Alicia Davis
So Stacie, we want to just share a little bit about mindset today, because mindset has actually been coming up for you and me both, in sessions, like coaching sessions, as well as in group facilitation, so we thought we would share a couple of ideas about it, right?

Stacie Watson
Yeah, definitely. I actually have the opportunity to facilitate a couple of retreats coming up over just the next week or two, and there was a common theme that came up as I was sort of prepping with the senior leader about agenda and sort of what goals that they were setting for the session, and it had to do with this reality that I think many of us as leaders face, which is that we just face the same problems over and over and over again. You know, whether it be staffing challenges, whether it be funding challenges, I mean, I think there are just these challenges that many leaders in our community face, and it can be wearing because it’s the same issue. It’s like my grandmother used to say, same hymn, seventh verse, right? It’s the same kind of thing over and over and over again, and people start to feel a little stuck, and I was really inspired by a piece of a session that you did not too long ago that had to do with fixed versus growth mindset. Do you want to share a little bit about that?

Alicia Davis
Yeah, well, you know, it’s a model from Carol Dweck, and it’s very much about, you know, like you said, our mind gets into patterns and habits of thinking, and so that fixed mindset is also very much self-oriented in a way. So it’s whether we take things personally, or we basically are just kind of habitually doing the same things over and over again. And the growth mindset is very much about, well, how can we look at something differently? And you know, I think it can be really hard, Stacie, when you know you’ve got leaders that are tired, right, they’re dealing with staffing challenges for the 55th time in a month, right? It can be a little hard to think creatively, and yet you know one of the, one of the possible activities to do is to really consider, you know, what is a challenge that you’re facing, and either with yourself or with others, just try to brainstorm 20 ideas, right? Like, no editing. It’s kind of like the Disney model, right? It’s no editing, no critical judgment. It’s like anything goes, and just see what comes of that, because you know, like you’ve said in the past, like the first few we can kind of come up with, and once you get to that fifth, 10th, 12th, 15th one, then we start sometimes thinking just very creatively, and that’s really very much what that growth mindset is about.

Stacie Watson
Yes, and while this isn’t exactly the topic, you know, we have had a lot of calls for doing sessions related to multi-generational workplaces, and I think this exercise plays really well into multi-generational workplaces, because people come from different perspectives with different levels of experience. They are going to brainstorm in different ways, and it could really help to drive that 20. So we invite you to give this a shot, and we’d love to hear how it goes if you bring the growth mindset exercise to an existing challenge.

Alicia Davis
That’s right, so you can always reach us info@TLStransforms.com. And I’m Alicia Davis.

Stacie Watson
I’m Stacie Watson.

Alicia Davis
Thank you so much.

Stacie Watson
Thank you.