Growth Mindset is Meesho’s newest mantra. To understand more about it, we decided to chat with Nikita Dawda, Chief of Staff at the CEO’s Office here at Meesho.
At Meesho for about 3.5 years now, Nikita joined in 2019 as “a nervous cookie, without much knowledge of how to manage a business.” In her first 9 months here, she launched the household grocery category at Meesho, right from hiring a team, marketing the category, building supply, launching, measuring the PNL, and talking to her users. “It was the toughest period of my career, but I learnt a LOT,” she says.
She led an important apparel category next and took it from just another category to one of the highest transacting categories within Meesho. After spending 8 months there, she was asked to lead all of the fashion businesses. She says, “This role involved not just execution but also strategy. I had to bring a lot more depth and structure into my thinking. This was the first time I was a manager of managers, all of whom were some really smart folks. This role really changed the game for me on how to lead large teams.”
She recently became Chief of Staff to CEO's Office in 2021, a role that “requires a lot of breadth, and feels every day is a new and interesting challenge.”
With so much experience and knowledge up her sleeve, our director of Fulfilment Strategy, Pankhuri Goel, spoke to her at length about Meesho’s newest Mantra. We have structured Nikita’s responses into bulleted points to make them easier to follow
Here’s the conversation we had —
Pankhuri Goel: So, what is Growth Mindset, according to you?
Nikita Dawda: “If Growth Mindset had to be described in a few words, it would be the openness to new things. Be input oriented. To grow, we need to actively look for interesting problems to solve in our daily lives. These needn’t always be big rock problems.”
“Be open to the fact that there will always be something that we need to learn. Inversely, know that your current level of abilities isn’t set in stone. People with a growth mindset believe that even if they struggle with certain skills, their abilities and skills can improve with effort and time.”
Pankhuri Goel: Are there any main pillars of Growth Mindset? What are they?
Nikita Dawda: “Yes. I call them the 5 tenets of Growth Mindset.”
Tenet 1: Feedback
“Learn to take feedback constructively.”
“Actively chase (yes, chase!) feedback from managers, peers and reporting lines. Reflect on it hard. Some say that this constant state of learning can easily turn into second-guessing yourself. While finding a balance is important, this self-awareness is good and makes us work harder.”
Tenet 2: Hunger and Curiosity
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
“They are the best way to learn. Wanting to solve problems will lead you to learn something new, which is crucial for Growth Mindset. Create rituals around it i.e. find ways to include this skill in your everyday life. Obviously, this will differ from person to person, as will the skill or area of growth. Once you feel that you've mastered the skill, it's time to be curious and find the next mountain.”
Tenet 3: Build relationships
“Your growth is the sum of the growth of people around you.”
“Create relationships with people. Some of those should be with those who you look up to or who are better at you in some skills. If they are good at X, observe how they do it. Ask them how they do it and how they think you could be better at it.”
“Growing as a team also involves building relationships. You alone won't be able to do everything. So can we reach out to others who can? Do they have connections that we can leverage? Working collaboratively like this is also important for Growth Mindset.” This works whether you’re a manager or not.
"Here are a few things that I like to practice —"
- Reach out - “Get over that inhibition of reaching out to people. Get out there. Connect with people outside your team. Most people like interactions too.”
- Share appreciation and knowledge - “Take an interest in workstreams outside your own. Compliment people if you like something they've done. Share links of interesting articles you think they’ll enjoy/find relevant.”
- Physically meeting - “If you can meet someone in person, do that. Plan a little, set aside time to know people, put work aside a little and have that conversation when you find the opportunity.”
- Have fun together - “Go for that lunch or chai - sutta break together (no, we're not endorsing smoking). If you work remotely, have impromptu calls where whoever is free joins or play online Pictionary together.”
Tenet 4: Play at your strengths too
“Be known for something that you’re good at, maybe even unique to you.”
“Growth is also about taking people higher with you. If you are good at A, B, and C, how can you double down on that strength? Use the strength to add value to the people around you. Coaching and mentoring people on this strength is another way to do it. If you’re a leader, identify each team member’s strength and help them nurture it and encourage them to use it for the collective good.”
"Additionally, this focus also balances out Tenet 1 because it reminds you of what you’re good at and counters the second-guessing."
Tenet 5: Work hard
“Push yourself outside your comfort zone every once in a while.”
“Put in the effort and the hours where needed. There is really no escaping that. Push yourself outside your comfort zone every once in a while. Role-wise, once every couple of months you should check whether you're doing more, adding more value. Are you still doing the same things that you did sometime back or have you tried something new?”
“Yes, it could come at the cost of work-life balance. But it needn't be all the time. If you start something new, you will need to put in the extra hours initially. You don't need to run all the time to grow, but know when to sprint and be okay with that. But, once you’re comfortable, you can go back to balancing work and life.”
Pankhuri Goel: How does one inculcate Growth Mindset in everyday life?
Nikita Dawda: “We can't work on everything at once, can't become better all at once. Keeping the second tenet as context, pick one or two growth areas that you want to change/work on for the next week/month/quarter/year. Once you pick those areas, you need to think of 3 things: 1. What action will I take? 2. In what context will I take that action? 3. How will I remind myself that this is important? Once you’ve determined these, it’s just a matter of starting it.”
Pankhuri Goel: How do you absorb feedback constructively? How do you not get dejected?
Nikita Dawda: “However well articulated, feedback can leave us feeling dejected. In such situations, I try to remember a few things —”
Feedback is someone's perception - “It can be reality or it could also be one person's perception about you. However, if multiple people have the same perception, it could be a reality, at least within that context e.g. at the workplace. So, accepting and working on that is important.”
Spotlight Syndrome - “We tend to feel that everyone is watching and analysing our every move. But most of the time people are too caught up in their lives to really pay that much attention. The person who this will affect the most is you. So, reflect hard on the feedback being given.”
“It may feel like the person giving the feedback is out to get you, especially if it is someone you don't get along with, but try to separate the feedback from the person and look at it objectively. It helps a lot.”
Pankhuri Goel: Are personal and team growth different things? How should managers think about Growth Mindset?
Nikita Dawda: “Personal growth and team growth are separate. But they can be hugely connected. Suppose, as a leader, you want to think 10x. You could prepare the team to think 10x too, by organising rituals/processes so that everyone collectively is thinking better, in that direction.”
“Sometimes, we may forget about these rituals. For that, having a forum like 'Reflections', where we collectively think about what could have been done better, and what should continue — not just the manager telling the team, but also vice versa — helps a lot. Peer feedback is crucial too.”
“However, delivering feedback thoughtfully is important. Here are something I was taught in B-School which has always held me in good stead —”
- Frame it thoughtfully: “Always start your feedback with ‘I believe..’ or ‘I feel...’. When you state it as your perception, it tends to calm people down and makes them open to listening to you. Saying it as a blanket statement e.g. ‘You are...’ or ‘Your work is...’ puts the person on the defensive.”
- Make it actionable: “Don't just say become better. Be specific. Empathise and make the effort to think about how they can incorporate it into their schedule. Follow up with emails, articles and case studies related to the feedback to help people out.”
“If you are a manager with an employee who is not growing as you expected, refrain from judging a person if they don’t show signs of Growth Mindset. Try to know the person a little. Were they always like this? Is it something very recent? Is it to do with some external motivation or trigger? Diagnose the reason.”
And if you aren’t able to diagnose, Nikita suggests asking questions that encourage people to reflect. “Usually posing kind but direct questions asking if they are practising this, and if not, a ‘why’ are usually enough for a lot of people to start reflecting. Once they start reflecting, then there isn't much else that anyone needs to do. The only thing then is to see if they have the intent to work on this. This approach works in most cases.”
Pankhuri Goel: Are there any tendencies/behaviours that impede Growth Mindset?
Nikita Dawda: “Yes, there are. Two behaviours are most common” and are listed below —
- Getting Complacent - “When we grow fast, we get rewarded. But if this reward makes you feel like you've made it big, it can make you complacent. Mind you, this is different from enjoying the fruits of your labour. After you've achieved something, celebrated it, and basked in the glory, have you gone back to thinking about the next challenge the next day?”
- Designation focus - “For junior members of the workforce, the next big thing always tends to be designation. Career growth should focus on growth. How do I do better so that I can help my manager and organisation? Being in a constant state of absorbing learnings is more important than thinking doing X will get you Y. Of course, being rewarded for your work with a designation and pay hike is a great outcome. But that is not the only thing. That's not the input you should be focusing on.”
Credits:
- Written by Sheeba Mammen (LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Edited by Nikita Dawda (LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Illustrations conceptualised by Nikita Dawda and created by Shoumita Dhar
- Special thanks to Pankhuri Goel (LinkedIn, Twitter), Misbaul Haque and Prachi Jha (LinkedIn, Twitter)
