Leadership Mindsets at Work: How to Improve & Align Them

Disappointing Executive Team Results? Maybe It’s Time to Improve Leadership Mindsets at Work.
Even strong executive teams don’t always operate at their full potential. When performance falters, common patterns emerge: leaders retreat into silos, micromanage their teams, or make leadership decisions that are misaligned with organizational priorities. The root cause is often less about skills or experience and more about the leadership mindsets driving their behaviors.

When senior leaders must operate at a higher level to achieve results, one of the most underleveraged levers is mindset. The leadership mindsets at work shape how executives interpret challenges, interact with peers, and make decisions — and ultimately determine whether their teams succeed or struggle.

Shifting these mindsets isn’t about adding more meetings or mandates. It’s about consciously examining the assumptions that guide behaviors, reinforcing enterprise-focused thinking, and fostering approaches that encourage collaboration, alignment, and effective decision-making. For executive teams, upgrading mindsets can unlock performance far faster than structural changes or new processes ever could.

Leadership Mindsets vs. Leadership Skills
Can top-tier leaders simply focus on building knowledge, skills, and behaviors? The short answer: not really. Lasting behavior change only occurs when new actions are supported by the right mindsets. Without alignment between what leaders do and how they think, change rarely sticks — especially under high-pressure conditions.

Yet leadership mindsets are often overlooked. Organizations can easily invest in leadership assessments, Leadership action learning, or executive coaching, and while these tools can be effective, they rarely move the needle unless they also address the underlying mindsets that shape decision-making, behaviors, and overall performance. Simply put, you can teach a leader what to do, but if their mindset isn’t aligned, old patterns will quietly resurface when it matters most.

How to Change and Improve Leadership Mindsets at Work

Recent research by Ernst & Young shows that 79% of C-suite leaders recognize the need to adopt new mindsets for their organizations to thrive. This matters because a leader’s mindset directly shapes their decisions and behaviors — and those behaviors ultimately determine results.

To unlock higher levels of leadership performance, changing behaviors alone isn’t enough; you must first shift the underlying mindsets that drive them. Below is a high-level roadmap for transforming leadership thinking into measurable performance:

1. Recognize that Leadership Mindsets Drive Leadership Behavior
   Leaders must first acknowledge that their mindsets shape how they engage with others — and that they have the power to choose those mindsets. Recognizing that every leader can consciously select their mindset before, during, and after every interaction creates the foundation for meaningful growth and sustained behavior change.
   
   Ask yourself: do your leaders bring the positive, growth-oriented frame of mind necessary to learn, adapt, and elevate their impact?
2. Agree Upon the Needed Leadership Mindsets
   Once your team recognizes that leadership mindsets are critical to performance, the next step is to identify and prioritize the specific mindsets that will drive your strategy forward. Because every organization — and every market — is unique, the mindsets required for success can differ dramatically, even among companies in the same industry.
   
   The key question: do you know which leadership mindsets will accelerate your strategy, empower your people, and fuel lasting organizational impact?
3. Assess Current Leadership Mindsets
   After identifying the leadership mindsets critical for success, the next step is to measure where your leaders currently stand. A range of leadership assessment tools can provide an accurate picture, giving you the insight needed to monitor, prioritize, and leverage mindsets that will drive performance.
   
   Effective mindsets are context-dependent, but common examples include: growth-oriented, inclusive, agile, enterprise-focused, builder, adaptable, confident, humble, daring, politically savvy, ambitious, responsible, and caring — as well as counterproductive mindsets like ego-driven or overly rigid approaches.
   
   The question is simple: do you truly know the mindsets your leaders bring to the table today?

3. Create a Plan to Close the Critical Gaps
   Focus on the vital few gaps that will unlock the most impact: (1) the one or two collective leadership mindsets that must evolve to elevate the performance of the executive team, and (2) the one or two individual mindsets each leader must shift to enhance their personal effectiveness. Achieving these changes typically requires a thoughtful blend of executive team interventions, targeted coaching, and individualized development plans reinforced with behavioral nudges.
   
   The question is clear: are you ready to align leadership mindsets with your strategic priorities and drive measurable results?

The Bottom Line
Leadership mindsets are rooted in both individual and organizational beliefs, attitudes, and values — and they shape every decision, interaction, and action a leader takes. Misaligned or outdated mindsets quietly undermine performance, while aligned, forward-thinking mindsets accelerate results. The key question: are your leadership mindsets driving your organization forward — or holding it back?

To learn more about how to take your leaders – and their mindsets – to the next level, download How to Fast Track Your Leaders with Just-in-Time Action Learning

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.