Executive Mindset
Mastering your mindset is the ultimate game changer.
What is it?
A Mindset, is a way of thinking, a mental inclination or disposition, or a frame of mind. Your mindset is your collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your thought habits. And your thought habits affect how you think, what you feel, and what you do. Your mind-set impacts how you make sense of the world, and how you make sense of you.
In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. describes two different mindsets:
- Fixed-Mindset
- Growth Mindset
People with a growth mindset believe talents and abilities are things they can grow and develop. They believe they have the potential and can grow talent through effort, practice and knowledge acquisition. Conversely, individuals with a fixed mindset believe their talents and abilities are stagnant.
What is the Value of it?
Research shows that those in possession of a growth mentality tend to:
- Actively seek learning opportunities (which can lead to task mastery and quicker promotions)
- Be curious
- Be avid readers, particularly of self-improvement books
- Have greater comfort with taking personal risks
- Strive for stretch goals, thriving on challenges
- Experience higher motivation levels
- Have enhanced performance levels
- Enjoy lower stress, anxiety and depression
Key areas/Principles
As we explore the Executive Mindset through readings, online resources and self-reflection, you discover the key areas that can enhance the growth mindset:
- Career Attitude – identifying the elements of a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) and how it impacts all aspects of the job, and career. Specifically, the career attitude is defined as an individual's preference for pursuing specific work-related patterns (Briscoe et al., 2006).
- Career Confidence – exploring and combining passion, purpose, and your career plan, you create a powerful combination of career planning that make up’s "career confidence
- Self-Directed Learning – taking the initiative in diagnosing learning needs, formulating goals, identifying resources, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating outcomes for career development.
- Protean & Boundaryless Orientations – distinguishing between the Protean Career orientation where one’s career is characterized by personal responsibility, continuous and self-directed development, and an emphasis on psychological access and Boundaryless Careers where individuals can move across boundaries between employers and/or work units within employers, taking full advantage of the flexibility and opportunities the job market offers.
Self-Coaching Questions
Here are 5 self-coaching questions that can help one start to develop a positive, growth-oriented mindset:
1. Am I reasonably satisfied with my current situation or where I am in my life?
2. What are my goals?
3. What do I feel is holding me back from achieving my goal(s)?
4. What steps can I take to move forward?
5. What beliefs or ideas are limiting me?Free Online Resources
Positive Mental Attitude Tests
- Test: Are you a positive thinker?
Test: Are you a positive thinker? | Psychologies
- Resilience Check Test
Resilience Check | Bank Workers Charity (bwcharity.org.uk)
- Are You a Positive or Negative Thinker?
Are You a Positive or Negative Thinker? - From MindTools.com
- 13 Questions To Test Your Positive Thinking
(6) 13 Questions To Test Your Positive Thinking | LinkedIn (Manual)
Career Confidence Test
- Discover how confident you are at work – take the test
Discover how confident you are at work - take the test - CareerTree Coaching from Sarah Archer
https://gallery.mailchimp.com/918c0f741a5a7f0f8ae62f157/files/CareerQuiz.pdf (Manual)
Learning Styles Tests
- Honey and Mumford Learning Style Questionnaire: What kind of learner are you?
https://www.mint-hr.com/mumford.html
- Honey & Mumford - Quiz
https://www.eln.co.uk/blog/honey-mumford-learner-types-1986-questionnaire-online
- Learning Styles Questionnaire
https://www.ilfm.org.uk/cms/document/ILFM_Learning_Styles_Resource_TK_09Oct17_Ver1.0.pdf
Proactive Personality Test (Very Basic)
- How Proactive Are You? Quiz!
https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=mti3mty2nq2zsq
Academic & Industry Articles
Attitude
15 Ways to Maintain a Positive Career Attitude
https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4347/15-ways-to-maintain-a-positive-career-attitude/
Your Definition of Attitude Determines How Successful You Are in Your Career
http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com/definition-of-attitude.html
3 Ways Your Attitude Will Determine Your Career https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2011/11/28/3-ways-your-attitude-will-determine-your-career/#200f4f8526c3
Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory
5 Career-Killing Attitudes We've All Had—and How to Stop Themhttps://www.themuse.com/advice/5-careerkilling-attitudes-weve-all-hadand-how-to-stop-them
10 Ways to Have a More Positive Attitude at Workhttps://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/positive-attitude-at-work
Developing Positive Attitude At Work
http://www.career-success-for-newbies.com/developing-positive-attitude.html
Millennials’ Career Attitudes: The roles of Career Anchors and Psychological Empowerment http://hrmars.com/hrmars_papers/Millennials%E2%80%99_Career_Attitudes_The_roles_of_Career_Anchors_and_Psychological_Empowerment.pdf
Consequences of Negative Attitude in the Workplacehttps://careertrend.com/consequences-of-negative-attitude-in-the-workplace-13657528.html
A Positive Attitude and Career Successhttps://budbilanich.com/a-positive-attitude-and-career-success/
How to Develop a Positive Attitude in the Workplacehttps://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6912-develop-positive-mindset.html
Manage Your Attitudehttps://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/manage-your-attitude
Career Success: The Attitude Advantage, 2nd Editionhttps://www.g-w.com/career-success-the-attitude-advantage-2011
Workplace Attitudehttps://www.wisdomtimes.com/blog/workplace-attitude/
This is How a Positive Attitude Can Boost Your Career
Success Begins With Cultivating the Right Attitudehttps://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322774
How Your Attitude Affects the Workplacehttps://www.careeraddict.com/why-does-your-attitude-affect-your-workplace
Why Attitude Is More Important Than IQ
The 10 Most Important Personality Traits for Career Successhttp://online-english.biz.ua/pages/lessons/conversation/conversation_about_traits_at_workplace.php
Career Confidence
14 ways to gain confidence when you’re at a new job and an introvert https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/confidence-new-job-introvert
Ways to build your career confidence in a monthhttps://www.theladders.com/career-advice/ways-to-build-your-career-confidence-in-a-month
6 Techniques You Can Use to Boost Your Career Self-Confidence https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/312999
Career Confidencehttps://career.uccs.edu/resources/students/career-confidence
5 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR CAREER CONFIDENCEhttps://www.careerquest.edu/blog/5-ways-boost-your-career-confidence/
Self Confidencehttps://www.cleverism.com/skills-and-tools/self-confidence/
CAREER CONFIDENCEhttps://careercenter.education.wisc.edu/job-search/transition-to-professional/career-confidence/
5 Ways to Boost Self-Confidence in Your Careerhttps://www.ivyexec.com/career-advice/2019/5-ways-to-boost-self-confidence-in-your-career/
Career Confidence Programhttps://www.thesuzanneobrien.com/career-confidence-sales-page/
Learning Styles
How Learning Styles Affect Your CareerLearning Styles for Career DevelopmentHow Connecting Different Learning Styles Leads to Career SuccessHow to Use Your Learning Style to Make Sure You Choose the Right CareerThe 4 different types of workplace learning styles
https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/4-different-types-workplace-learning-styles/
How to Determine Your Learning Style to Help Improve Your Leadership Skills
MANAGER’S GUIDE TO LEARNING STYLES IN BUSINESS
https://daveschoenbeck.com/managers-guide-learning-styles-business/
How different learning styles make a difference at work
https://www.betterup.com/blog/different-learning-styles
Protean & Boundaryless Orientations
Protean and Boundaryless Career Orientations: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30777774/
Protean and boundaryless career attitudes: relationships with subjective and objective career success https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12651-010-0037-3
Comparing two career adaptability measures for career construction theory: Relations with boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes
Career Adapt-Abilities Scale—Brazilian Form: Psychometric properties and relationships to personality
Is Protean Career Attitude Beneficial for Both Employees and Organizations? Investigating the Mediating Effects of Knowing Career Competencies https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01284/full
Validating the protean and boundaryless career
attitudes scales with Filipino young adults
Protean and boundaryless career attitudes scale: Spanish translation and validation https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/handle/2099/12239/enache.pdf
The protean career orientation as predictor of career outcomes: Evaluation of incremental validity and mediation effects https://static1.squarespace.com/static/559a865ae4b00d130d5f6e4f/t/55b9e45fe4b03eb412905ad6/1438245983065/Herrmann_Hirschi_Baruch_2015_Protean_career_orientation.pdf
Protean Career
The Relationship between Protean Career Orientation and Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Hiding and the Moderating Roles of Social LMX and Economic LMX https://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=148523
Protean Career Attitude, Competency Development & Career Success: A Mediating Effect of Perceived
Employability
Career concepts in the 21st century
Psycho-social Career Meta-capacities: Dynamics of contemporary career https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UjHABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=PROTEAN+CAREER+QUESTIONNAIRE&source=bl&ots=X6YPNzJmQX&sig=ACfU3U3fuYpy-1d_UYm9FbUz4Vfy-P1VFA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf6_2b943qAhUqZhUIHangCqY4FBDoATABegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=PROTEAN%20CAREER%20QUESTIONNAIRE&f=false
Have the Career Attitudes Changed to Protean Ones? Evidence from Managers in One Company in China Central Regions
6 Tips to Thrive in the New Protean Workplace
Factor and item response theory analysis of the Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitude Scales https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/932/977
The Influence of Protean Career Mindset on Employee Turnover Intention https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3240883
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" the Importance of Networking for Freelancers' Careers: Examining the Mediating Role of Need for Relatedness Fulfillment and Employability-Enhancing Competencies. https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/6751263
Expanding and Adapting the Protean Career Management Scale for University Students (PCMS-U) https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/spanish-journal-of-psychology/article/expanding-and-adapting-the-protean-career-management-scale-for-university-students-pcmsu/B6CC041AE3D4DAD1C35952DF517E6860
Measuring career anchors and investigating the role of career anchor congruence https://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/file/4d808ce0-304f-08e3-36e3-c12a4460c409/1/steelecomb.pdf
The Longitudinal Relationship Between Protean Career Orientation and Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Intention-to-Quit
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR BOUNDARYLESS AND PROTEAN CAREERS: WHAT DO HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGERS MAKE DIFFERENTLY?
The Effects of Personality on Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF CAREER SELF-MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOURS:
TEST OF A THEORETHICAL MODEL
Recent tertiary graduates' career attitudes, career adaptability and career self-management behaviours
Different Types of Protean Career Attitude, Task Performance and Contextual Performance: Based on Briscoe and Hall’s Model http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/bitstream/20.500.12235/84845/1/060486023i01.pdf
Protean and boundaryless careers as metaphors https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879105001089
Is the boundaryless career applicable to all? An investigation of black knowledge intensive workers in the UK
Protean attitude and career success: The mediating role of self-management https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.590.4090&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Australian artists, starving and well-nourished: What can we learn from the prototypical protean career?
Are you a protean talent? The influence of protean career attitude, learning-goal orientation and perceived internal and external employability https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yi_Chun_Lin24/publication/283835073_Are_you_a_protean_talent_The_influence_of_protean_career_attitude_learning-goal_orientation_and_perceived_internal_and_external_employability/links/5dc9c22e458515143503bc73/Are-you-a-protean-talent-The-influence-of-protean-career-attitude-learning-goal-orientation-and-perceived-internal-and-external-employability.pdf
Protean career orientation: Behavioral antecedents and employability outcomes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879119301216#:~:text=A%20protean%20career%20is%20characterized,objectives%20(Hall%2C%202004).&text=Protean%20career%20orientation%20may%20help,%2C%20organizational%2C%20and%20employment%20hardship.
Success in the Protean Career
Proactivity and Employability: The Role of Protean Career and Networking https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/ambpp.2016.13893abstract
Protean Careers of the 21st Century https://www.jstor.org/stable/4165349?seq=1
Employability and protean career
Protean Careers at Work: Self-Direction and Values Orientation in Psychological Success https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104631
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