Carol Dweck’s Mindset for Salespeople to Be Like Teflon

Last week, guest speaker David Starcher talked about the importance of being like Teflon. What he meant by this was the importance of moving on from rejection and not letting it define you. This has been a theme throughout the course of the entire semester, mostly because it is virtually unanimous that rejection in sales is inevitable. What seems equally true is that realistically getting over rejection is much easier said than done. Oftentimes when you are selling a product, you’re selling something you care deeply about, so rejection can feel like an attack on your personal identity. What then are other ways to view failure as a launching pad for growth? I believe that a good answer can be found in the book Mindset by Carol S. Dweck.

In Mindset, Dweck writes that most people operate out of two frames: fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. A fixed mindset states “that your qualities are carved in stone” (Dweck 6). This mindset, however, is extremely damaging, not only because it suggests that there is no room to improve, but also because every situation is a matter of proving oneself. “Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb?” (Dweck 6). Thus, what instead could be a chance to grow is more an opportunity to incubate fear of failing and an attack on one’s identity if a sale is not achieved. This is, to put it lightly, the opposite of being like Teflon, as Starcher said was so important. A good way to be more like Teflon, however, is through what Carol Dweck calls the growth mindset, which “is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way – in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and experience” (7). What I like about this is that Dweck notices the importance of people’s natural gifts, talents, and dispositions, which is certainly fitting with an imago dei view of people, but also notes the importance of not letting those gifts or interests stay stagnant or becoming a matter of one’s identity. Instead, it seems that becoming like Teflon is adopting a posture of humility that there is always room for growth and that growth can be found through every encounter.