How do you perceive a difficult situation? As a threat…or a challenge?
How about your sales people…how do each of them perceive a difficult situation?
How you and the individuals in your team perceive difficult situations identifies either a Fixed or Growth Mindset.
What’s the difference?
A sales person with a Fixed Mindset will focus on demonstrating what they do better than others, proving their abilities, hiding what they’re not good at and keeping within their comfort zone. They will perceive difficult situations as a threat!
A sales person with a Growth Mindset will focus on improving and developing their skills, learning from their mistakes, performing better than they did before and stepping outside their comfort zone to develop themselves. They will perceive difficult situations as a challenge and opportunity for growth.
Managing the differences
Sales People with a Growth Mindset are more disciplined and outcome driven which makes them easier to manage.
Their thinking goes something like…
- I can get better
- I can always improve
- A great chance to develop skills
- A year ago, I wouldn’t have done this well
Give them outcomes to achieve that stretch them beyond where they are regularly and they will be inspired and motivated to achieve.
Sales People with a Fixed Mindset will always excel at what they are good at but are more likely to avoid the sales activities they believe they can’t perform well at.
Their thinking goes something like…
- What if I’m not good?
- Maybe I don’t have the skills
- I could make mistakes
- Others may do it better
Tackling a Fixed Mindset…
- Listen out for fixed mindset language
- Coach individuals to recognise that they have choice around their thinking
- Give them examples of growth mindset language that they can relate to and use going forward
- Get them to come up with growth mindset actions
It’s useful as a Sales Leader to ensure you are leading your team using a Growth Mindset approach. This gives you the best chance of creating a culture that supports the thinking and behaviour of a high performing team.
It’s useful to remember that we are transitioning from a knowledge economy to a wisdom based economy. It’s no longer about what you know…it’s about what you do with what you know!
Until next time,
