Pinpoint fixed‑mindset patterns that limit your leadership impact, with a structured worksheet grounded in evidence‑based coaching practice.
When you hit a setback or a gap in your skills, what's the first thing that tends to happen inside your head?
A VP of product development can describe growth mindset fluently. She uses the language in her team communications and has read the relevant literature. She is also the first to defend a challenged assumption, the last to revise a decision after new information arrives, and the most likely to attribute a team setback to external factors. The gap between her stated orientation and her actual behavior is significant and she hasn't seen it clearly.
Introduce the worksheet as a behavioral mapping exercise, not a mindset assessment: 'This has two columns - what you actually do in each area, and what a growth-oriented alternative would look like. The first column should describe behavior and belief, not aspiration. The goal is accuracy, not aspiration.' That framing matters for conceptually sophisticated clients who have strong mindset vocabulary. They need to be redirected toward behavior.
Look at the Criticism row specifically. For clients who have a wider gap than they know, this row tends to reveal it most clearly. Watch also for rows where the Growth Mindset column is full of 'I would' or 'I try to' language rather than 'I do.' 'I try to ask for feedback' and 'I regularly ask for specific feedback from two people after every major presentation' describe very different relationships to growth.
Start with the row she found hardest to complete honestly - not the row with the widest gap, the hardest to write. Then: 'Read me what you wrote in the Current Mindset column for that row.' Ask her to read it aloud, not to summarize it. The act of reading her own words aloud often produces recognition that summarizing bypasses. Then: 'Where do you see the behavior you described in that row showing up in your work this week?'
If the Current Mindset column is nearly identical to the Growth Mindset column across all five rows - if she describes herself as operating in a growth orientation in every dimension without significant gap - and this doesn't match what you've observed in sessions or what's been described in her 360, the worksheet has been completed aspirationally. Severity: low. Don't challenge it directly in the moment. Use it as a baseline and return to it in six to eight weeks with a question: 'What would you add or change now?'
A manager in his second leadership role has been enrolled in a company-sponsored coaching program. He's motivated and open. The coaching relationship is new. The mindset worksheet can serve as a calibration baseline - establishing where he actually operates at the start of the engagement so that later in the program there is something to measure against.
Present as an intake exercise: 'This gives us a starting point - not a verdict. I want to understand where you're actually operating in these five areas before we start the work. Complete both columns as honestly as you can. The current mindset column is the more important one.' For a motivated, early-career leader, the invitation to be honest about gaps tends to land differently than it does with more senior clients - there's less to protect.
Watch the Skills row specifically for early-career leaders. The relationship to skill gaps at this stage is a leading indicator of the client's capacity for development. If he describes skills he doesn't have with openness and a concrete plan, that's genuine growth orientation. If he minimizes the gaps or anchors on credentials as proxies for competence, the fixed orientation shows up there first.
At the start, use it as exploration rather than diagnosis. 'Walk me through your current mindset column for Challenges - what do you actually do when something is hard?' Give him space to interpret his own answers before offering yours. At six months, revisit the worksheet without showing him the original version. Then compare: 'What's different, and what's the same?' The comparison is the most productive use of the tool in a development program context.
If the Criticism row produces a Current Mindset description that involves significant self-criticism or rumination - not just discomfort but prolonged internal self-attack after critical feedback - that's worth noting early in the engagement. Severity: low. It doesn't redirect the coaching, but it shapes how you provide direct observations. Some clients need to receive feedback in a way that is very clearly non-evaluative before they can process it as information.
A chief operating officer who has been in her industry for 20 years is taking on a global role that includes markets she has no direct experience managing. She's highly competent within her existing scope and has low tolerance for not-knowing. The mindset worksheet can surface where the fixed orientation is strongest before she enters a context that will test it extensively.
Frame as preparation, not diagnosis: 'Before you step into this new role, I'd like to do a quick calibration on the five areas where a growth orientation is most predictive of success in unfamiliar territory. What are you currently doing in each area, and what would a growth orientation look like? The first column should be honest - not aspirational.' For a senior leader, the honesty instruction needs to be explicit because credibility protection is a significant factor.
Watch the Obstacles row for this client - how she currently responds when something doesn't work. Also watch the Skills row: a 20-year expert who is entering genuinely new territory will face skill gaps she hasn't experienced in a long time. If the Skills row shows a very fixed orientation - 'I know what I'm doing in my domain' - the new scope will be more difficult. The Desires row can also be revealing: what she actually wants from the new role may or may not include the learning process.
Focus on the rows with the widest gap between current and growth orientation. 'Which of these rows would your colleagues in the new markets be most surprised by - the current mindset column or the growth mindset column?' That question invites perspective-taking on how she lands in unfamiliar contexts. Then: 'What's the single dimension where operating in the growth orientation would have the most impact in the first 90 days?'
If all five rows show a very narrow gap between current and growth - she describes herself as already operating in growth orientation across all dimensions - and this is coming before entering genuinely unfamiliar territory, hold that self-assessment lightly. Severity: low. Very experienced leaders sometimes conflate domain expertise with growth orientation. The new scope will generate data. Use the worksheet as a baseline to return to at 90 days.
I want to see my business situation clearly before I decide on next steps
ExecutiveClient is spending significant energy on things they cannot change
ExecutiveA leader operating on autopilot in situations that deserve more intentional responses
