Is there a Link between Growth Mindset and Emotional Intelligence?
The concept of Growth Mindset was developed by Dr Carol Dweck of Stanford University. She proposed that skills and abilities can be developed with effort, that they are not set or limited by intelligence and that the way we think directly impacts our outcomes and eventual success.
Emotional Intelligence
“Emotional Intelligence is a set of abilities to do with emotions, specifically the capacity to perceive and understand emotions within oneself and others, express emotions effectively and manage emotions within oneself and others” (Dr Ben Palmer, founder of Genos International). These abilities can be learned and developed over time and are not fixed.
The Impact of Positive and Negative Emotions
We know from Neuroscience that emotions guide our thinking and behaviour. Positive emotions ‘broaden and build’ our mindsets, encourage us to explore and discover and to help one another. Positive emotions also help build our capacity for resilience. These are all key qualities for workplaces wanting to encourage innovation, agility and collaboration.
Negative emotions, on the other hand, ‘narrow and limit’ our thinking and actions (e.g. fight or flight). We favour the status quo over other options, show less interest in what others are saying and are more critical. Negative emotions tend to facilitate a more Fixed Mindset.
How can we shift Mindsets?
Nobody has a Growth or Fixed mindset about everything all of the time. We are a mix of both mindsets and can be nudged from one to the other if triggered. So how do we know where we are operating from at any one time? And when we do know, how can we shift our mindset?
The Genos Model of Emotional Intelligence focuses on 6 competencies which can be developed. Developing these facilitates shifting Mindsets.
1. Self-awareness
2. Awareness of Others
3. Authenticity
4. Emotional Reasoning
5. Self-management
6. Inspiring Performance (Positive Influence for individual contributors)
All of these 6 competencies are important, but Emotional self-awareness is crucial as it is the capacity that gives us insight into our emotional state and enables us to notice whether we are adopting a Growth or Fixed Mindset.
Emotional self-management is also key as it helps us take action to shift our emotions from negative to positive and vice versa. Awareness of Others allows us to see the emotional states of others and to identify if they are likely adopting a Fixed or Growth Mindset. We can also use this information about ourselves and others to develop and apply our Positive Influence to help others shift their mindsets.
Harnessing the Link
So do we want our workplaces to be more innovative, agile and collaborative? If we do, then focusing on developing our people’s understanding of Growth and Fixed Mindsets AND building their Emotional Intelligence skills is a great place to start.
What action can we take? We know that when individuals and leaders predominantly demonstrate a Fixed Mindset, performance and relationships suffer, creativity is reduced and levels of engagement are negatively impacted. We also know that a shift in Mindset alone is not enough. People need a Toolkit of practical strategies and resources to work with and the opportunity to develop the right Skill Set to help them apply these. Our workshops address all three of these important areas and incorporate insights from Profiling instruments to provide participants with greater insight into themselves and others.
Genos Emotional Intelligence Assessments
Developing our EI is most effectively achieved through understanding our strengths and opportunities for development. With the gift of greater self-awareness, we can be more conscious of which Mindset is operating and when our emotions might be aligning or misaligning with the task at hand. With increased capacity for self-management, we can choose how to behave to optimise performance and interact more effectively with the people around us and increase our emotional agility.
We use the Genos Emotional Intelligence Assessments (self-assessment, 180°, 360°) to assess and build Emotional Intelligence (EI) and offer customised workshops.
If you would like your workplace to be more innovative, agile and collaborative, please contact anne@rtpeople.com.au or phone 0417 231 494.
