How The Best Managers Master Self-Learning At Work – A Key to Success

09/19/24 • 9 min

Developing a learning mindset and mastering self-learning at work are critical to developing a management career. Very few managers get formal training which means if you want to get good, a growth mindset is a massive help.
I explain what a learning mindset is, why it is so important to develop for managers and give you 5 tips to help you building a growth mindset at work. The will to learn as quickly as possible is key in how to be a better manager.

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Additional Resources and Videos you will find useful:

Michael Jordan on failure leading to success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EyPX3CD-g
Team Management Course

Managing teams well is hard work, even when you know exactly what to do. When you have been left to figure things out by yourself, getting good at your job is ten times harder and slower.

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I think developing a growth mindset for success is a must in leadership and management. There is so much competition, getter better quickly is a key way to stand out. Plus the quicker you learn and improve the more enjoyable managing will become for you and your team.

In my experience, the power of a learning mindset is massive. Few managers get taught, even by their own bosses. Most have to rely on self-learning and get their growth mindset motivation into gear.
Developing a mindset for successful learning starts with your attitude and your mental approach. A growth mindset vs fixed mindset is one that is open to learning, that looks for opportunities to learn and improve from failures and successes. People with a learning mindset believe - at the core of their being - that when they work to learn and improve, they will keep getting better.
Developing a growth mindset does take work. Learning and improving does take work. An incredibly important question – “Do you view the goals you are trying to reach as worth putting in that work?” Is yes, work to build a growth mindset. If no, stop reading.
How to develop learning mindset starts with changing the way you think and react to situations. You can absolutely do this. Look for opportunities to learn: from failures and successes; from all feedback no matter how negative or unrealistic; from others around you – their successes and mistakes; from any opportunity you have.
Take this mindset and you will build resilience, determination and commitment. All very good qualities to have to be successful in whatever you do at work and outside.
I share 5 tips that have been incredibly useful for me to firstly develop a learning mindset and to work at self learning at work; and then to keep putting in the work and effort to find ways to learn from as much as I can.
To be successful, a learning mindset and the will to work are both vital attributes.
If you have any questions on “How The Best Managers Master Self-Learning At Work”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

enhance.training

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Additional Resources and Videos you will find useful:

Michael Jordan on failure leading to success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EyPX3CD-g
Team Management Course

Managing teams well is hard work, even when you know exactly what to do. When you have been left to figure things out by yourself, getting good at your job is ten times harder and slower.

Jess Coles

enhance.training

Previous Episode

10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work - Avoid Burnout

The mistakes that lead to burnout at work are pretty easy to make if you are not watching out for them. Some burnout happens because of specific behaviours of employees. Even more burnout is caused by the mistakes of managers.
I share 5 mistakes employees make and 5 mistakes managers make that lead to burnout at work.
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To reduce the pressure on you and reduce your workload while strengthening your reputation and the relationships you hold at work, consider improving how you manage the expectations of all the stakeholders for you and your team. Learn practical expectation management skills here https://enhance.training/lp/skillfully-manage-expectations-usp004-12/
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To avoid the mistakes that lead to burnout at work, I share the common mistakes individuals make and the signs of burnout that are often ignored. Avoiding burnout is important for our mental health and physical health as individuals. It is just as important from the company perspective – burnt out individual can’t contribute to the company’s success.
There are a lot of actions that managers can take to reduce burnout risk in their teams. These are mainly within the manager’s control which I will cover in a bit.
Some common burnout symptoms include mental and physical exhaustion, lack of motivation and energy, difficulty thinking and more. Spotting the early warning signs are key to avoiding burnout in the workplace.
In terms of definition, burnout is the mental and physical exhaustion a person feels when demands being put on them are consistently more than they can deliver. Burnout is usually caused by prolonged periods of high stress levels.
A key mistake individuals make that leads to being burned out from work, is remaining poor at saying no. Saying no professionally is a mental state and a skill to develop.
Another action for avoiding stress and burnout at work is to learn how to manage the expectations of others carefully and realistically. Managing expectations is learning ask questions, negotiate, challenge, and say no.
Managers make all the same mistake individuals do plus they can contribute to workplace stress, anxiety and burnout by making another set of mistakes. Good management practices avoid all of these mistakes so learning how to avoid these mistakes is good from many different perspectives. The mistakes are:

1. Managers ask for and expect too much

2. A lack of goals, expectation and direction creates stress and reduces output

3. Managers don’t provide enough recognition or rewards

4. Not providing enough support for team members

5. A lack of fairness across the team

For each, I explain what causes these mistakes to happen and give tips on how to avoid making them.
If you have any questions on “10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training

Next Episode

4 Key Reasons That Stops Staff Performing at Work & What To Do About It

There are 4 key reasons that stop staff performing at work. Most of the time, the manager of a team can influence or remove the reasons that stop staff performing.
Learn different ways to reduce or remove the blockers to employee performance to reduce underperforming employees in your team.
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The 4 main reasons why employees under perform are:

1. A lack of direction and expectations

2. Too few resources to do a good enough job

3. Lack of skills

4. The will is missing

A lack of direction or far more common – confusion about direction is a classic example of what stops employees performing. When everyone is working in different directions, there will be conflicts and actions helping one employee but detrimental to others. Employees working in slightly different directions reduces co-ordination and with it, team performance.
Every employee has to deal with less resources than ideal. Business resources are always going to be constrained. Real problems occur when individuals and teams start hoarding resources which definitely stops staff performing at work.
Another key to managing underperformance is to ensure that the staff have the skills they need to do a good enough job. A lack of skills, knowledge and help is among the top factors that stop employees performing. Employees might get the work done but miss deadlines, work slowly or produce lower quality than is needed. All contribute to poor performance.
How to manage underperforming employees must address expectations, resources and skills. Cover all these areas and you have removed a ton of excuses that poor performers hide behind.
Lastly, a lack of will also stop employees performing. There can be so many reasons for a lack of motivation. They might have character flaws, have difficulties at home, or feel they have been unfairly treated at work. Find out what the issues are and you have a reasonable chance of resolving them.
If you care about improving team performance, you must address all the reasons that stop staff performing. Getting improvement is the quickest, cheapest and best way to improve individual and team performance.
If you have any questions on “4 Key Reasons That Stops Staff Performing at Work & What To Do About It”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.
Jess Coles
Enhance.training