You say that skills matter, but what employers value most is an employee’s mindset. What exactly do you mean by that?
A mindset is the lens through which you see and navigate life. It affects everything you think, say, believe and do. We asked thousands of top employers, if you’re hiring someone and you’re forced to decide between the person with the perfect skills and qualifications but lacking the desired mindset or the person with that desired mindset but lacking a lot of the rest, which one would you choose? We were stunned to see that 98 percent picked mindset over skill set. And when the same questions were asked about who you would promote, who you would grant the pay raise to and who you’d retain when the job ax swings, again it was mindset, mindset, mindset.
What are the qualities of this desired mindset?
It really boils down to what we call the 3G mindset. The G’s stand for “good,” “global” and “grit.” So “good” is really about the integrity, the kindness that you show. “Global” is about your ability to think and reach actively beyond your immediate reality to tap people, resources and ideas that help you do better work. And “grit” is about the deep inner resilience and determination it takes to keep forging forward when most people would give up.
What are the most effective ways to demonstrate them to a boss or a potential employer?
In a research project we commissioned, we gave employers resumes and said, “Tell us what makes the difference. Who gets the job and who doesn’t?” We found that mission statements and hobbies and action verbs and all that stuff do at best nothing. But if they had one statement that we call mindset in action, it literally tripled their chances. That’s a mindset quality put into action in some compelling way to achieve a compelling result. For example, if somebody said, “I trained for the New York Marathon and raised a lot of money for charity,” that’s a lot more compelling than “I love to run.” Or if somebody said, “It took me three years to get my organization to design a health-care system that everyone benefits from,” that’s much more compelling than saying, “I was on the health-care assessment team.”
If you don’t have those three G’s, how can you get them?
If you’ve ever been on a team at work, think about the person you’d say was the most exemplary, the person who delivered the greatest value. Then (think about) the mindset qualities that person tended to demonstrate. If you want to be the person people value, these are things you can employ immediately, at the very next interaction you have at work. That tends to have a real effect on people.