5 Mindsets to Transform Your Leadership Strategy and Results
I recently facilitated leadership development workshops in Tanzania and Thailand. The foundation for these coaching strategies goes back to a keynote I did in India. I participated in The Economic Times Sales Strategy Virtual Summit 2020, a global gathering of visionary leaders. We focused on one critical question. How do we navigate the “New Normal?”
This experience inspired me to write a 5 Success Mindsets to Create Breakthrough Results eBook. You can get your free copy HERE.
Leaders across the world experience daunting business challenges. I hear this all the time.
- Boosting Sales Revenue: How is digital disruption sabotaging your goal to increase sales? Your Next-Gen leaders need to get a handle on strategies to improve customer loyalty and drive revenue growth.
- Stemming Market Share Loss: You hear that your competitors use advanced digital and AI technology. They threaten your market share. How might you build brand loyalty and prevent customer defection?
- Addressing High Turnover Rates: High turnover among loyal employees disrupts stability. What steps might leaders take to strengthen employee engagement and retention?
In the face of these obstacles, it’s natural to wonder, “Where do I even begin?”
As I’ve seen time and again, the answer begins with a mindset shift.
- Invite your Next-Gen leaders to move away from a focus on what they can’t control.
- Guide them toward what they can influence.
One of the most powerful tools to create this shift is cultivating a grateful mindset. That’s where neuroscience can offer incredible insight.
In Millennials Matter, I highlight the work of cognitive neuroscientist Caroline Leaf. In her book Switch on Your Brain, she talks about a “brain tree.” She uses this metaphor to show how focusing on the positive rewires our brains.
Let’s take a closer look at the science behind this leadership strategy.
What might you do to coach Next-Gen leaders who feel overwhelmed?
A Leadership Strategy: Build Your Next-Gen Leader with Wisdom from Neuroscience
I created this graphic to illustrate Caroline Leaf’s “brain tree” metaphor. 
Leaf says that our thoughts impact the physical structure of our brain. This in turn shifts how our brain functions. She compares a positive mindset to a tree sprouting new branches. A tree can grow and develop new branches, and our brain can do the same. Scientists call this phenomenon neuroplasticity.
In a blog on her website, Leaf highlights the power of positive actions. She explains how practicing gratitude, can change both the brain and body for the better.
“Research shows that being thankful increases our longevity and creativity. It also boosts our ability to problem-solve. What you are thinking now is creating your future life. You create your life with your thoughts. Because you are always thinking, you are always creating. What you think about the most or focus on the most is what will appear in your life.” ~ Caroline Leaf
What might you do to activate this shift in mindset? We need to coach gratitude.
Gratitude will empower the Next-Gen leaders in your business to focus on the positive. That’s when they rediscover their inner strengths. Watch, as what once seemed like insurmountable problems, become exciting opportunities.
So, how might you foster a culture of gratitude in your business?
One Powerful Leadership Development Question to Achieve Concrete Results
There is one key principle that I share with all business leaders. It doesn’t matter whether they’re from India, Thailand, or Tanzania. Having the right mindsets in your leadership skills toolkit is essential. To coach these mindsets, I use a catalyst question. This question shifts toxic thinking to healthy and productive thinking.
Here’s the power-packed question I invite Next-Gen leaders to ask:
“What might I do to achieve the desired results?”
Here’s why each part of this question is so important:
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What – Activate an Accountability Mindset
A lack of accountability can send Next-Gen leaders into a toxic, non-productive cycle. They get stuck, dwelling on
past failures. They start to grumble, resort to blame games, or fall into victim mode.
When I hear “victim speak” their questions often start with “Why.” Here’s an example. When something bad happens to them, they might react like this:
“This is horrible. Why did this happen to me?”
By coaching gratitude, you can help them shift their perspective. Respond with a powerful question.
“What might you do to strengthen yourself, even while facing these unprecedented challenges?”
Leaders with an accountability mindset take responsibility for their actions. They don’t blame external factors. They choose gratitude to focus on the future. This positivity helps spark creative ideas in their brain tree. It stops the grumbling and shifts their focus to what they can do to achieve the results they desire. Now they might choose to say:
“This is horrible, and, I’m grateful for this learning opportunity. What might I do to grow in this difficult time?”
Top Tip: Your Next-Gen leader might also make a habit of grumbling. They’re asking the unproductive “Why” questions. Help them reframe to a question that begins with “What.”
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Might – Ignite a Creative Solution Mindset
How might you inspire Next-Gen leaders to embrace resilience and innovation?
“Might” is a small but powerful word in our catalyst question. It invites Next-Gen and Gen Z leaders to explore new possibilities. They seek alternative solutions rather than grumble and seeing a dead end. They stimulate new connections in their brain. It’s what Caroline Leaf describes in her “brain tree” analogy. Encourage your Next-Gen leaders to embrace a grateful mindset. Then they focus on what they “might” do vs. what they “can’t” do.
Top Tip: Invite Next-Gen leaders to come up with at least three possible solutions for every challenge. Even crazy ideas are welcome! By working together as a team, they’ll discover brilliant, creative options.
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I – Grow an Ownership Mindset
Leaders with an ownership mindset take responsibility for how they respond to challenges. Unfortunately, the entitlement mindset is rampant in today’s culture. Some expect others to solve their problems. They might choose the dreaded CCC behaviors! Criticize, condemn, and complain. This stifles creativity and prevents them from tapping into their God-given talents.
Leaders who embrace ownership of their actions have an advantage. They activate brain pathways that support decision-making and problem-solving. This gives them greater control over their outcomes. This is when a grateful mindset becomes a powerful leadership tool! I encourage those I coach to take inventory of their own gifts and talents. They are often surprised by how much they have to be grateful for.
Top Tip: It’s important that Next-Gen leaders examine their input to a situation. What changes might they make to get different results?
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Do – Adopt an Action Mindset
A few years ago, I was helping to establish a new model of economic leadership development in Tanzania. While working in a remote village, I met a woman named Rebecca. She was a widow, raising two teenage boys, and providing for her elderly parents. Rebecca dreamed of sending her sons to college. Rebecca had every reason to say, “Oh, poor me.”
Instead, Rebecca asked the catalytic question. “What might I do to get the results I want to send my sons to university?” Rebecca decided to cultivate potatoes, a job usually reserved for the men. She hung on every single word about how to grow more and better potatoes, the cash crop of her village. In the middle of Tanzania, I met a leader, willing to chart a new path. She wanted a better future for her family. Rebecca adopted an action mindset with super-human strength.
An action mindset focuses on moving from talking to doing. In the StrengthsFinder survey, I’m fascinated with the Activator strength. People with this strength know that the next step often won’t become clear until they take the first step. Instead of grumbling, they act. The same happens in Caroline Leaf’s metaphor of a brain tree. Science shows that taking action rewires the brain. New pathways form in your brain when you embrace a grateful mindset and focus on the positive.
Top Tip: Here’s another question to ask your Next-Gen leaders. “What did you do today that made you sweat, or made you nervous?” When young leaders stretch their comfort zone daily, it helps them grow as leaders. They’re fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives. When they see their purpose, engagement soars!
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To Achieve the Desired Outcome – Switch on a Results Mindset
Next-Gen leaders with a results mindset know how to set and achieve their goals. In these challenging times, they may need guidance to do this. It’s the best way to stop criticizing, condemning, and complaining! In my eBook, Energize Your Dreams, I help them with this process. I describe the action steps needed to help them clarify what they want and how to achieve it. Send me an email if you want a copy of this ebook – danita@danitabye.com
A results-driven mindset primes their brain. It helps them focus on clear, actionable steps toward their goals. This is what neuroscientists like Caroline Leaf describe. When you embrace a grateful mindset, you focus on the desired outcome, not the challenge. Your brain forms new pathways.
Top Tip: For some, a long-term action plan can feel overwhelming. Help your Next-Gen leaders to chart at least one measurable action step. Work with them to focus on the most critical actions for moving forward.
Summary: Embrace a Positive Mindset to Thrive in Turbulent Times
My experience coaching leaders in Tanzania, Thailand, and India has revealed one truth. The challenges we face are universal. The good news is, so are the opportunities to lead with resilience and innovation.
The shifting business landscape requires a new mindset.
As a wise, high-growth leader, there’s so much you can do to support the Next-Gen leaders in your organization:
- Coach gratitude. You are empowering them to face even the toughest challenges with resilience.
- Encourage them to experience the impact of Caroline Leaf’s research. Their “leadership brain trees” will sprout new growth as they shift their thinking.
- Invite them to embrace the Powerful Catalyst Question. “What might I do to make a positive difference?” By asking this question, they pave the way to achieve their goals and dreams.
At the virtual summit in India, business leaders agreed that there is a need for a mindset shift. Now is the time to act.
Join the Gratitude Revolution today! Coach the 5 Mindsets your Next-Gen leaders need to thrive in turbulent times. Your leadership matters more than ever—right now.
Leadership Development Lesson: Guide your Next-Gen leaders to develop the mindsets they need to thrive.
Leadership Development Question: How might you encourage Next-Gen leaders to use gratitude to develop healthy mindsets?
Copyright, Danita Bye (This article is NOT AI-generated) 😊
Want to read the Gratitude Revolution Series from the beginning? Here is a list of the articles so far:
The Gratitude Revolution – Transforming Leadership Strategy with a Can-Do Mindset
Blue Zone Leadership: Expanding Leadership Influence with Gratitude
Let’s discuss a tailor-made interview to meet your audience’s needs.
Virtual speaking event? No problem!
Check out my Speaker page HERE.
To schedule, a call contact me at danita@danitabye.com
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