Courage to Try
I follow a social media account called Visual Hustles, it was the source of the above image. If asked, I would describe it as cartoons which demonstrate the value of not giving up when faced with challenges. I thought of the account while reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck and I looked to see how it connected with the reading. Upon review, the account is a series of images which summarize what it means to have a growth mindset, the hallmark of which is having “passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well.”[1] It turns out the account’s tag line is Visuals | Mindset | Discipline (emphasis added). Surely it is a sign of the importance of Dr. Dweck’s work that it has been transformed into a social media account with 1.5 million followers?
Dr. Carol Dweck is a psychologist, who developed the concepts of fixed and growth mindsets. Upon realizing the vast power and implication of these ideas for all kinds of people, she purposed to write an accessible book for all kinds of readers. Simply stated, a fixed mindset is seen when people believe their abilities are static. Those people tend to shy away from opportunities and fear failure. On the other hand, when people believe they have the ability to grow they embrace challenges, this is called a growth mindset. The prevalence of one or the other has a huge impact on the way people live.[2]
In this blog I will discuss how having a growth mindset is vital for people to successfully participate in the preaching cohorts of my current work and how the future success of my NPO will be enhanced by considering the ramifications of a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset.
Preachers often lack constructive feedback. Sure, there is the occasional zinger of an email from a disgruntled parishioner, but most of the time feedback comes in the form of “Great sermon, pastor” as people pass by on their way to lunch. In my current work, which is closely connected to my NPO, I am committed to helping pastors become more effective preachers. A vital component of our current method is the utilization of feedback loops which come primarily in two ways. First, in the form of congregational surveys at the beginning and end of a year-long peer-to-peer cohort and secondarily amongst the peer group in prescribed ways.
Initially, it was surprising to discover how many pastors avoided or shied away from providing a batch of email addresses to which our team could send surveys. We were also surprised by the number of pastors who expressed their fear of receiving feedback. After reading Mindset, I suspect that a fixed mindset could be at play in these pastor’s lives. This fixed mindset approach inhibits people from the benefits of feedback in preaching cohorts, and in some cases may have kept them from even trying. One aspect the fixed mindset is the belief that if you have to work hard at something you must not be very good at it, and who wants to admit that? The fixed mindset says you are only good at things that come naturally versus utilizing effort.[3]
An insight about having a growth mindset which may resonate with Jesus-followers is that “opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less.”[4] Every Christian who adopts a growth mindset more fully displays the masterpiece of their creation (Eph.2). For those in vocational ministry, it means choosing to push past obstacles and acquire new skills allows them to more fully live into their calling. Was the Apostle Paul encouraging a growth mindset when he wrote the following to the church at Corinth?
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:24-27)
For pastors to be truly effective as preachers, and their ministry overall, an effort at training and improvement is warranted. Leaning back on ‘being called’ is not alone sufficient.
The work I currently do is addressing the urgency of the moment, but my NPO explores inconsistently effective preaching in my denomination and looks toward a long-term solution. How can the problem be tackled before it is rooted in so many places of worship?The intersection of mindset and leadership in business hold clues for the organization (institution) to create a culture that supports the effort of becoming better preachers. It turns out that organizations can have growth mindsets, too. “Belief in human development” is critical as well as having cultural development strategies which include good mentoring.[5] If employees believe their [company] truly has a growth-mindset, [employees] are more likely to take risks because they know they will be supported.[6] Pastors and preachers must try new things, but they need to do so in an atmosphere of support. When pastors are fearfully trying to maintain their grip on a current position or worried that other people look better than them, or if they constantly feel like a failure due to comparison, they won’t try new things. Consideration of these factors helps me see that church boards are a previously overlooked stakeholder group in developing my NPO.
According to Dweck, mindset is frame which surrounds the running account all people keep of interpreting events, comments, even facial expressions they experience every day.[7] Pastors whose habit is comparison to famous media preachers, find the fixed mindset frame extremely limiting. I hope my current work and NPO project help change the internal voice from one that judges to one that embraces learning and growth.[8]
[1] Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006), 7.
[2] Dweck, 6.
[3] Dweck, 40.
[4] Dweck, 236.
[5] Dweck, 142.
[6] Dweck, 143.
[7] Dweck, 225.
[8] Dweck, 226.
About the Author
Julie O'Hara
13 responses to “Courage to Try”
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Julie, This is a beautiful sentence and should be the cry of our hearts: “every Christian who adopts a growth mindset more fully displays the masterpiece of their creation.” What are ways you can help cultivate this in the lives of the pastors you are leading?
Hi Kari, I think I can be much more sensitive to people’s comments and notice when they may be revealing a fixed mindset about something. Then, I can try to utilize a ‘coaching’ and ‘asking’ approach rather than ‘telling’ and trying to change the person. Another way is to demonstrate my own unwavering belief in their ability to grow, to do new things, to fulfill a vital Kingdom role. I had the chance to do this recently organizationally while serving as interim pastor and it was really meaningful to see the church believe in itself again.
Julie, I am sure your work will be a blessing to many pastors and congregations!
I’m wondering, as you look at the resistance to sharing contact info so you could do a survey, did you also explore what might be some of the causes of that resistance? I suspect one-on-one conversations – rather than an email – will be more likely to get to those root causes.
And then how will you invite pastors to adopt a more growth-oriented mindset?
Hi Debbie, thank you for your questions. Yes, we do reach out personally to the pastors when they don’t offer the requested “20 email addresses”. (we also give parameters for who/how to invite to participate) Something interesting – when the other members of their cohort receive their survey feedback and it is discussed in the group, most people who did not send email addresses quickly do so! They see the benefit and realize that they have a supportive environment in which to process it…plus it is mostly positive!
One way that we help pastors adopt a growth mindset is by starting the cohorts with 3 Chapters from Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book cites Dweck’s book and seems to draw heavily on her work. We also created a video which describes the value of small changes consistently applied in a supportive environment. The video is watched together, over Zoom, followed by discussion question on the video and the book. These things help orient people towards a growth mindset.
Julie,
Great work. I like the way you are tying your NPO into this book. Might it be that the pastors don’t want to receive input because the input they always receive is lousy, and spiteful? Might it be that Covid played a large role in how the feedback loop closed the pastors ears to hearing information because it was always a complaint?
Hi Adam, It might be. We suggest that pastors choose individuals from their leadership team along with other parameters which hopefully weed out the outlier negativity. Regarding the Covid part of your question- I imagine this type of negative feedback would be particularly devastating to pastors already framing their inputs with a fixed mindset. It would be even worse for those who had been well-loved and admired up to that point. I am thinking of someone I am close with and reviewing 2020-2022 with new appreciation.
Hi Julie,
Thank you for your post.
In your experience, what challenges do pastors face in receiving constructive feedback, and how might a fixed mindset contribute to these challenges?
Hi Shela, I must begin by saying my scope of experience is quite limited to my denomination and becoming a pastor later in life. Dweck wrote about the difference between praising ability and praising effort beginning on page 69. I conjecture that pastors receive praise primarily around their ability and probably never around their effort. Correspondingly, when a pastor tries to do new things and the congregation resists change, the message the pastor receives is that their effort was a bad a thing. Perhaps this can lead to fear of trying new things and having a fixed mindset.
Hey Julie! I love visual hustles and appreciate your post and the reflection on preacher feedback. It is interesting to find out how many preachers do not want sermon critique because they lack accountability.
This leads to a fixed mindset, for sure.
What would you say has been the biggest obstacle in a fixed versus growth mindset in your context?
Hi Daren,
Probably me. I get in my own way when I am stuck in fear of failure because I am still a recovering fixed mindset person.
Hi Julie, thanks for sharing your NPO. I look forward to following your research and your final project. This will benefit many. Not only are you helping leaders become better preachers but you’re helping them adopt a healthier mindset. What might be the roots of a fixed mindset in pastoral leaders? How might you address those?
Hi Graham, Thank you for your encouragement. I imagine the roots are the same as for any person: parents, teachers and coaches per chapter 7. In preaching cohorts the regular peer-to-peer feedback tends heavily toward recognizing effort and what a difference it makes. Additionally, pastors are continually telling us that they are getting unsolicited feedback from congregants (who do not know about the Preaching Collaborative) about their preaching “getting better.” I believe these things address the roots by moving the praise from outcome to effort.
Hi, Julie, your post resonated with me on the fact that the same problem you are talking about is what characterized these Island churches in Pacific Northwest. When I attended the Island Church that I was part of the first members, we tried to raise a scholarship fund to send our pastor to bible school. I was the person that brought this idea. It met with criticisms. The pastors at that time told me that they do not need to go to school. They can study on their own with the guidance of the H.S. So, later on I just went to this church to worship and I have to find other places for me to grow spiritually. Thanks for you post!