Let's Talk Mindset

Let’s talk mindset for a minute. For those unclear exactly what I am talking about, a mindset is a way of thinking, feeling and acting. I want to touch on the difference between fixed and growth. In a fixed mindset, the belief is that intelligence, skills, and abilities are innate versus growth where the belief is that intelligence and skills can be grown and developed. I believe that everyone is a mixture and that your beliefs can change based on your lived experiences and your learnings. I bring this up because in order to grow your leadership skills and gain that next career achievement, you have to believe that with work and learning, you can do it. 

I have spent most of my career believing that I could accomplish whatever I put my mind to doing because I generally did. In the past, if I didn’t get a position, there was usually something better around the corner. I went along in life knowing there would be setbacks but ultimately life had a way of working out. Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. I was leading a mid-size hospital that had been doing very well until the world stopped. Between the pandemic, staffing shortages, physician shortages, peaks and valleys of the disease and hyper-inflation there was a new challenge every day. We also had a new competitor enter the market, which caused disruption. I can remember feeling hopeless. I wasn’t sleeping, I gained weight and just wasn’t feeling like anything I did made a difference - fixed mindset. 

I recognized it and knew something had to change. I remember going away on spring break and that time away and distance helped me realize that I had to change because this wasn’t working for me. When I returned from that trip I started making incremental changes, I altered my eating habits, changed my workout routine and started sleeping again. I began listening to audiobooks and podcasts while working out in the morning that covered topics on health and wellbeing, positive psychology and career pivots. I changed how I was working - talked to trusted peers for advice, engaged deeper into the community and rallied my team. I implemented things I learned and worked with my new boss on strategies that made a difference. I started to see positive change, it wasn’t because of any one thing but I believe it was all of the things spurred by my change in mindset. 

A couple months later I heard from a recruiter about a CEO position in Maui. At first I thought, no, I can’t do that, but then thought, It doesn’t hurt to listen. I went through the interview process that took almost 6 months. Throughout that time, I continued to push forward in my current role so that organization would be successful. It was a hard decision to leave a community and job that I loved and move away from family and friends, but I felt called to Maui. I would not have been able to do this if I was back in that hopeless state. I fully believe going through that and pulling myself out has given me the confidence to not only take on a new challenge 4,000 miles away but also the confidence to start Leading & Life so that I can spread and share with others.