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The Outward Mindset

An outward mindset will greatly impact how we negotiate our world and the impact we will have. An outward mindset helps us to see the world as it is and not how we imagine it to be. An outward mindset doesn’t come naturally though. We have to consciously change how we think about the world and about others.

In The Outward Mindset, the Arbinger Institute reports that “the biggest lever for change is not a change in self-belief but a fundamental change in the way one sees and regards one’s connections with and obligations to others.”

Moving from an inward mindset to an outward mindset is more than a surface adjustment or behavioral change alone. It requires a change in how we see and think about others. How we see and respond to others is not so much about them as it is a reflection of what is going on inside of us. We often fixate on other’s shortcomings so we don’t have to deal with our own.

Arbinger has discovered that those who consistently work with an outward mindset follow a pattern. They:

· See the needs, objectives, and challenges of others (Create opportunities for people to see each other so they can begin to talk.)

· Adjust their efforts to be more helpful to others (“Real helpfulness can’t be made into a formula. To be outward doesn’t mean that people should adopt this or that prescribed behavior. Rather, it means that when people see the needs, challenges, desire, and humanity of others, the most effective ways to adjust their efforts occur to them in the moment. When they see others as people, they respond in human and helpful ways.”)

· Measure and hold themselves accountable for the impact of their work on others (“Measuring one’s impact requires nothing but a willingness to stay in regular conversations with others about whether they feel one’s efforts are helping them or not.”)

An outward-mindset begins with you. “While the goal in shifting mindsets is to get everyone turned toward each other, accomplishing this goal is possible only if people are prepared to turn their mindsets toward others with no expectation that others will change their mindsets in return. This capability—to change the way I see and work with others regardless of whether they change—overcomes the biggest impediment to mindset change: the natural, inward-mindset inclination to wait for others to change before doing anything different oneself.” This of course, is true leadership.

The chamber office is carrying this book. Stop by and purchase your copy today to learn how you and your organization can benefit from building an “outward mindset”.

By dallaschamber Business Books • DACC • General Information • motivation • • • • • 0 Comments

The Go Giver – Bob Burg & John D. Mann

I had gone to a conference in 2010.  I was really struggling to wrap my head around the validity of our company’s offering when a colleague suggested that I stop worrying about what it was and just learn how to give myself away.  That comment stunned me.  Aren’t we here to do business?  I rely on commissions to pay my bills.  The colleague-turned-mentor said something I’ll never forget, “listen, you’re a go-getter.  But you’re also a giver.  You’re trying to separate the two.  Stop it.  You need to learn to be a go-giver.”

Give and get… at the same time?  I was lost.  She said she had a book in her room that she’d lend me for the rest of the conference if I wanted to implement the one thing that had made her successful.  I thought. ‘The one thing? This one thing was the one that made you so successful?  I’ll take it.’

I read a little bit that night.  But had to ask if I could finish it before we got together again the following month.  She said that’d give us a chance to talk further.  So I held onto it.  I didn’t just read it.  I devoured it.

The Go Giver is a parable-like story that shares how the main character learns how to give in order to receive.  He meets a mentor that shows him the importance of being kind and giving what you do have in order to give enough value to others that they only want to consider you for doing business in the future.  Stories are funny that way.  They share implementable universal truths that help us become who we need to become in order that we can accomplish great things.  It helped me produce better numbers.  Numbers that meant more to clients than what I was selling.  The numbers I gained was in humans who valued the things I was sharing with them.  And yes, my numbers grew in how much I made.

Learning to give is one major step in learning how to be open to receive.  You can even borrow it, I bought it on CD so I can hear it over and over again.

By dallaschamber Business Books • General Information • • • • • • 0 Comments

Book Review – The 5 Levels of Leadership

From where I’m sitting we’re all leaders, in different capacities.  With that in mind, we can all use a boost in how we go about leading in our realm.  Many of us have at least heard of leadership guru John C. Maxwell.  In fact for many people when they think of information about becoming a good leader, they think of things that Maxwell has said or written.  Not sounding familiar?  That’s ok.  I’d like to introduce you to him and one of my favorite books he’s written.  “The 5 Levels of Leadership”.

In this book, Maxwell dispels the myth that position or title equals leadership.  True leaders are those who stand for something great and do things in line with a greater cause.  Maxwell shares that the five levels include:

  1. Position – People follow because they have to. You’ve been given a title that says you’re the boss.
  2. Permission – People follow because they want to. People have enough buy-in on you as leader they voluntarily go where you lead them.
  3. Production – People follow because of what you have done for the organization. Your actions have proven to your followers that you are worth following.
  4. People Development – People follow because of what you have done for them personally. You’ve put enough into developing others that people value your leadership as a developer of people as well as processes.
  5. Personhood – People follow because of who you are and what you represent. Your character has stood the test of time and has been refined like gold and has proven to be of high value.

Consider this book for your next investment into your business library.  For me, it showed me the level of leader I am now and what I’m capable of becoming.  For you maybe something else.  But there’s something there for sure to get that boost to reaching new potential in leadership capabilities.