.
Try the 5 step freeze-frame technique based on the HartMath system (Doc Childre)
🔹 Recognise stressful feelings & freeze frame them
🔹 Shift your mind away from disturbing emotions
🔹 Be calm and recall a positive, fun feeling
🔹 Ask your heart, what is a more effective response?
🔹 Listen and do what your heart say
3. Self-Motivation
Being self-motivated calls for four essential actions
🔹 Adopt positive self talk
🔹 Build an effective support network
🔹 Visualise an inspirational mentor
🔹 Create a conducive environment (air, light, sounds, visual images)
4. Relationship Management
Relationships are the coming together of two or more people for their mutual benefit. They include personal partnerships, family, friendships and relationships with work colleagues.. Effective relationships require
🔹 Reciprocity i.e meeting each other's needs
🔹 Skills - dynamic listening, empathy & questioning
🔹 Time - continuity which builds trust
🔹 Engage in exchange - information, thoughts, feelings and ideas
So are you now ready? Is it time for your business baby to grow up?
There will be a lot of hard work, there will be a lot of setbacks, but you will become resilient, you will learn from your mistakes and you will develop a growth mindset which fosters resilience, adaptability, learning, and innovation, all of which are essential for navigating the challenges and opportunities that come with scaling a business.
My first business grew steadily from its first year of exponential growth when many more lessons were learnt reaching £8 million turnover and employing 25 people. There were many ups and downs; but by following the ten steps to having a growth mindset I was able to adapt and learn and grow (and have some fun along the way!)
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