Companies are undergoing transformation processes at a rapid pace to become digital, agile and efficient. As a result, working conditions are changing and with them the demands on leadership, who are expected to have a digital mindset.
Expertise, reliability and diligence, along with the ability to work in a team, are among the attributes that still define the work environment today. However, the range of skills in a VUCA world has expanded and continues to do so. It takes leaders who have the courage to try out new ways and continuously learn as a team. In this context, the digital mindset plays a crucial role. But what does that mean?
Characteristics of the Digital Mindset
Overview
- Growth Mindset
- Reflection and empathy
- Agility and risk-taking
- Understanding of technology
- Constant change
- Natural curiosity
- Non-linear thinking
Growth Mindset
A person with a Growth Mindset is not satisfied with the given. S/he wants to learn new things and grow beyond him/herself. S/he doesn’t shy away from hurdles or complications and approaches challenges with confidence. Leaders who want to introduce a Growth Mindset in the company must have embraced it for themselves and apply it unconditionally.
This mindset, programmed for growth and further development, will become increasingly important in the future as the corporate world undergoes disruptive change and becomes ever more agile. There will be constant innovations and changes to which it will be necessary to respond.
Reflection and empathy
Digital natives growing up with digital know-how are changing the balance of power in the corporate world. For the first time, entry-level employees are more experienced than their peers or even superiors in some areas. A leader is no longer a leader just because they hold the position, as newcomers have acquired the skills the job market demands along the way.
Today, if leaders aspire to be authentic in their leadership roles, they must prove themselves anew and shine through their expertise. They need to stand out and show digital natives that digital know-how is in demand and needed, but it is not everything. This requires reflection on their own skills and empathy, as well as communication with the other side. Hierarchies will become increasingly flat and communication and teamwork will take their place.
Agility and risk-taking
Agility in this context means not being afraid of change. In order to improve, become more efficient and change, the right moment (preferably before an abrupt change becomes necessary) can be the all-important step. Agility and risk-taking are important factors in a business world that is ever changing. The flexibility to get involved and make rational, well thought-out but timely decisions without panicking are skills that are becoming increasingly indispensable.
Understanding of technology
In a digital world, dealing with and understanding technology is crucial. Technologies, applications and the architecture require a general technical know-how. However, it is not about a technical deep dive, but about openness to digitization and a general understanding of how everything is connected and works.
Constant change
VUCA is a combination of the terms Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity and describes the constant change within the business world. Employees and leaders must embrace the ever-changing environment. New structures and ideas can disrupt the market at any time without prior notice. In order to operate successfully as a company, leadership can no longer focus on just one fixed path as it did in the past. At least not from the start and not permanently. Flexibility and openness to change are just as important as the courage to not always have absolute certainty and to think and act in a complex, multidimensional way.
Natural curiosity
Those who think further can achieve more. Those who are satisfied with what they have will not strive for more. But as long as others strive, what you already have will eventually become obsolete. The constant search for innovation and further development goes hand in hand with the growth mindset. An innovative world needs curious people and developers. Innovative minds that question the given and create something new by asking questions and exploring further. Also interdisciplinary and beyond their own field of expertise.
Non-linear thinking
The agile world of business requires increasingly creative minds and forward thinkers who can see interrelationships across disciplines and comprehensively, rather than just following a common thread and jumping from premise to conclusion.
With the convergence of cultures, languages and industries, the corporate world urgently needs change-makers who can think their way through all areas and hold them together with creative solutions.
Summary
In summary, leadership requirements are changing in the same way as the requirements for companies have been changing in recent years and continue to do so. Success will come to those who can confidently embrace new ideas, who seek dialog and strive for new paths in a cross-creative manner. Those who do not see the given as granted, but only as one of many possible ways and are not afraid to admit uncertainty and to look for different ways.
So it’s really not (just) about technological and digital understanding, but about a completely new way of dealing with situations and conditions. The digital mindset is a mental attitude that anyone can adopt if there’s a commitment to it.
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