Report: Why a Growth Mindset is Fueling Business Success

Key Insights

A growth mindset culture—focused on learning, resilience, and positivity—drives business success, according to a recent survey.

Nearly all executives believe they have a growth mindset, though many employees see a different reality.

A growth mindset—the belief that skills and abilities can be developed over time—is reshaping how companies approach challenges, from adopting flexible work models to experimenting with shorter work weeks. This approach is all about growth and adaptation, valuing the journey of learning over staying stuck in old ways.

According to a new report, a huge majority of executives—96%—say they embrace a growth mindset, seeing it as a critical driver of success. Yet, despite these strong claims, many employees aren’t fully convinced that this mindset is present in their own workplaces.

Growth Mindset: Employees Don’t Always Feel It

TalentLMS’s report, based on a survey of 1,000 employees and 300 executives across industries in the U.S., shines a light on this disconnect. While 96% of executives see themselves as growth-oriented, about 54% of employees disagree, feeling that they don’t witness much of this celebrated mindset in action. Even more striking, 24% of employees say their leaders “rarely or never” demonstrate the behaviors that come with a growth mindset.

This gap highlights how tricky it is to truly foster a growth mindset culture. So, what does it take to build one that everyone can feel?

Traits of a Growth Mindset: Openness, Adaptability, and Resilience

The report reveals seven key traits that define a growth mindset culture:

Continuous learning

Resilience

Positive outlook

Courage

Open-mindedness

Persistence

Adaptability

Executives surveyed noted that these traits fuel a culture of growth, which they believe can lead to higher productivity, better employee engagement, and a healthier work environment overall.

Higher productivity is the one benefit that the most executives agree emerges from a growth mindset culture. Source: TalentLMS

Why Change is Hard

It’s easy to say you support change, but stepping into it is another story—especially for those in leadership positions. Embracing a growth mindset means facing the real possibility of failure, a daunting risk when the safer choice is to keep things status quo.

But change is essential. For every large company pushing to return to in-office work, there are plenty of nimble startups thriving with fully remote teams, showing that a flexible mindset is where true resilience lies. The report reminds us: in a fast-moving world, companies that embrace change stand to gain the most in the end.