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Debunking Growth Mindset: A Critical Look at Leadership Development and Transformation in Tech
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
In an interview on the podcast Disruption Interruption, host Karla Jo Helms welcomes yet another industry disrupter, Andy Ellis, CEO and Principal at Duha, Inc., seasoned technology and business executive, and expert in cybersecurity, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture. This discussion will touch on the evolving landscape of leadership in the tech industry, the fallacy of the prevailing belief that leadership is solely the domain of those in 'leadership' positions, and his dislike of the growth mindset concept as taught.
TAMPA BAY, Fla., April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- "Just because you have power doesn't make you a great leader, and whether you have power or not doesn't affect whether or not you're a leader." This is the premise with which Andy Ellis, former MIT graduate and US Air Force officer, approaches the discussion in the latest episode of the Disruption Interruption podcast with host Karla Jo (KJ) Helms. Throughout this thought-provoking conversation, they discuss what leadership truly looks like outside of the traditional, top-down view. Ellis emphasizes the need to redefine leadership beyond traditional notions of authority and underscores the importance of recognizing leadership as a dynamic interaction that extends beyond hierarchical structures. There is a common belief among organizational leaders that tech can be adopted rapidly, even skipping steps to achieve this goal. Leaders that engage in this "have little patience for understanding how to work tech into their business plans. This is a primary culprit for the pervasive lack of quality communication that occurs between tech departments and upper management." (1) Ellis's expertise in the tech and cybersecurity arena makes him uniquely qualified to address this leader-centric problem.
Leadership theory is a dynamic phenomenon that has been studied for centuries, going back to the Great Man theory of the 1840s, built on the belief that leaders are born possessing certain inherent characteristics that destine them to lead. This evolved into the belief that leaders can be born or made but still require certain characteristics to be effective. Much later, the focus was shifted to the complex interrelationships inherent in any organization, resulting in theories based on shared, collective, collaborative, and inclusive leadership. (2) This discussion between KJ and Ellis will further challenge the definition of leadership while envisioning what it can look like in the future.
Everyone Is a Leader: What Leadership Training Should Look Like
Ellis begins by immediately challenging the prevailing view that leadership and authority are interchangeable, stating that they are, in truth, separate and unrelated. He articulates his unique approach to leadership, believing that everyone is a leader, because "leadership is just how you interact with other people who are spending their energy to create value. We've reserved leadership training for people who are already authorities and that's our first big failure."
He emphasizes that leaders should ask themselves how they can do things a little better, not how they can fundamentally transform something while trying to emulate someone else.
The Fallacy of Growth Mindset
KJ and Ellis take a deep dive into the theory of growth mindset, with Ellis focusing on the issues along this line of thinking. He goes on to explain:
-- Why he thinks the growth mindset idea is mostly "bunk" and that it
promises things that it shouldn't
-- The differences between growth mindset and closed mindset
-- That humans are generally in the growth mindset and do not need to be
introduced to it
-- Why, if leaders want to embrace the growth mindset, they are the ones
that should do so, rather than telling their people to
-- Recognizing that hearing an uncomfortable truth indicates a potential
blind spot in your thinking and presents an opportunity for learning
-- How the growth mindset view is often weaponized to stifle innovation and
that this is where disruption needs to occur
Innovators and the Mic Drop Moment
The conversation concludes with a discussion on how innovators are not trying to solve societal problems--they are just trying to solve a problem. "Instead of diving in and saying we need to fix everything, pick a problem, see a way that you can make that problem better," Ellis states. "You don't have to make it go away, but can you make it better? Because it's the combination of all those tiny, disruptive changes that create massive disruption."
Links:
Disrupting the Growth Mindset: The Andy Ellis Perspective on True Transformation in Tech:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disrupting-the-growth-mindset-the-andy-ellis/id1581985755?i=1000651381490
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csoandy/
Company Website: https://www.duha.co/about/
Disruption Interruption is the podcast where you will hear from today's biggest Industry Disruptors. Learn what motivated them to bring about innovation and how they overcame opposition to adoption.?
Disruption Interruption can be listened to in Apple's App Store and Google Play.?
About Disruption InterruptionTM:
Disruption is happening on an unprecedented scale, impacting all manner of industries-- MedTech, Finance, IT, eCommerce, shipping, and logistics, and more--and COVID has moved their timelines up a full decade or more. But WHO are these disruptors and when did they say, "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT!"? Time to Disrupt and Interrupt with host Karla Jo "KJ" Helms, veteran communications disruptor. KJ interviews badasses who are disrupting their industries and altering economic networks that have become antiquated with an establishment resistant to progress. She delves into uncovering secrets from industry rebels and quiet revolutionaries that uncover common traits--and not-so-common--that are changing our economic markets... and lives. Visit the world's key pioneers that persist to success, despite arrows in their backs at http://www.disruption-interruption.com.
About Andy Ellis:
Andy Ellis is a visionary technology and business executive with deep expertise in security, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture. A graduate of MIT and former US Air Force officer, Andy designed, built, and brought to market many of Akamai's security products, leading the Fortune 1000 company from its start as a content delivery network into an industry powerhouse with a billion-dollar dedicated cybersecurity business. In his twenty-year tenure, Andy led Akamai's information security team from a single individual to a 90+ person team, over 40% of whom were women. In running Akamai's security program, Andy designed systems, governed risk management, implemented policy, and supported go-to-market functions. Widely respected across the cybersecurity industry for his pragmatic approach to aligning security and business needs, Andy regularly speaks and writes on cybersecurity, leadership, diversity & inclusion, and decision-making and is the author of the book, 1% Leadership: Master the Small, Daily Improvements that Set Great Leaders Apart.
About Karla Jo Helms:
Karla Jo Helms is the Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR® Strategist for JOTO PR Disruptors(TM). Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are on the line -- and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected. Being an alumnus of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys, private investigators, and the media to help restore companies of goodwill into the good graces of public opinion -- Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel. Helms speaks globally on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way and how, in the right hands, corporations can harness the power of Anti-PR to drive markets and impact market perception.
References
1. James StangerDr. "Most Companies Don't Have a Security Problem: They Have a Leadership Problem." SmartBrief, 21 Feb. 2024, http://www.smartbrief.com/original/most-companies-dont-have-a-security-problem-they-have-a-leadership-problem.
2. Benmira, Sihame, and Moyosolu Agboola. "Evolution of Leadership Theory." BMJ Leader, BMJ Specialist Journals, 1 Mar. 2021, bmjleader.bmj.com/content/5/1/3.
Media Contact
Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR(TM), 727-777-4629, khelms@jotopr.com, http://jotopr.com/
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/debunking-growth-mindset-a-critical-look-at-leadership-development-and-transformation-in-tech-302112218.html
SOURCE JOTO PR(TM)
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