Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: What You Need as an Admin Professional

Your mindset at work plays a huge role in your success. Examining and improving how you think and interact at work can be a career-changer for you. This can start by determining whether you operate with a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. This process is also about improving any shortcomings you find in yourself. 

Let’s take a look at the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, and which one you need as an administrative professional. 

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset 

As a working professional, you have likely noticed that there are two very different types of colleagues. Some people operate with a fixed mindset, while others operate with a growth mindset. But which of these makes for a better employee? Furthermore, which of these types of thinkers do you prefer to work with? 

The Growth Mindset 

The concept of the growth mindset was proposed by Carol Dweck, a Stanford professor. In her book "Mindset," Dweck explains that people who have a growth mindset understand that their success is dependent upon their effort and drive. 

Someone with a growth mindset works toward improving their skills and knowledge. Why? Because they believe they can improve these things with effort and time. 

Some of the key attributes of an employee with a growth mindset are: 

• Being open to new challenges 

• Working to overcome obstacles 

• Open to constructive criticism 

• Seeks out and acknowledges the successes of others 

• Learns from their mistakes and uses mistakes as an opportunity to improve 

The Fixed Mindset 

On the other hand, the opposite of the growth mindset is the fixed mindset. People who operate with a fixed mindset tend to believe that their skills and knowledge are stable. They don’t believe they can improve upon their current skill set. In addition, they may come across as very confident, thinking they already know everything there is to know about their job. 

While they may be excelling at their job, this type of mindset does not enable continuous improvement. 

Some of the key attributes of an employee with a fixed mindset are: 

• Satisfied with their job and their performance 

• Reluctant to embrace change or new challenges 

• Thinks that their skills and job knowledge do not need to be improved upon 

• Does not take correction or constructive criticism very well 

• Often takes feedback as a personal attack 

• Feels that it is too late in life or in their career to learn new skills 

• Worries about trying new things due to an assumption of failure 

A fixed mindset versus a growth mindset is very telling about an employee’s work ethic and style.

Fixed vs Growth Mindset: Which One Should You Strive to Have? 

As you can see, managing and working with someone who has a growth mindset is better for the workplace. This doesn’t mean that fixed mindset people are bad employees or are purposely averse to change. However, our professional world is constantly shifting. Executive assistants and admins who are not open to changes, challenges, constructive criticism, and new skills will inevitably plateau in their careers. 

If you want to excel in your career and be a real asset to your company, you need to start to shift your thinking. A fixed mindset will only get you so far.

Shifting Your Mindset with ASAP 

We all have room for improvement in our careers and lives. If you want to work on shifting your mindset, we are here to help. At ASAP, we offer a variety of training courses and webinars to help you grow as an administrative professional. Check out our training resources and see which ones speak to you.