About Us
The Mindset Practice difference
Mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence that transforms performance from Survival to Growth
We help people and teams be their best self more often by getting out of their own way and showing up more consistently from a mindset of Growth than Survival.
Our award-winning psychometrics, 360s, practical tools and programmes build psychological safety, strengthen leadership capability and enable sustained performance across people, teams and organisations.
Why Growth and Survival matter
Everyone has the potential to show up from a mindset of Growth more often than Survival.
When we show up from Growth (I’m OK, You’re OK), we tend to be more curious, adaptable, collaborative and open to learning. We think more clearly, build stronger relationships and create the conditions for psychological safety and sustained performance
When we slip into a mindset of Survival (I’m not OK, You’re not OK or both), we become more defensive. We are more likely to blame, avoid challenge, resist change, over-control, withdraw or protect ourselves and our ideas..
Neither state is permanent. The challenge is that many people spend far more time in Survival than they realise.
Our research shows that only 31% of people operate predominantly from a mindset of Growth.
Most people are driving performance from a mindset of Survival.
Mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence helps people understand and transform the beliefs driving Survival, enabling them to show up from a mindset of Growth more often.
Unlike personality traits, these beliefs are developable and can be strengthened over time.
This is the Mindset Practice difference.
What if organisations are solving the wrong problem?
Every organisation is facing unprecedented challenges.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping work. Complexity is increasing. Expectations of leaders continue to rise. Organisations are investing heavily in leadership, culture, wellbeing and psychological safety.
Yet despite this investment, organisations continue to struggle with change, psychological safety, toxic leadership and unlocking performance.
At Mindset Practice, we believe this is because organisations often focus on what they can see, rather than the beliefs and mindsets driving behaviour beneath the surface.
Most organisations respond by focusing on symptoms.
We focus on transforming the root causes.
What if adapting to AI isn’t a change problem?
Artificial intelligence is transforming the world of work. The World Economic Forum identifies AI, resilience, agility, creative thinking and lifelong learning as critical drivers of future success. Employers increasingly need people who can learn faster, adapt more quickly and thrive in uncertainty.
Most organisations respond by building new skills. But capability is only part of the story. Two people can receive the same training, yet one responds with curiosity and experimentation while the other responds with resistance and caution.
That’s not a capability problem. It’s a mindset problem.
When in a mindset of Survival, uncertainty feels threatening. Learning slows, mistakes are avoided and familiar ways of working are protected. When in a mindset of Growth, curiosity increases, adaptability strengthens and new possibilities emerge.
The future of work is not simply about developing new skills. It is about developing the mindset to embrace change and unlock the full potential of those skills.
This is where mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence makes the difference.
By helping people understand and transform the beliefs driving Survival, we enable them to respond to challenge, change and uncertainty from a mindset of Growth more often.
What if psychological safety isn’t a measurement and action-plan problem?
Research consistently identifies psychological safety as one of the strongest predictors of team effectiveness, learning, innovation and performance. Teams perform best when people feel able to speak up, challenge ideas, admit mistakes and take interpersonal risks.
Most organisations respond by measuring psychological safety. Measurement matters.
But measurement alone does not create psychological safety.
Too often, psychological safety becomes a process. Teams complete a survey, discuss the results, create an action plan and repeat the cycle six months later. The conversation becomes about improving scores rather than addressing the behaviours that created the scores in the first place.
Psychological safety risks becoming sanitised. A tick-box exercise rather than a lived experience
Low psychological safety is often driven by defensive, Survival-based behaviour becoming normalised within teams. Blame replaces learning. People become reluctant to challenge, disagree or speak up.
That's not simply a measurement and action-plan problem. It's a mindset problem.
Measurement can highlight the symptoms. But it does not remove the defensiveness causing them.
Psychological safety emerges when defensiveness reduces.
By helping people understand and transform the beliefs driving defensive behaviour, we help create the conditions where psychological safety can thrive naturally and sustainably.
This is where mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence makes the difference.
Because psychological safety is not simply something to measure. It is something people create through how they think, feel and behave every day.
What if toxic leadership isn’t a capability problem?
Most leaders already know what good leadership looks like.
Yet organisations continue to experience toxic leadership, even when leadership frameworks, values and behavioural expectations are clearly defined.
Research links toxic leadership to lower wellbeing, reduced trust, lower engagement and poorer organisational outcomes.
We believe many toxic leadership behaviours are not capability failures.
They are Survival responses.
The same leader who is purposeful, compassionate and empowering in Growth can become demanding, controlling or withdrawn in Survival.
That’s not simply a leadership problem. It’s a mindset problem.
The issue is often not whether capability exists. The issue is whether mindset allows that capability to show up consistently.
This is where mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence makes the difference.
By helping leaders recognise and transform the beliefs driving defensive behaviour, we help them lead more consistently from Growth, especially when challenge, uncertainty and pressure are at their highest.
What if unlocking performance and potential isn’t a talent problem?
Every organisation wants to unlock the full performance and potential of its people.
Most organisations respond by investing in talent. They identify high-potential individuals, build skills, develop leaders and increase self-awareness. These investments matter.
But talent is only part of the story. People often possess far more talent, experience and potential than they consistently express. The challenge is not always how much talent people have. It is whether they can access their full potential consistently.
When people operate from a mindset of Survival, they are more likely to stay in their comfort zone, play it safe, avoid challenge, resist feedback, protect their ideas and become constrained by defensive habits.
Their talent remains, but their mindset gets in their own way.
When people operate from a mindset of Growth they get of their own way. They are more open to learning, collaboration and challenge. Self Belief and Belief in Others strengthen, creating the conditions for people to step out of their comfort zone and bring more of their strengths, capability and potential to their work.
That’s not simply a talent problem. It’s a mindset problem.
The issue is often not whether people have the talent.
The issue is whether mindset allows them to consistently access and express their full potential.
This is where mindset-led applied Emotional Intelligence makes the difference.
By helping people understand and transform the beliefs driving Survival, we enable them to get out of their own way and spend more time in a mindset of Growth, unlocking more of their potential and enabling stronger performance, greater collaboration and sustained success.
Meet the Team
Lisa Waugh
Business Psychologist | Senior Psychologist
Lisa Waugh is a Business Psychologist and Senior Psychologist at Mindset Practice, passionate about applying psychology to help people, teams and organisations thrive at work.
Lisa brings a practical, evidence-based approach to understanding what drives behaviour and performance in the workplace. Her work focuses on helping people develop greater self-awareness, build more effective habits and create the conditions for people to perform at their best while protecting their wellbeing.
A particular area of Lisa’s expertise is the relationship between mindset, leadership and team climate. She is passionate about translating psychological research into practical tools that people can use in their everyday working lives — from responding more thoughtfully under pressure, to building psychological safety, having better conversations and navigating change with greater confidence and adaptability.
Lisa has shared her work with professional audiences including the British Psychological Society Conference, Association for Business Psychology Conference and NHS Do OD Conference, as well as appearing on the Mindset Practice Podcast to explore workplace psychology and mindset.
She particularly enjoys working at the intersection of organisational psychology, leadership development, wellbeing and behaviour change, and believes that meaningful development happens when psychological insight is translated into small, sustainable changes in how we think, feel and act.
Lisa’s approach reflects the Mindset Practice belief that people are at their best when they are able to move from a mindset of Survival towards Growth — becoming more curious, purposeful, accountable and open to learning.