Nurturing Growth Mindset - Lessons from Montessori and Leadership

What Montessori lesson I learn?

Authentic Montessorians, whether teachers or parents, possessed a unique gift: the ability to nurture a growth mindset in children.

In this enchanting realm, you'd rarely hear phrases like "be careful" or "you should not do this." Instead, the Montessorians created boundaries, held space for Exploration, and encouraged children to dive into the world without threats or rewards. 

Skeptical? How can children listen and explore to the right degree? Often, you would notice that these Montessori children grew up exuding confidence, unafraid of failure, and relishing every challenge life threw at them.

But how did they do it? How did they plant the seeds of this incredible growth mindset?

1. Encouraging Exploration

In the Montessori classroom, children were the architects of their learning. They chose their activities and determined how often they engaged with them. When they excelled, the teachers offered them more challenging tasks, should they desire. It was a world where curiosity was the compass, and children were the fearless explorers.

2. Praising Effort, Not Just Results

Praise was a unique language. Instead of the generic "Good job," the Montessori teachers spoke in a more profound tongue. "You worked hard on making that line straight. That is wonderful," they would say, celebrating the effort, the sweat, and the perseverance that led to progress.

3. Embracing Mistakes

The Montessorians knew that mistakes were not monsters to be feared but stepping stones on the growth path. They explained to the children, "It's OK to get things wrong," with a gentle nod, they encouraged, "Let's try it again next time."

4. Nurturing Emotional Resilience

When a child felt frustrated, the Montessori guides helped them name those emotions and offered words to help them understand the disappointment and overcome the frustration: "It is challenging, and I am still learning; I'll practice and get better."

But why was this growth mindset so essential?

The Importance of Building a Growth Mindset

In our adult leadership land beyond Montessori, nurturing a growth mindset is critical in every aspect of a leader. 

I ever had a manager, let's name her Mary. Mary was known for her fear-based management style. She watched every aspect of the team's work, giving explicit instructions and scrutinizing every move.

Mary created anxiety in whatever team or project she led. Her team wanted to make decisions with her approval. Creativity withered as team members hesitated to take risks or propose alternative solutions. They spent more time thinking about "how to handle Mary" than creating value for the company. 

Her teams changed frequently, and colleagues sought refuge elsewhere.

What legacy did Mary leave? She was remembered as "a horrible manager." Her contributions might have shone, but her leadership cast a dark shadow.

Years later, I bumped into Mary, and she was not happy. She felt overwhelmed in her role, coping with all the organizational changes, and she could not find the balance. 

How could we nurture a Growth Mindset in the Workplace?

It began with the leaders bringing the magic of a growth mindset to the Workplace. Leaders determine the work culture. Just like Montessorian teachers and parents, they needed to embark on self-discovery and growth.

1. Self-Reflection

Leaders embarked on a quest of self-reflection, exploring the patterns of their thoughts and behaviors. Before we start self-work, we must reflect and be honest with ourselves. 

We sought to shift their mindset from fear-based control to one grounded in trust and empowerment. Self-reflecting questions can be like:

• What fears had been holding us back from their goals?

• How had these fears affected our lives?

• What does failure mean to us personally? 

• Whether failure is negative or positive to us personally, where does such thought come from? 

• What opportunities had we missed?

• Did we believe in the possibility of change?

• How had our beliefs influenced their actions?

• Do we see failures as obstacles or as stepping stones to learning?

Then chose one fear to confront and took a small step toward facing it. There is no right or wrong pattern; we must be aware instead of autopilot problem-solving. 

2. Self-Development

Once we accept our pattern, we can embrace the magic of self-development, adopting the growth mindset principles. 

• We consider challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. We can break down complex problems into manageable steps. 

• Be kind to yourself, just like what you would say to a 5-year-old when the little one is scared and uncertain. When failure happens, imagine what you would like to say again to the 5-year-old and how you would encourage the little one. If you find it hard, learn from the Montessori teacher in the previous section.

• Surrounded themselves with encouragers. They celebrated each tiny victory along their path.

The growth journey begins within, where the seeds of a growth mindset are sown, cultivated, and shared with the world.