The 5 Mindset Shifts Every Registered Manager Needs to make, to Lead Quality Improvement.

In this newsletter episode I want to talk about something I see overlooked time and time again, especially when as Registered Managers we’re under pressure to improve a service quickly.

And that’s mindset.

Now, I know, mindset gets thrown around a lot. It can sound vague or fluffy. But I want to make the case for why it’s actually the first and most important step in any care home improvement journey.

 The Mistake We All Make

Here’s what I’ve seen again and again and I’ll be really honest, I’ve been guilty of it myself more times than I can count:

When things aren’t going well, maybe your service has had a poor inspection, there’s tension in the team, agency costs are spiralling, or complaints are creeping in,  we do what most good, responsible leaders d0 ….We get to work.

We throw ourselves into action. Fix the rota. Rewrite the care plans. Book in supervisions to complete ourselves. Create new audit schedules and so on and none of that is wrong, those are important, practical tasks.

But here’s the thing I had to learn the hard way and it’s something I now see with so many managers I support:

If we jump straight into doing, without addressing how we’re being, those fixes don’t last.
They don’t stick and we end up back in the same cycle, just more tired and more frustrated.

Because the truth is, the quality of your service is directly influenced by the quality of your thinking.

You can’t lead change from a place of survival.
You can’t create a calm, focused team culture when your own internal state is chaotic.
You can’t build sustainable improvement if the story you’re telling yourself underneath it all is:

• “I’m not good enough.”

• “Everyone’s looking at me to have all the answers.”

• “No one’s really supporting me.”

• “It’s all on me, and I’m sinking.”

I’ve been that manager, to do list ready, smile on, while inside it felt like I was one phone call or one new ‘issue’ away from breaking point.

Before we look at systems, audits, or CQC Single assessment framework ‘we statements’ and evidence gathering, we need to look at you as a Registered Manager and Leader and whether you’re building from a place of confidence or self-doubt.

When you get that part right, the rest of the process becomes 10 times more effective, because it’s no longer just task-driven. It’s values-driven, purpose-led, and grounded in belief.

That’s why, in the Qualitizer Process™, the very first of the 9 Fundamentals of Quality Improvement is ‘the keys to Success’ which is based on Mindset.

Before we even get to audits, HR, or compliance, we start there.

 Why Mindset Matters

Your mindset sets the tone for your entire service.

Not just your performance, but the mood in the room, the way your team responds under pressure and ultimately, the standard of care your residents and service users receive.

If you show up frazzled, firefighting, and overwhelmed, even if you say all the right things, your team feels that. They absorb that energy, and it influences how they work, how they relate to each other and how they treat the people in your care.

If you show up focused, clear, and calm, even if things aren’t perfect, your team feels that too. They’re more likely to follow your lead, stay grounded, and look for solutions instead of panic.

There’s research to back this up. In their work on emotional intelligence and leadership, Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis found that a leader’s emotional state is contagious — something they refer to as "emotional resonance." Their research showed that leaders who are self-aware and intentional create more stable, higher-performing teams.

It’s not about pretending things are fine when they’re not. It’s about leading from a place of clarity and intention, not from panic and reactivity.

You stop asking: “What fire am I putting out today?”
And start asking: “What kind of culture and care service am I creating?”

 That shift in perspective can be a game-changer. It moves you from survival mode to leadership mode. From managing chaos to building consistency.

 I know that when you’re exhausted and overwhelmed, mindset might feel like a luxury, but it’s not. It’s your foundation. It’s how we move from reacting to everything around us… to creating something that lasts.

 That’s why today I want to share 5 simple tools to help you make that shift, from reactive to reflective, from overwhelmed to intentional.

The 5 Tools for a Stronger Manager Mindset

🧠 Tool 1: Ask Better Questions

One of the most common mindset traps I see in experienced managers is the phrase: “I already know this.”

The moment we say that even silently to ourselves we shut the door on learning because our brain stops looking for insight and starts defending what we already believe.

So, I want to invite you to make a tiny but powerful shift.

Next time you catch yourself saying, “I’ve heard this before,” try replacing it with:
“What can I learn from this,  this time?” because every situation, every meeting we attend, every every situation we manage and every training we complete offers one of two things:

• A refinement of something you already know

• Or a reminder of something you’re not fully doing yet

This one mindset shift opens the door to insight and growth —both needed in leadership. Your team doesn’t need a perfect manager. They need a learning one.

🗣️ Tool 2: Check Your Inner Script

Let me ask you something: What do you say to yourself before work each day?

If you’re anything like I used to be, it’s often a mix of:

• “I’ve got too much to do.”

• “This is going to be a nightmare.”

• “Why can’t people just do their jobs?”

We become so used to that running commentary that we don’t even notice it, but it sets the emotional tone before we’ve even stepped through the door.

So here’s the test:
What Would you say to a friend who shared that they use those same words?

That negative emotional self-feedback before we even start the day won’t help so it’s time to change the script.

Here’s some I share with managers in my Qualitizer Process™ Mentorship:
 “I can lead this, even if it’s messy. I’m learning every day.”

 “I don’t need to have all the answers, I just need to lead the next conversation well.”
Helps release pressure and invites relational leadership over control.

 “This doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be done with care and clarity.”
Great for reducing paralysis around documentation, meetings, or audits.

 “Every service has messy seasons. What matters is that we’re moving forward.”
Normalises struggle while reinforcing forward momentum.

 “I’m allowed to ask for support. Leadership doesn’t mean doing it alone.”
Counters isolation and builds permission for collaboration.

Say it out loud. Write it on a post-it. Make it part of your morning mindset reset. It matters more than you think.

 Tool 3: Use My 5R Self-Care Framework

Your mindset is deeply linked to how resourced you feel. And if you’re constantly running on empty, no amount of positive thinking will help, because burnout overrides self-belief.

That’s why I created my 5R Self-Care Framework. It’s not about bubble baths or weekend breaks (although those help too). It’s about weaving daily restoration into your life, even in tiny doses.

Although the 5R framework comes with 26 tips and tools to support you as Registered Manager (and you can get these tips if you listen to my podcast Managing Care Quality )try the simple mini 5R reset

Here it is:

• Rest – Step away, slow down, even for 2 minutes.

• Refuel – Eat. Drink. Breathe. You can't lead on adrenaline alone.

• Reflect – Ask: What’s working? What’s draining me?

• Reconnect – Talk to someone who gets it. Stop carrying it alone.

• Reset – Change your state. Stand up. Go outside. Start again.

Even 5 minutes in your day using the Mini 5R Reset can dramatically shift your mindset.

Managers who embed this consistently report less overwhelm, clearer thinking, and stronger decision-making. So give it a try.

🎯 Tool 4: Vision Board Your Service

This isn’t about gluing magazine cut-outs. It’s about reconnecting with why you’re here.

We spend so much time reacting to problems, we forget to lead toward a vision. So I ask the Registered Manager I work with to answer this:

“What do I want my service to feel like, for my team, for our residents, and for me?”

Write it down. Say it out loud. Build from there.

A vision gives you direction. It helps you make decisions with intention, not impulse.
When you hold that picture in your mind,  what “good” looks and feels like, you start leading from possibility instead of pressure.

That’s a mindset game-changer.

⚠️ Tool 5: Catch the ‘All or Nothing’ Trap

Perfectionism is a thief.

It doesn’t always show up as high standards or colour-coded files. Sometimes it wears the mask of procrastination, overwhelm, or burnout.

It’s that voice in your head that says:

• “If you can’t fix it all, don’t bother starting.”

• “If it’s not perfect, it’s not worth doing.”

• “You’re failing unless everything’s done.”

Sound familiar? I’ve seen this mindset derail some of the most passionate, capable Registered Managers, not because they didn’t care, but because they cared too much, and perfectionism twisted that care into pressure.

Here’s the truth: Quality improvement is not a destination. It’s an Act.

There is no “all done” moment in care leadership. There will always be another audit, another issue, another challenge. That’s not a failure, that’s the nature of working in a live, complex, human system such as care.

The problem with ‘all or nothing’ thinking is it keeps us stuck in paralysis.

We wait for the perfect moment to start or we try to solve every problem at once or we push ourselves to burnout trying to make it all look good on paper.

And when we can’t do it all, we feel like we’ve failed. So we freeze.

That’s why I ask the Registered Managers I work with to replace perfectionism with progress-focused thinking.

Instead of asking, “How do I fix everything?”
Ask:
             “What’s the one next right thing I can do today for this situation?”

Just one thing, one email, one staff conversation, one care plan review, one team huddle.

Done well and with intention and done from a place of calm, not chaos, because here’s what happens when you lead like this:

• Your team starts following your energy, not your overwhelm.

• The culture shifts from blame to action.

• You build momentum you can actually sustain.

Before you know it, you have moved forward from firefighting into confident focused leadership.

Not through heroic effort, but through consistent, grounded, purpose-led action.

So if perfectionism has been running the show, it’s time to thank it for its concern, and then ask it to step aside, because improvement doesn’t need perfection. It needs direction.

So if you’re in the middle of leading a care service turnaround and if you’re feeling the pressure from every direction, from inspectors, commissioners, family meetings, rotas, risk logs, and the never-ending to do list, Let me suggest you Start here.

Not with an audit, or implementing a new policy or SOP, not with a 47-point action plan that overwhelms you before you even begin.

Start with your mindset.

Because how you lead matters just as much as what you do.

When you shift from survival mode to intentional leadership…
When you stop trying to do it all and start asking better questions…
When you remember that you are allowed to pause, to reflect, and to reset…

That’s where meaningful, lasting change begins.

It’s why mindset is part of Step 1 in the Qualitizer Process™, and why it forms the very first of our 9 Fundamentals of quality improvement

Because no amount of paperwork will carry your service forward if you as the person leading it is running on empty.

But with the right mindset supported, resourced, and clear you become the calm in the storm, and the culture begins to change around you