When organizations are struggling to grow or change, the issue is nearly always one of leadership mindset.

There is something about how that leader views life and opportunities which actually prevents their success.

People define successful leadership in different ways. We hold up different heroes or icons who symbolize “ideal leadership.”

Without knowing how you define success, my guess is that the type of leaders we view as successful share something in common:

• They believe in a better future. He or she is someone with a compelling vision for what is possible.
• They believe in themselves. They believe they are people of value and that they have value to offer others.
• They believe in their team. They believe in the worth and potential of the people they lead.

It’s possible (and not uncommon) for these same leaders to experience being under-resourced and under-recognized. Similarly, their environment might be oppositional or difficult. Additionally, their teams may not be perfect.

Nevertheless, they somehow emerge as leaders.

The difference? Their mindset. The difference is how they see themselves, others and the world around them.

In all of it, they see potential.

Because they see and recognize potential, they are able to see and take advantage of opportunities. They are able to invest and grow. They are able to take appropriate risks.

Here is a simple exercise you can do that will change your mindset in 21 days.

21 Day Leadership Mindset Change

Benchmark: First let’s establish a baseline. Be completely honest. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best) how would you score your confidence in:

1. The certainty of your ability to build a better future?
2. The consistency of your confidence that you are valuable and that others will benefit from the value you have?
3. Your confidence in those who on your team or support you?

Input Changes

For 21 days, stop listening to, reading or watching any media that tends to be negative, critical, cynical or fault-finding in nature. Similarly, avoid relationships or conversations that are negative in these ways. If you can’t stop completely, reduce your exposure by than 80% or more.

Replace this with positive or encouraging podcasts, books, mentoring conversations, friendships or anything else. These might be inspirational in nature, instructional or encouraging in any other way.

This might feel kind of difficult or uncomfortable at first. That is a normal detox process.

On a daily basis, ideally early in the day, follow this routine:

1. Write down three things that you are grateful for.
2. Write down one successful thing you accomplished yesterday.
3. Write down one successful thing you will accomplish today.
4. Write down one thing that you appreciate about someone else. Then quickly text, e-mail or tell that person. (Keep it short 1-2 sentences.)
5. Write down 10 ideas.

This entire process takes most people no longer than 15 minutes.

Why This Works

Gratitude: Practicing gratitude is an acknowledgment of good in others and in the world around us. By being grateful, we acknowledge that good exists and that we benefit from it. This discipline helps us become alert to seeing and recognizing good.

As Zig Ziglar used to say, “Anybody can be a fault finder. I want to be a good finder.”

Yesterday’s Success: It doesn’t matter how bad yesterday was. Identify one thing you did accomplish. There is always at least one thing you got right. Over 21 days, you’ll build an inventory of 21 successful choices you made and actions you took.

This begins to change how you see yourself.

Today’s Success: Being clear about your priority for the day increases the likelihood that you’ll accomplish it. (Too many leaders protest, “I’ve got too many things to do to get just one done!” Think about that for a minute.)

Choose your success for the day. In 21 days, you should have 21 victories or steps forward in the direction you are pursuing. Even if a day goes haywire, this practice helps you correct your course the following day.

Appreciation: Similar to gratitude, appreciation is the ability to see good in others or the world around us. In this case, it might be about something that we don’t even benefit from. However, the difference here is building the discipline of communicating appreciation to others. This is where we learn to see good in others and support the growth of even more good.

Ideas: This is the ability to imagine. To quickly dream. To create. Leaders must be creators. The 10 ideas you come up with each day don’t have to be good ideas. They don’t have to be actionable, useful or needed. You aren’t committed to doing anything with them.

You are just building your idea muscle. Then it will be strong and flexible when you need it. I like to pick a theme for 10 ideas like 10 topics I’ll write on next, or 10 ways to increase team performance or 10 fun ideas for spending time with my kids this weekend. It doesn’t matter what you pick. Just that you are creating ideas.

At the End of 21 Days

Benchmark: Let’s see if there has been change. Be completely honest. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best) how would you score your confidence in:

1. The certainty of your ability to build a better future?
2. The consistency of your confidence that you are valuable and that others will benefit from the value you have?
3. Your confidence in those who team with you or support you?

Self-Debrief

• Are there any changes in your scores? If so, how do you explain them?
• What has this exercise meant to you in terms of preparing yourself for growth or change?
• What is the next, best step you need to take to be successful leading growth or change?

How Does Any Of This Relate To Organizational Change?

It’s interesting, isn’t it? Nothing here relates to obtaining financing, or restructuring an organization, or building a leadership team or developing a new division.

This exercise creates the raw material or ability that allows you to do all of those things successfully. It allows you to begin to remove (or at least identify—so you can remove) the blocks that prevent successful growth or change.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll experience yourself and your team gaining traction in areas you couldn’t before.

Take good care,

Christian