An organization’s brand is shaped and influenced by the mindset of its leaders, especially in small- and medium sized companies. The attitudes and beliefs of the CEO, business owner, or entrepreneur reverberate through an organization’s brand and what it can become.
Time and time again, what I see holding a brand back isn’t marketing or lack of resources. The #1 thing holding the brand back is the boss has the wrong mindset.
Great leaders possess three mindsets that help their brands grow further, faster and reach their full potential.
Abundance Over Scarcity Mindset
At the start of a three-day training course the instructor said to the class, “You are free to use all of the content, slides, and resources you receive this week. Content is content. Take it and use it anyway you can.”
This was in contrast to the CEO of another training firm that became extremely jealous when she saw a speaker share one of her models at a conference. Even though the speaker referenced the source material verbally and on the slide, the CEO was livid, “She stole our ideas!”
Two training firms possess two very different mindsets. The first had an abundance mindset. They viewed ideas as free and additive, and generously shared them. The second had a scarcity mindset. They felt that ideas should be owned and controlled.
In the information age, the ability to create and share is far more valuable than the ability to protect and control. It’s a simple mindset, but it can shape your brand inside and out. A scarcity mindset influences the behaviors of employees, and it creates tension with partners and customers.
Empowerment Over Control Mindset
A control mindset is a relic from the industrial age. Leaders used command-and-control systems to achieve results. But in a world of rapid change, command-and-control is a liability.
Great leaders procure results through others — not by telling them what to do or how to do it — by creating an ecosystem that empowers people to bring their full potential to their jobs.
Creating a culture of empowerment is dependent on three criteria:
- Clear intention: Nothing happens until the leader makes a choice to empower their employees to be successful.
- Set a space: Bureaucracy and systems actually work against creativity and innovation. Leaders have to create the space and freedom (autonomy, goals, and time) so that their employees can think, try, and do.
- Create the conditions: Empowerment does not happen on its own. Leaders have to implement new systems, tools and management techniques to get the best out of their people.
When a leader shifts from a control mindset to an empowerment mindset they tap into a multiplier effect. They discover there is much more potential in their organization than they ever realized.
Choose a Growth Mindset
A leader’s mindset is not fixed. Every leader has immense ability to change and grow, and this is necessary. For an organization to grow it needs leaders that can change and grow with it.
It all starts with a choice: Do you choose to grow?
The limitations of a scarcity mindset and a control mindset are based on fear:
- Fear of losing control
- Fear of success
- Fear of failure
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of change
No matter what holds you back, know it’s a perceived limitation. If a leader shifts to a growth mindset they can embrace the power of abundance and empowerment, and that will reverberate through the brand.
All great brands are built by people: smart, ambitious, creative people. If a leader is able to harness that potential, there’s nothing that will hold back their business or brand.
