The other day, my daughter shared her final assignment for class: a reflection on how she’s grown this year. Her words moved me—but they also made me pause.
It got me thinking about my own growth. Not just as a person, but as a leader. And how a growth mindset isn’t just something we teach—it’s something we live, especially when things fall apart.
We often equate a growth mindset with optimism, resilience, or learning from failure—and that’s part of it. But the real work begins in the chaos.
It’s easy to talk about growth when the path is clear.
When feedback is constructive.
When energy is high.
When failure is framed as “a lesson.”
But what about when life is messy?
When you’re overwhelmed?
When the pressure won’t let up?
When uncertainty becomes your only certainty?
That’s when growth gets real.
Not in the polished moments, but in the pivots, the pauses, the unexpected endings, and the unplanned beginnings.
Growth doesn’t always look like progress. Sometimes, it looks like survival.
Sometimes, it’s not graceful—it’s gritty.
According to Dr. Carol Dweck, the pioneer of growth mindset research, it’s not just about believing you can grow.
It’s about how you show up in moments of pressure, failure, and challenge.
It’s in the chaos where the mindset is tested—and forged.
Growth mindset in action looks like:
Asking “What can I learn from this?” even when it hurts
Shifting from reacting to reflecting
Reworking the plan, instead of abandoning the vision
Giving yourself and others permission to evolve in real time
If you’re leading through a hard season—know this:
Every misstep, every tough decision, every sleepless night—it’s part of your process.
It may not look like growth on the surface, but beneath it all, it’s building resilience, emotional intelligence, and adaptive leadership.
This is the work.
This is the stretch.
This is the power of a growth mindset—not in theory, but in practice.
To embody the Cumbre Mindset is to understand:
Growth isn’t paused by chaos. It’s powered by it.
By Joelle Martinez
