The Growth of a Leadership Mindset

Developing executive thinking starts with identifying your current mindset.

There are three levels of leadership mindset, each with a distinct focus: executive, management, and functional. The executive mindset focuses primarily on desired outcomes and less on how to achieve them. The management mindset focuses on the approach needed to achieve the required outcome, and the functional level focuses on the actual execution of that approach.

Having an executive mindset, regardless of level, enhances the opportunity for initiative and innovation when delivering on accountabilities.

Three Levels of Leadership Mindset

The first level of leadership mindset is functional, which might be described as “what you see is what you get.” Let’s say you’re a plumber, and someone calls you about a leaky faucet. You identify the leak and fix it because you have the functional skills to do so. When you’re done, there’s no leak, and you leave.

The second level is management focus, which might be described as “you get what you want to see.” When you get the call about the leaky faucet, you speak to a manager who assigns a plumber to handle the problem.

The third level is the executive mindset. In this case, the results are driven by what is not seen but could be. Say you get the call about the leaky faucet. Instead of just addressing the immediate, visible goal—fixing the leaky faucet—you might ask, “Is there a way to address the issue so it never reoccurs, either with that faucet or any other in the house? Or, is there a way to fix it that’s cheaper or faster for the customer than sending out a plumber?”

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The executive essentially says, “Here’s what I believe needs to be, or could be, accomplished.” They may not initially see the path to that desired outcome, but they have a vision for it. That vision sets the executive apart from the management or functional levels of leadership mindset.

Bringing the Executive Mindset to Every Level

The executive mindset is not reserved exclusively for executives. If I have a plumber at home to fix a leak, that plumber might, “I noticed you might have a rusty faucet here and a clogged pipe there, I’d suggest fixing those before they become problems. Would you like me to do so?”

That plumber is demonstrating an executive mindset. They are looking to the future, sharing a vision that goes beyond the immediate reality of the current leak, i.e., the visible issue at hand.

Ultimately, thinking like a leader means going beyond getting the job done. It’s about thinking about what could be. Once you begin to move in that direction, you begin to adopt an executive leadership mindset, which tends to make you much more effective on any job.