Fostering a Growth Mindset in Students

Finding optimism 🌈 Since publishing my piece on optimism in conservation (https://mongabay.cc/fscDRz), I’ve heard from many who are finding it tough. I’m not an expert, but here are ideas that might help in the right situation. Treat optimism as a method, not a mood. Narrow the frame, pick levers you can pull, and build habits that keep effort tied to consequence. Pair near-term actions with a clear view of power and policy; some problems require coalition pressure or litigation. Start smaller. Define your sphere of control for this week, this quarter, and this year—co-defined with the people most affected. Write it down. A bounded problem can restore agency. Set minimum viable wins. Choose outcomes you can verify and include process and relationship outcomes—trust, consent, functioning local institutions—not only what’s easy to count. Where feasible, baseline, measure, and mark completion. Keep a “wins ledger.” Record the result, evidence, partners, and enablers. Store it securely, minimize sensitive details, obtain consent before sharing, and redact anything that could expose people to risk. Pair every problem with an action. When you brief a bleak trend, add one concrete step a specific person can take, and where possible include resources or introductions. Build a portfolio of time horizons. Balance quick wins with medium projects and one long bet. If capacity is thin, rotate emphasis over quarters. Strengthen your coalition. Map who benefits, who decides, and who can block. Practice reciprocity with substance: budget transparency, shared credit, and paid roles for community partners. Install guardrails. Run pre-mortems, set “kill criteria,” and name trade-offs early. Plan exits with communities and donors so off-ramps don’t leave partners exposed. Manage your information diet. Schedule when you absorb grim updates and when you gather ground truth. Protect attention for decisions; minimize non-actionable noise, recognizing frontline actors can’t always opt out. Rehearse setbacks. Write simple if-then plans (if funding drops 30%, we pause X and prioritize Y). Address burnout rooted in hostile policy or broken funding cycles, not just mindsets. Care for people. Rotate high-stress assignments, normalize debriefs, and protect time off. Time in nature isn’t indulgence; it’s maintenance. Grief and anger are valid signals; channel them into action. Tell small stories well. Show cause and effect in a specific place, credit the full cast, and share enough detail for others to copy. Publish what didn’t work and why, and note what context made a tactic transferable (or not). Codify what worked into checklists or agreements. This is a menu, not a mandate. There is evidence for simple tools like if-then plans, checklists, and pre-mortems; use what fits. None of this denies the scale of loss. It aims to build the conditions to keep going. Optimism, practiced this way, is discipline in service of durable results.

Mentoring is one of the most powerful relationships we can build. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of mentoring some truly remarkable individuals—both formally and informally—and it’s been one of the most rewarding parts of my career journey. It’s not just about offering guidance or helping someone overcome challenges. It’s about nurturing leadership, elevating others and fostering a culture where everyone feels like they belong, where every voice is heard and where everyone is empowered to succeed. Earlier this week, we celebrated MentorHer Day, marking not just the conclusion of many mentorship journeys, but the start of something far greater. Since the programme’s launch in 2018, we’ve mentored over 1,000 women, helping them step into leadership roles, broaden their skills and grow in confidence. And the impact doesn’t end there—together, we’re creating a ripple effect of empowerment that will resonate far into the future. This isn’t just a programme—it’s a promise to help women dream bigger, aim higher and achieve more than they ever thought possible. Listening to the personal stories shared on MentorHer Day, I was deeply moved. These are my three key takeaways – and not just about what mentorship gives, but what it asks of us:         • Mentorship can build lifelong relationships When the formal mentorship relationship ends, the bonds and connections formed during that time don’t have to. Cultivating authentic, personal connections—a safe space where mentees can be open about their dreams and aspirations—can build relationships which grow into enduring bonds and friendships that transcend the workplace. • Mentorship is a two-way street The real beauty of mentorship lies in its reciprocity. Every time I mentor someone, I gain fresh perspectives—not just about them, but about myself and my own leadership style. Mentorship holds up a mirror, allowing us to see where we, too, can grow and improve. No two mentorships are ever the same and that’s what makes mentorship so much fun! Some of my best mentorship moments have happened outside the traditional office setting – treadmill meetings or a cozy coffee shop where the usual hierarchy fades away and both mentor and mentee can contribute equally to the journey.  • Mentorship is about paying it forward The true power of mentorship lies in its ripple effect. When mentees become mentors themselves, they create a legacy of empowerment—passing on the confidence, tools and sense of possibility that encourages the next generation to achieve even more than they once believed possible. That’s the true power of paying it forward.    To all mentors and mentees, you are the heartbeat of initiatives such as these. You’re not just creating opportunities—you’re helping shape futures. Thank you for being part of something so impactful. As I said on stage: Let’s keep making waves.

Memoirs of a Gully Boy Episode 32: #Mentorship – The Bridge to Collective Growth In every career, there comes a point when the focus shifts from personal success to creating opportunities for others. Mentorship is that bridge—a powerful tool that not only shapes individuals but also builds stronger teams and organizations. The Early Lessons in Guidance One of my first experiences as a mentor came during a high-stakes project involving a new hire fresh out of college. The project’s complexity overwhelmed him, and mistakes became frequent. Instead of micromanaging or criticizing, I walked him through the basics, shared my own early career struggles, and gave him the space to learn. With time and encouragement, he gained confidence and delivered key components of the project. Watching him grow and succeed was as rewarding as achieving the project’s goals. Lesson 1: A mentor’s role is not to provide all the answers but to enable others to find their own. During a process optimization project for a manufacturing client, I worked closely with a team of young managers. While they were technically sound, they lacked the leadership experience needed to navigate high-pressure situations. I introduced them to structured decision-making frameworks, helping them break complex problems into manageable steps. Within months, they were not just solving problems but leading sub-projects independently. Some of them eventually rose to senior leadership positions, proving that mentorship creates a ripple effect that benefits individuals and organizations alike. Lesson 2: The best mentors don’t just develop problem-solvers—they cultivate future leaders. Learning Through Reverse Mentorship Mentorship isn’t a one-way street. I’ve often found myself learning from those I mentor, particularly during innovation-driven projects. In one instance, a young team member introduced a new data visualization tool that significantly improved our ability to analyze and present key metrics. His fresh perspective enhanced the project and reminded me that mentorship is about fostering mutual growth, where both mentor and mentee evolve together. Lesson 3: Mentorship thrives on mutual learning—it’s as much about listening as it is about guiding. The Role of Empathy in Mentorship Mentorship isn’t solely about technical guidance; it’s about understanding the challenges your mentees face. During a critical software migration, one team member struggled with personal issues, affecting his performance. Instead of pressuring him, I offered flexible deadlines and support, enabling him to focus on both his work and personal life. That experience underscored the importance of empathy in mentorship—creating a safe environment where people feel supported, not judged. Lesson 4: Empathy builds trust, and trust transforms mentorship into a lasting Partnership Mentorship is a cornerstone of professional growth. It’s the act of lifting others, shaping future leaders To be continued...

The Power of Mentorship: Scaling Expertise and Shaping Careers 🚀 Mentorship has been a defining factor in my career, both as a mentee and now as a mentor. Early in my journey, guidance from more experienced professionals helped me navigate complex challenges and develop a clearer view of my goals. Now, as a Principal Engineer, I see mentorship as a way to multiply expertise, scale impact, and foster strategic thinking in others. Effective mentorship isn’t about handing over solutions. It’s about enabling people to: - Align their work with organisational goals 🎯. - Build confidence in addressing ambiguity and complexity 💡. - Transition from tactical execution to strategic impact 🌍. Over the years, I’ve seen the transformative power of mentorship first-hand. For example, I worked with an engineer transitioning to a more senior role, helping them identify opportunities to improve team processes. Their initiative led to measurable efficiency gains and recognition from leadership. In another case, I supported a junior engineer struggling with ambiguous requirements. By teaching them frameworks to break down complex problems, they became more effective and confident, increasing their autonomy and impact. Sometimes mentorship is about helping someone think strategically. I recently worked with a technically strong mentee to focus on long-term organisational goals rather than immediate deliverables. That shift in perspective positioned them as a trusted advisor within their team. Mentorship sharpens your ability to articulate ideas clearly, challenge assumptions, and stay grounded in the realities of engineering. It reinforces the idea that technical leadership is as much about enabling others as it is about solving problems directly. Organisations that prioritise mentorship see measurable benefits: increased retention 🤝, faster skill development 📈, and stronger alignment across teams 🔗. These outcomes don’t happen by chance—they require intentional effort to foster a culture where knowledge sharing and growth are valued. If you’ve been fortunate to have a mentor who impacted your career, consider how you can extend that value to someone else. Mentorship isn’t a formal role—it’s a mindset. It’s about taking the time to guide, challenge, and inspire. What’s one piece of advice from a mentor that’s stayed with you? I’d be interested to hear how mentorship has shaped your journey. Big shout out to both Gordon Kermode and Susan Solomon PhD who coached and mentored me to help me realise my potential. #Mentorship #TechnicalLeadership #CareerGrowth

Think you can or think you can’t—either way, your team believes you. Have you ever noticed how your team seems to echo your exact sentiments, even on days when your confidence level is at "I just spilled coffee on my white shirt"? Spoiler alert: they're not reading your mind (probably). But they are reading your mindset. As a leader, you're under constant surveillance—& no, not just by compliance. Your team pays closer attention to your emotional cues than you might realize. According to emotional contagion research published in HBR, a leader’s emotions don't just trickle down—they flood. Your mindset sets the emotional tone, shaping your team's beliefs about what’s possible. Think about it: If you walk into a project kickoff believing it'll be a disaster, guess what? Your team subconsciously puts on their "disaster helmets." Congratulations—you just became the director of your very own self-fulfilling prophecy drama, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 0%. Conversely, if you genuinely believe success is achievable—even when the odds feel stacked higher than pancakes at brunch—your team’s collective confidence will surge. Psychology calls this the Pygmalion Effect, a fancy term for "your team rises (or falls) to your expectations." Research by Rosenthal & Jacobson revealed that when teachers believed students were high achievers, their students performed significantly better—even if those expectations were randomly assigned. Imagine applying that power intentionally in your leadership. But hold on. This doesn't mean faking blind optimism & shouting motivational clichés like a gym instructor at 5 a.m. Genuine belief isn’t blind; it's grounded in authenticity, action, & resilience. It's about acknowledging reality, then rallying your team around the conviction that together, you can handle it. Here’s how you can harness this psychology intentionally: • Check your vibe before your tribe: Pause & ask yourself, "Is my current mindset empowering or sabotaging my team?" • Use positive realism: Acknowledge challenges openly, then clearly outline why you believe they're solvable. • Lead by example: Your words matter, but your actions matter more. Demonstrate through behavior that setbacks are merely detours, not dead-ends. Remember, your team's mindset mirrors yours—whether you want it to or not. Your doubts become their doubts, your confidence becomes their confidence, & your enthusiasm becomes their rocket fuel. Think you can or think you can’t? Either way, you're right—& your team believes you. Choose wisely. #Leadership #Management #Business #Team #Mindset

"Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Its Importance in the Organisational Psychology Context" (Koutroubas & Galanakis, 2022) This systematic review explores the application of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory in the workplace, particularly in organisational psychology and human resource development. 🔑 Core Concepts 1️⃣ Social Cognitive Theory: Emphasises triadic reciprocal causation, the dynamic interaction between personal, behavioural, and environmental factors. Highlights self regulation, observational learning, and the ability of individuals to shape their own destiny. 2️⃣ Self-Efficacy: It refers to belief in one’s ability to execute behaviours required to produce desired outcomes. Developed through four sources: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and emotional states. 3️⃣ Modeling and Observational Learning: People learn by observing others, forming mental representations, and translating those into action, especially when reinforced. 🧠 Workplace Applications 👉 Self-Efficacy in the Workplace: Influences employee motivation, performance, and well-being. Shapes responses to tasks, challenges, and feedback. 👉 Behaviour Change and Vicarious Learning: Programmes like Modeling Based Training enhance managerial behaviors through rehearsal, reinforcement, and role modeling. 👉 Human Resource Development: SCT is used in training, cross-cultural adaptation, and performance management. Enhances self-regulation and employee autonomy. 👉 Goal Setting and Motivation: SCT and Locke & Latham’s goal setting theory both stress the role of self efficacy in driving performance. High efficacy boosts goal commitment and achievement. 👉 Performance Models: The General Model incorporates self-efficacy into the Theory of Planned Behaviour, linking beliefs, control, and autonomy to workplace performance. 👉 Job Crafting and the JD-R Model: Self-efficacy is a personal resource in managing job demands and increasing job meaning through proactive redesign. 👉 Big Five Personality and Self-Efficacy: Research shows conscientiousness and emotional stability, mediated by self-efficacy, positively influence performance. 👉 Ethical Leadership: Ethical behaviour modeled by leaders shapes employee behaviour via social learning. High self efficacy in leaders fosters employee voice and ethical conduct. 👉 Managerial Self-Efficacy: Managers with low self-efficacy are threatened by employee voice, while high efficacy managers foster openness and innovation. 🧩 Critical Reflections ✅ Strengths: SCT explains complex social behaviors and emphasizes cognitive processes in learning and motivation. Support from Neuroscience: Mirror neuron research offers biological grounding for observational learning mechanisms. ❌ Limitations: May not fully explain behaviors without observable models; overemphasis on environment risks neglecting biological influences.

The higher you climb, the less acceptable it becomes to need others. You are expected to have the answers. To hold the room. To project certainty even when you don't feel it. Asking for help feels like weakness. So you sort it out yourself. Not because you don't need support. Because the role trains you out of asking for it. Some years ago, a manager offered me a new job. It was about building a controlling department for a joint venture from scratch. I was full of doubt. Not feeling capable. He believed it before I did. I borrowed his confidence until I believed myself. And it became one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Here is what the science shows: 1) Carrying challenge with others costs the brain less than carrying it solo. Tasks feel lighter. Risk feels more manageable. Not because the challenge changed. Because the nervous system is no longer bearing it alone. 2) When someone expresses belief in us, oxytocin rises. Trust increases. Cooperation deepens. The brain opens where it was closed. 3) Research in collective efficacy shows something that should stop every leader: The group's belief in someone predicts their performance. And this prediction is even better than their own self-belief does. The greatest coaches believed in their athletes. And they did so before the athletes believed in themselves. How can you leverage this? 1. Make asking visible. When you ask your team for help because you don't have the answer. When you say it out loud you give them permission to do the same. You don't lose authority. You build it. 2. Step forward before they ask. Notice who is carrying something alone. That is your signal to step in and offer your support. 3. Create space for your team to know each other's tendencies. Who needs time before deciding? Who is introverted? When people know each other's patterns, they become a self-supporting team. The most important thing my manager gave me was not a role. It was proof that someone else's belief can carry you until yours catches up. Your team needs that from you. 📌 If you want practical frameworks that turn theory into embodied leadership join my free newsletter https://lnkd.in/dFtMUMCm 🖋️Follow Maria Luisa Engels for more on high-performance leadership. 🖊️ Share this if someone needs to see it. (Sources: Coan: Social Baseline Theory | Bandura: Collective Efficacy Research)

I spent 4 years as the performance psychologist for the Toronto Raptors. Here are the 8 processes that separate elite teams from everyone else: The research on team performance is conclusive. These processes are the biggest predictors of whether your team succeeds or fails. Most organizations optimize for 2-3 at best. Here's the complete framework: 1. Collectivism: We over me Teams that prioritize collective success over individual achievement consistently outperform those filled with talented individuals who operate independently. When people genuinely care more about the team winning than personal credit, everything else gets easier. 2. Collective Efficacy: Belief that we can win together This is the team's shared confidence in their ability to succeed. It drives buy-in to systems and strategies, enables teams to adjust tactics mid-execution, and activates confidence in individual members. 3. Teamwork Knowledge & Skills: People actually know how to collaborate Most people have never been taught how to work effectively in teams. The research shows this is the second most important predictor after collectivism. You can't assume people know how to be good teammates. 4. Shared Mental Models: We see the game the same way When everyone understands the playbook, the strategy, and their role within it, execution becomes seamless. Shared mental models enable teams to coordinate without constant communication, adapt to changing conditions, and support each other proactively. 5. Interpersonal Relationships: People genuinely trust each other Healthy relationships won't necessarily make your team great, but unhealthy relationships will absolutely break it. Teams need genuine trust and connection to share information freely, resolve conflict quickly, and support each other through adversity. 6. Team Cohesion: The group sticks together under pressure Cohesion is what keeps teams intact when things get difficult. It's built through shared experiences, clear values, and consistent reinforcement of what the team stands for. Teams with high cohesion don't fracture when faced with setbacks. They lean in together. 7. Psychological Safety: You can speak up without fear Google's Project Aristotle found this was the #1 predictor of team effectiveness. Psychological safety enables teams to learn faster because people can acknowledge mistakes without fear of punishment. 8. Diversity of Thought: Different perspectives make us stronger The research follows the Goldilocks principle: too much diversity creates conflict, too little limits creative problem-solving, and moderate diversity optimizes for both innovation and cohesion. If you want sustained success, start by auditing your team against these 8 processes. Where are the gaps?

My optimism is my biggest strength. But it nearly cost me my team’s trust once. A few years ago, my team was leading a critical product launch, expanding into new territory that pushed every limit we had. It meant working with materials we’d never touched and partners we’d never worked with before. One teammate wasn’t so sure. He was worried the complexity, on top of everything else we were already solving, was more than we could handle. I am an optimist, I generally look for the wind at our back before I look for the storm ahead. So when the doubts came up, I did what I always do, I set a course and said: “Trust the wind. We’ll make it”. But not everyone works like this. And here’s what I learned: → We can’t just say “We’ll win!” and forget to listen to other perspectives. → Too much optimism ignores team struggles. → Over time, that energy won’t matter because we lost people’s trust. That’s when I started to elaborate a different concept. I call it empathic optimism. It is still hopeful, but it starts with listening. Here’s the simple playbook: 1 → Acknowledge challenges openly (“This rollout is tough”) 2 → Pair hope with action (“Let’s solve ‘it’ together”) 3 → Reinforce it celebrating small wins We shipped that launch despite the challenges. But more than that, the teammate who doubted us became the one running point on the next one. Now I don’t just trust the wind. I check it with my crew before I trim the sails. Because you can read the wind alone. But you can’t sail through a storm alone. It only really works when the whole crew adjusts course together. P.S. Which step is hardest for you under pressure? And if you need help managing that pressure, grab my free Rafted Toolkit here: https://skd.so/El3LA4

Mental Models for Leaders – #7 Self-Efficacy: The Most Underrated Force in Leadership Albert Bandura, one of the world’s most influential psychologists, introduced the concept of self-efficacy, a person’s belief in their ability to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and succeed. It is not self-esteem, which is about how you feel about yourself. Self-efficacy is far more practical. It is the quiet confidence that says, “I can figure this out.” That belief changes everything. People with high self-efficacy persist longer when problems become difficult. They recover faster from setbacks. They embrace change rather than fear it. They volunteer for the hard assignments. They innovate more, learn faster, and inspire confidence in others. The evidence across decades of research is remarkably consistent: when people believe they can succeed, they usually perform better. This has profound implications for leadership. Many leaders believe their role is to have the answers. The best leaders understand their role is to build people who can find the answers. Every interaction either strengthens or weakens another person’s self-efficacy. Micromanagement says, “I don’t trust you.” Constant criticism says, “You’re not ready.” Taking credit says, “Your contribution didn’t matter.” Over time, people stop taking initiative, not because they lack ability, but because they lose belief in their own ability. Great leaders do the opposite. They give people ownership before they feel completely ready. They coach instead of rescue. They allow intelligent mistakes because mastery is forged through experience, not observation. They recognise progress as much as perfection. They celebrate effort, learning and resilience, not just outcomes. Most importantly, they communicate an unwavering belief in people, often before those people believe in themselves. Bandura identified four ways self-efficacy grows: mastering difficult experiences, observing capable role models, receiving genuine encouragement from trusted leaders, and learning to remain composed under pressure. Remarkably, every one of these sits squarely within a leader’s influence. They drummed this into me at AGSM in an MBA 20 years ago. This is why culture cannot be mandated. It is cultivated, one conversation at a time. Every meeting, every delegation, every piece of feedback either expands someone’s confidence or quietly diminishes it. The greatest leaders do more than build organisations. They build people who believe they can accomplish things they once thought impossible. As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe observed: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.” Perhaps that is the highest calling of leadership, not to be the smartest person in the room, but to leave every room with people who believe they are capable of more than when they walked in.