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December 5, 2025 15 mins

Are you stuck believing that people, or even you, can never change?

In this solo episode of the Happier at Work podcast, Aoife O'Brien dives deep into the powerful concepts of fixed and growth mindsets, drawing on her own experiences and insights from Carol Dweck’s influential book, Mindset. Aoife shares candid reflections on how her default fixed mindset affected her professional choices, how she projected those beliefs onto others, and the pivotal shift that came with adopting a growth mindset. Her journey explores why leaders need to understand how their beliefs shape individual, team, and organisational success.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  1. The difference between fixed and growth mindsets, and their real-life impact on career decisions and leadership.
  2. How projecting a fixed mindset onto yourself or your team can limit growth, performance, and innovation.
  3. The role of psychological safety in enabling learning, healthy challenge, and speaking up without fear.
  4. Why leaders don’t need to have all the answers, and the value of adopting a coaching approach to empower others.

Related Topics Covered:

Psychological Safety, Thriving Talent Framework, Leadership

Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®:

  1. Website
  2. LinkedIn
  3. YouTube

Related Episodes You’ll Love:

122: Cultivating a Mindset for Success with Brennan Jacoby

249: Embracing Failure & A Growth Mindset with Kelly MacDonald

About Happier at Work®

Happier at Work® is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive.

If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work®.



Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

Mentioned in this episode:

Thriving Talent book

Book

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