The concept of a ‘growth mindset’, coined by Professor Carol Dweck in her seminal book ‘Mindset’ is increasingly well known.

Based on her extensive research, Dweck argues that people who believe their talents can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and learning from others will achieve more than people who believe their talents and potential are innate and predetermined. 

That’s the difference between a ‘growth’ and a ‘fixed’ mindset and it’s a concept that has been embraced by some of the world’s most influential business leaders such as Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.

The most impactful disability ERG/Network leaders know that regardless of the skills and experiences they bring to the role from their day job there will always be a lot to learn. They know that effort and attitude will determine the extent of their success and that failure is inevitable and an opportunity to grow. 

What if you invited executive sponsors to lead by learning?

The PurpleSpace community includes some extraordinary executive champions who support their disability ERG/Network leaders to make an impact as well as develop their professional skills and profile. 

As Amyn Thawer, Executive Sponsor of LinkedIn’s EnableIn ERG says, his role is to “support our co-chairs with guidance, help with strategy and to engage my senior colleagues. Anytime we can get another leader involved, they will go on to carry the torch.” 

The best sponsors also recognise that they have a lot to learn. 

They are ‘learn it alls’, not ‘know it alls’. 

Some will have personal experience of disability, others won’t. Some will have experiences of supporting the process of cultural change, others will be picking up this brief for the first time. 

This month we invite you to consider:

• What do you most need to learn in order to lead your disability ERG/Network more effectively?
• How do you provide learning and development opportunities for new ERG/Network leaders and committee members?
• How do you support your senior champions and allies to educate themselves? 

New resource for executive champions

This month, we launch our refreshed leadership model for executive champions that will set out the essential leadership attributes to drive disability cultural change within the workplace. 

Peer Leadership Roundtables

One of the most valuable aspects of PurpleSpace membership is the opportunity to build your leadership capacity via quality conversation with other disability ERG/Network leaders.

Each month we convene groups of disability ERG/Network leaders to stimulate discussion on the issues that matter most to our members.

Connect with your peers during these interactive one-hour sessions for disability ERG/Network leaders. These sessions are a great way to share good practice and challenges, swap ideas and build your ERG/Network leadership capacity. 

We have two sessions to choose from:

• 7 September 08:00 – 09:00 GMT (19:00 – 20:00 ACT)

• 20 September 16:00 – 17:00 GMT (11:00 – 12:00 AST)

Resources and Recommendations 

Tap into our Networkology know-how that links to this month’s leadership lesson:

• Disability Champion job description 
• What Makes a Great Disability Champion? – Kate Nash, Patrick Stephenson of Fujitsu, Annette Moody of Serco, Karl Hoods from Department of BEIS and Adrian of GCHQ.
• #PurpleLightUp Personal Leadership Webinar Suzanne Colbert, founder of Australian Network on Disability hosts a thought-provoking discussion about applying personal leadership to achieve change, with their personal leadership experiences and strategies to engage and equip others.
• Leading by Learning Webinar – how disability ERG/Network leaders can improve their performance by learning from everything and everyone