Improv IS a Growth Mindset

There is a lot of talk and a lot of press about a new kind of Leadership that is required. It’s more flexible than ever before, responsive, empathetic and well as decisive and inspiring.

A key aspect for effective leaders is knowing that how they see a challenge shapes how they respond to it—and how their company does, too. Seeing a challenge as “a problem” leads to one set of decisions. Seeing it as “an opportunity” (or even “an unexpected gift”) will inspire an entirely different reaction.

This shift in perspective is at the heart of a Growth Mindset—a proven game-changer in how businesses navigate obstacles, lead teams, and drive success. Ever since making a splash 10-15 years ago, a Growth Mindset has proven to be a powerful tool for leaders and companies to adopt. It seemed most people agreed. However, there still is a burning question — HOW do you actually learn to think this way? And get your teams to?

The answer isn’t where most people expected: Improv. The components of a Growth Mindset are the same as an Improv Mindset—because, in fact, they’re one and the same.

Improv requires every member of the team to embrace a “Yes, And” orientation, looking at situations and individuals for what is working, what is useful, and to build off of that. Looking for problems will provide endless opportunities to discover what is wrong and what we don’t like. While that needs addressing, Growth comes from building on the pluses and strengths. And this is just ONE of a multitude of examples.

If your company wants to level up its leadership, look into improv. We offer a Leading with a Growth Mindset workshop that does just that.