Upskill: Strengthen the mindset muscles that drive sustainable success

In our last article, Baseline, we explored how to uncover the invisible barriers that hold individuals and teams back, from self-sabotage and outdated beliefs to systemic blockers that quietly drain performance and wellbeing.

Once you know what is getting in the way, the next step is clear: build the capacity to move beyond it.

This is where Upskill comes in.

Why Upskill Matters

In today's complex working environment, where AI disruption, hybrid teams, a challenging business environment and tougher expectations combine, it is not just technical skills that determine success.

What matters just as much is the ability to stay clear-headed, confident, and creative in high-pressure moments. But without the mental muscles to adapt, collaborate and lead through uncertainty, change doesn’t stick.  

You cannot delegate self-awareness. You can’t innovate or easily be creative if your saboteurs restrict you from taking positive steps. And you certainly cannot collaborate effectively if your team is stuck in defence mode, afraid to fail, quick to blame, slow to trust and unable to work through these fears and pressures to find positive solutions.

That is why we focus on teaching these skills as part of the Upskill stage in the B.U.I.L.D.© framework.

How we help you and your teams to Upskill

In this stage of B.U.I.L.D.© we use the Positive Intelligence (PQ) approach. This is a science-backed method that helps individuals and teams shift from reactivity and self-sabotage to greater clarity, resilience, and creativity.

Individual participants build the mental muscles to:

• Interrupt unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, overworking, or people-pleasing

• Respond to challenges with empathy, curiosity, and confidence

• Show up consistently with more calm, clarity and courage

Teams learn to

• Collaborate more effectively and creatively

• Hold one another accountable for standards / actions

• Work together under a unifying team purpose and vision

• Engage in healthy conflict resulting in win-win resolutions

What Does Upskilling Look Like in Practice?

There are a number of ways we can support you or your team in the Upskill stage

The full PQ training programme
Runs over six weeks via a simple app, with short daily practices, weekly reflection, and coaching support. Taking just 15 minutes of activity per day and supported by weekly 1:1 or group sessions with Lara, a certified PQ Coach

Leadership Coaching and Development
Personalised coaching to build self-awareness, shift mindset, and strengthen leadership impact – either 1:1 or for Teams

Mindset Talks and Workshops
For larger teams we can offer interactive talks and workshops to generate fresh thinking, motivate teams, and create lasting mindset shifts

For Individuals: Building Confidence and Self-Mastery

“Before this, I thought I had to be in control all the time. But I realised that urgency and control were my saboteurs—and they were exhausting me and my team.”

This senior leader learned to recognise these patterns, pause, and respond differently. The result was stronger team relationships, more balanced decision-making, and increased energy for strategic priorities.

For Teams: Breaking Through Cultural Stagnation

An insights agency team was experiencing poor collaboration following years of structural change. Saboteurs were fuelling negative behaviours - one team member was micromanaging everything as a result of their ‘Controller’ saboteur - which activated another team members ‘Pleaser’ saboteur that said “yes” to every little change or request posed. Neither was happy and in fact they often were both dismayed by the others requests and way of working - it was having a detrimental impact on the rest of the team….

Through the introduction of shared language and PQ mindset tools, the team began to rebuild psychological safety and creative flow. Conversations became more open, feedback more honest, and ideas more frequent and braver. The result was not only improved client delivery, but greater engagement and cohesion.

What Comes Next?

Once individuals and teams strengthen their mindset muscles, we move to Implement—the next stage of the B.U.I.L.D.© framework. This is where learning becomes embedded in daily routines, and insights translate into sustainable action.

Would you like to explore how Upskill could support your team, function or career?

Download our B.U.I.L.D. © info pack or book a call here

#LeadershipDevelopment #MentalFitness #PositiveIntelligence #TeamPerformance #WellbeingAtWork #CoachingForChange #BuildFramework #UpskillYourMindset

The power of a clear Baseline: Identifying what you truly need to change

In our last article, we introduced the B.U.I.L.D.© framework—  our structured approach to integrating mindset and action for meaningful transformation. The first step in the framework, Baseline, ensures that individuals, teams, and organisations take a step back to gain clarity, before making strategic shifts.

This is never more relevant than at times of economic malaise and contextual step changes such as with the recent tariffs on goods produced outside the US.      

Avoid a common trap: jumping to solutions without understanding the root cause.
Whether it’s declining team performance, slow decision-making, or a lack of confidence in stepping up, leaders and professionals alike often assume they know the issue - and the solution - and rush to fix it.

But what if the real challenge isn’t what it seems?

What if hidden factors within yourself, your team, or your organisation are the real barriers to success?

Just as researchers wouldn’t measure the success of an ad campaign without a Baseline, to compare to, organisational, leadership and career growth require the same foundational clarity. Without fully understanding where you are today, any actions you take, may be misdirected, leading to wasted effort and ineffective strategies.

Most leaders and professionals default to tangible performance indicators—like project completion rates or revenue growth—but overlook the intangibles that drive long-term success:

✔️The presence of self-sabotaging behaviours (both personal and cultural)
✔️How individuals and teams operate under pressure
✔️Levels of positive collaboration

These unseen forces impact everything from decision-making to innovation. 

A leader might, internally, blame their team’s hesitation or lack of initiative, when in reality, their own micro-management has conditioned people to wait for approval.

An individual might assume they have a skills gap when exploring a career shift, when in fact, it’s a mindset shift that’s needed.

If you measure the wrong things, you get the wrong results

The Baseline phase of B.U.I.L.D. © helps you avoid this, by moving beyond surface-level observations to uncover deep insights that shape an effective strategy. Whether working with individual leaders, teams, or entire organisations, we gather insights to identify strengths, challenges, and opportunities, setting the stage for impactful development.

For Individuals

✔️ Personal Assessments: Identify self-sabotaging tendencies and how they impact decision-making, confidence, and career progression. An 8 week enhancement of your positive intelligence
✔️ Individual Reflection Exercises: Pinpoint personal patterns, mindset shifts, and areas for professional growth.
✔️ Strengths & Blind Spot Analysis: Gain clarity on what’s helping or hindering your progress.
✔️ Goal-Setting & Career Alignment: Define what success really means for you to create a foundation for intentional growth.

For Teams & Organisations

✔️ Team & Leadership Assessments: Identify self-sabotaging behaviors that impact collaboration, team trust, and performance.
✔️ Leadership Interviews & Employee Surveys: Gather candid feedback on team dynamics, communication, and leadership effectiveness.
✔️ Cultural & Behavioral Analysis: Understand how workplace norms, habits, and unspoken rules influence engagement and innovation.
✔️ Industry Benchmarking & Desk Research: Compare your organization’s leadership and team effectiveness to best practices.

Without this foundation, leaders risk making surface-level changes that fail to address the deeper issues holding individuals, teams, and businesses back.

What’s Next?

Establishing a Baseline is the first vital step of B.U.I.L.D. © —once we uncover the real dynamics at play, the next stage is about equipping leaders and teams with the skills to shift behaviours and mindsets.

Next article: UPSKILL: Building the mindset & capabilities for sustainable growth.

Want to assess your own or your team’s Baseline? 

Download our B.U.I.L.D. © info pack or book a call here

Read our previous article "Creating a growth mindset with the BUILD framework"

Creating a Growth Mindset with the B.U.I.L.D.© framework

In our last article, Walking the Growth Mindset Path, we introduced the idea that essential shifts in mindset are necessary to help individuals and teams embrace change, unlock potential, and sustain high performance. 

But mindset alone isn’t enough—we need clear, actionable steps to transform insight into tangible outcomes. 

That’s where the B.U.I.L.D.© framework comes in.

Jeff and I have developed B.U.I.L.D.© as a structured approach to creating meaningful, lasting change. It’s designed to surface areas of focus (including blind spots) and then bridge the gap between understanding growth mindset principles and embedding them into everyday behaviours and business strategies. By working through these five stages, individuals, teams, and organisations can develop the resilience, adaptability, and performance needed to thrive in an evolving world.

The B.U.I.L.D.© Framework

• Baseline – Understanding where you are today.

• Upskill – Equipping your people with the right mindset and tools.

• Implement – Turning insights into action.

• Learn – Measuring progress and refining the approach.

• Develop – Embedding growth for long-term success.

BASELINE: Understanding where you are today

We start by assessing your current culture—what’s working, what’s not, and where the opportunities lie. 

This involves deep listening and analysis, including depth interviews, team workshops, confidential employee surveys, and relevant desk research. By identifying challenges, pain points, and aspirations, we create a clear starting point for growth.

UPSKILL: Equipping your people with the right tools

Mindset shifts require skill-building, and its not a given that your teams have the tools they need in order to drive growth. 

We provide targeted training on mental fitness, resilience, and leadership, helping individuals and teams develop the habits that sustain growth. This includes time-based coaching support and PQ Mental Fitness Training, delivered either one-to-one or in team-based cohorts over six weeks. These sessions create the foundation for sustainable change.

IMPLEMENT: Turning insights into action

The best strategies are those that get put into practice. We guide organisations in applying their insights to strategy and day-to-day operations. 

This includes Leadership Team Vision Crystallisation Sessions to define purpose and direction, as well as Action Planning Workshops to create structured roadmaps for execution. These practical steps ensure that mindset shifts translate into meaningful action.

LEARN: Measuring progress and refining the approach

What gets measured gets managed. What we mean by this is that sustainable growth requires regular check-ins and reflection. 

We help teams track progress and measure impact through structured evaluation processes, including interim surveys and quarterly management reviews. This step ensures accountability and allows for agile adjustments based on real-time feedback, reinforcing momentum and focus.

DEVELOP: Embedding growth for long-term success

True transformation isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing process. 

In this final stage, we refine propositions, strategies and support long-term development. This includes one-to-one coaching on key challenges (such as handling conflict, overcoming sales objections, or ensuring ethical compliance), strategic Customer Value Proposition (CVP) workshops, and input into talent recruitment to build a strong, future-ready workforce.

Why B.U.I.L.D.©?

We developed the B.U.I.L.D.© framework because it reflects the work we do—helping individuals, teams and organisations construct a solid foundation for growth. Unlike one-off training sessions, our approach creates a continuous cycle of learning, applying, and refining. Whether you’re leading a team, driving organisational change, or simply looking to enhance your own mindset and performance, B.U.I.L.D.© provides a structured yet flexible path to meaningful growth.

Ready to B.U.I.L.D.© a growth culture in your team or company? 

Lets connect. We'll share our insights, make some recommendations and outline our tailored approach for you to rapidly improve performance, relationships and wellbeing to help your organisation thrive. 

You can email us both – and we’ll get right back to you to set up a time to chat

Lara – lara@lara-meyer.com 

Jeff – jeff.deighton@insight-engineers.com 

Download more information here

Whats next? The next 5 articles will share more detail on each of the 5 steps in the B.U.I.L.D © framework: Baseline, Upskill, Implement, Learn, Develop

Read our previous article "Walking the Growth Mindset Path"

Walking the Growth Mindset path: a new partnership for transformation

As part of a recent webinar I gave for ICG members, I shared a story that, until then, I hadn’t been brave enough to tell. It was about how my husband, and I, moved to Bahrain and how my overly optimistic “just get a job” plan quickly crumbled in the face of reality.

At the time, I was caught between feeling like a failure, and realising that, in fact, this was a turning point for growth.

Rather than panic, I leaned into a growth mindset

This was something I had been practicing for years, ever since I came across the concept when I worked at Microsoft.

At that point, I stopped focusing on my distant end goal and started focusing on daily progress, even if that meant taking small, uncertain steps.

The journey of this self-discovery became transformative, and eventually, it led me to find my new path, in coaching and facilitating personal and company transformation. But the real turning point came when I shared this personal story during the webinar...

As I shared my story and my insights, I could tell it was striking a chord with those attending from the comments, questions and general engagement with what I was sharing.

But the most powerful thing was what happened after the webinar was over...

A fellow ICG member, Jeff Deighton, reached out to me directly. He shared that my story had resonated with him deeply, reminding him of his own journey of transition and growth at various points in his career, and how with the right mindset - achieving amazing things is truly possible, even if you’re away from your homeland and out of your comfort zone.

And what made Jeff’s message stand out was his genuine desire to help me.

He didn’t just say, “Great story!”

He went a step further.

Jeff offered me some observations and thoughts that built on my webinar, identifying some areas where he saw potential for my business to build upon the thinking and foundations I had shared to the audience.

Over the past few weeks, his kind and wise input has been bringing clarity, focus and definitely challenge!

Like any great colleague, Jeff’s style isn't about telling me what to do; it was about helping me think differently, take smarter risks, and create better strategies to achieve for long-term success in easy to manage small steps and positive thinking. The heart of my own talk.

What was once a moment of vulnerability for me, became a door to collaboration and partnership that we both immediately knew we wanted to walk through together.

We see how we can make a real impact on individuals, teams and business in the insights industry from helping leaders enable their organisation to take the right steps to thrive through challenges and industry change

This experience has made LMI even more passionate about the importance of mentorship and collaboration. None of us have to figure it all out alone—and with the right mindset, the right people, and the right approach, organisations can equip their teams to thrive.

So, I’m thrilled to announce this new partnership between LMI and insight engineers.

Jeff and I are walking this path together, bringing our combined experience to leaders and teams who want to bring mindset and action together for tangible results seen in embed a growth mindset for better business performance, staff well-being, and team collaboration.

• My role is to equip you and your teams with the tools to establish (and maintain) a growth mindset, through coaching, workshops and training.

• Jeff ‘s role is to help you track progress and to harness that new mindset to generate ideas that drive real, tangible, business growth

Ready to bring a growth mindset culture to your team? Then let’s connect.

If our story has resonated with you personally, or feels like it could help your organisation lets have a short chat to identify a couple of concrete progressions

We'll share our insights, make some recommendations and outline our tailored approach for you to rapidly improve performance, relationships and wellbeing to help your organisation thrive.

You can email us both – and we’ll get right back to you to set up a time to chat

Lara – lara@lara-meyer.com

Jeff – jeff.deighton@insight-engineers.com