Where Are You Growing? Cultivating a Growth-Mindset for Success

When faced with a decision, which path do you choose, smooth and straight knowing where you are going and feeling comfortable in the process or rocky and winding heading into the unknown and feeling totally out of your comfort zone? While the obvious reaction would be to choose the path that is predictable and outcomes are certain, research implies following a more challenging path is advantageous to growth, development, and overall success. Similarly, nonprofit organizations strive to be adaptable to an ever changing environment, yet often choose to follow a well-worn path with the expectation of different results. The choice is really dependent on mindset. Mindset is a range of beliefs that dictate thoughts and behavior stemming from a fixed perspective or a growth perspective. The performance of the workforce, the impact of the mission on clients, donors, and the community and the success of an organization is influenced by the leader’s mindset. Fixed mindset leaders focus on their power and believe abilities and intelligence are natural born talents. Therefore, challenges and failure create barriers and limitations to success. In contrast, a growth-mindset leader views challenges and obstacles as an opportunity to develop skills and continue learning and growing. A growth mindset culture fosters innovation, risk-taking, teamwork, and trust enabling employees to adopt a personal growth-mindset for reaching their highest potential.

This session will explore how mindsets are formed, dynamics and strategies involved in shifting mindset to optimize a positive impact on you, your organization, your clients and donors, as well as, the value of engaging in a new approach to decision-making, problem-solving, development, and learning.

Learning Outcomes:

• Recognize the difference between leading with a fixed mindset and leading with a growth mindset.
• Examine values, beliefs, and attitudes to identify blind spots and fixed perspectives that create barriers to adopting a growth-mindset culture.
• Compare the impact of a fixed mindset and growth mindset on failure and development of resilience and grit.
• Discover the power of two simple words for transforming from a fixed to a growth-mindset.
• View relationships through a mindset perspective to detect behaviors that lessen or increase effective communication.

Dr. Susan Neustrom is Director of Villa St. Benedict Foundation, a senior community offering independent and assisted living and memory care, an author, speaker, and educator. She is dedicated to helping leaders take control of planned and unplanned change, eliminate fear, uncertainty, and anxiety, and ignite self-motivation for long term success.

Susan has over 25 years’ experience leading personal, professional, and organizational change including work in the disability field, the jail system, and senior services. She is a keynote speaker, presenter, trainer, and facilitator at many universities, conferences, and organizations. Her topics focus on change, specifically leaving your comfort zone, awakening self-motivation, finding meaning and purpose in the workplace, fixed and growth mindset, and leadership and storytelling.

Susan is also faculty at National Louis University and DePaul University. She holds an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University, a M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Lewis University with a concentration in training and development and a B.S in Management from National Louis University. She has a published book addressing personal, professional, and organizational change, “The Comfort Zone Illusion-Leaving Your Comfort Zone is Not So Hard After All”.

Additionally, Susan has completed a certificate in Whole Being Positive Psychology, is working on a certificate in Positive Psychology coaching from the Whole Being Institute, and a certificate in Compassion Training from the Compassion Institute-Stanford University.

Registrants will receive 1.5 CFRE credits for attending this program.