Building a “Growth Mindset” in New NHS Leaders
Laura Maclennan, Deputy Team Manager at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, participated in “Building a Growth Mindset” leadership sessions by the NHS North West Leadership Academy, aimed at enhancing leadership skills among new NHS leaders.
Aims
The “Building a Growth Mindset” sessions sought to build confidence in new leaders by:
- Understanding the imposter phenomenon and its workplace impact.
- Recognising and addressing imposter experiences in themselves and others.
- Developing strategies to break the link between a fixed mindset and imposter experiences.
- Fostering cultures that promote a growth mindset and reduce imposter experiences.
Approach
Delivered over two online sessions, the programme was interactive and reflective, encouraging participants to share experiences and learn collaboratively. Activities and a buddy system were used to reinforce learning and reflection. Laura Maclennan noted:
“The cooperative elements of the session were really effective…it helped you implement the things we were being taught and reflect on things to think about.”
Outputs
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive with 75% of registered delegates expressing an interest in future “growth mindset” learning.
“This was a fantastic, insightful, and invaluable session delivered brilliantly by Claire and Su. It was thought-provoking and has positively sparked the next phase of the journey enhancing my growth mindset as a lifelong learner and leader. Thank you to both of you and the leadership academy and the brilliant group of co-participants whose resourceful contributions helped further the learning.”
“This was a highly insightful and informative session. I look forward to the next session. It would be great if slides could be shared to revisit and reflect periodically to positively anchor the learning.”
Impact
The sessions received positive feedback from the attendees, including Laura Maclennan. She found the sessions so beneficial that she recommended them to her colleagues.
“I think for me it just really developed my confidence and taught me not to overthink. I tend to put myself down a lot if I don’t know something, especially if I feel like I’ve not got all the answers to hand, and the session has changed my mindset so I know now that it’s okay not to know everything straight away and to use it as an opportunity to develop and learn, and draw on the knowledge of others.”
This newfound confidence enabled her to better advocate for herself and her team, leading to improved morale and cohesion within her team.
Next Steps
Laura and her team plan to continue applying the principles learned from the sessions, maintaining an open and reflective culture with regular feedback and discussion opportunities. Further development opportunities will be explored to build on the growth mindset foundation.