The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

by Julie Zhuo

In her influential book Mindset, pioneering psychologist Carol Dweck describes how the two different mindsets—which she calls fixed and growth—make a huge difference in our performance and personal happiness. Observe the difference: SCENARIO: After completing an assignment, your manager gives you a few suggestions for improvement. FIXED MINDSET: Ugh, I really messed that up. My manager must think I’m an idiot. GROWTH MINDSET: I’m thankful my manager gave me those tips. Now all my future assignments are going to go better. — SCENARIO: You’re asked if you’d like to take the lead on a risky and challenging new project. FIXED MINDSET: I’d better say no. I don’t want to fail and embarrass myself. GROWTH MINDSET: This is a great opportunity to stretch, learn something new, and gain the experience needed to lead other big projects down the road. — SCENARIO: You’ve just had a tense 1:1 with your report Alice. FIXED MINDSET: I should act as if that went well so I come off like I know what I’m doing. GROWTH MINDSET: I should ask Alice how she felt about that conversation and how we might have more productive discussions in the future. — SCENARIO: You’re in the middle of working on a proposal, and John asks to see your progress. FIXED MINDSET: I don’t want to show John anything right now because the proposal is in rough shape. It’ll make me look bad. GROWTH MINDSET: John’s feedback will be really helpful. In fact, I should share my early thinking with even more people so I can get ah...