When Skills Fall Short, Mindset Leads the Way
By Susana von der Heide Founder & Thinking Partner at VON DER HEIDE
Have you ever noticed how we often fear the very things we create? One of the clearest examples is the anxiety around being replaced by “the robot.” But fear like this has a powerful antidote: mindset – the ability to respond rather than freeze, to adapt rather than resist.
We’re living in a time that could be called both ultra-technological and ultra-human. A world, as Alejandro Melamed describes, that moves at exponential speed, disrupting everything familiar and demanding that we think and act differently.
In this new era, traditional competency models no longer hold the weight they once did. For years, they were central to how organizations assessed, promoted, and planned careers. But today, in a volatile and complex world, technical knowledge becomes outdated almost overnight. The old frameworks are no longer enough.
So the real questions are:
- How do we transform to meet challenges we’ve never seen before?
- Can we embrace digital fluency as second nature?
The answer isn’t more skills. It’s mindset.
What Is Mindset, really?
Mindset goes beyond thinking; it’s the intersection of logic, emotion, and intention. It reflects our beliefs and fuels our will to act.
When we’re uncertain or afraid, it’s our mindset that helps us move forward. It’s what enables us to unlearn what’s no longer useful and remain open to the unfamiliar. In that way, mindset becomes a form of personal leadership:
- It unlocks curiosity.
- It encourages courage.
- It frees us from being anchored to past knowledge.
This is how we navigate industries facing digital disruption. The competency model is aging, and clinging to it risks leaving skill gaps across organizations. If we want to evolve at the speed business demands, we need to rethink how we lead.
Human Energy Is Still Our Superpower
No matter how sophisticated our tools become, human energy remains our most powerful and sustainable asset. It’s what fuels innovation and resilience.
So what does it take to build the right mindset for this moment?
- Resilience to respond quickly and stay agile
- Presence to remain centered in the chaos
- Empathy to lead and inspire others
- Purpose to stay grounded in what matters
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck gave us the language to understand this through her concept of the growth mindset. Unlike a fixed mindset, anchored in past success and afraid of change, a growth mindset thrives on curiosity, experimentation, and adaptability. It embraces failure as a path to learning.
This is the foundation for modern leadership.
Leading in the Exponential Age
At a recent program at Singularity University, I saw how seemingly simple tools – visual thinking, mindfulness, storytelling, improvisation- can help decode complex realities in fast-changing environments.
Even more powerful was the reminder that growth isn’t just about connecting the dots, it’s about knowing which dots not to connect. The limiting beliefs we cling to often block the progress of teams and individuals.
Professor Lisa Kay Solomon introduced a model for Exponential Leadership grounded in four interconnected roles:
- Futurist – to imagine new possibilities
- Innovator – to design disruptive solutions
- Humanitarian – to act with ethics and purpose
- Technologist – to build tools for impact
An exponential leader understands that AI, VR, Big Data, and analytics don’t diminish the human factor, they elevate it. Digitalization isn’t the goal. It’s a means to fulfill the company’s purpose more effectively.
As companies pursue simplicity through digital tools, stakeholders demand more efficiency, and employees seek meaning in their work. The exponential leader cultivates growth mindsets across teams, aligning organizational evolution with personal development.
To borrow from Darwin:
“It’s not the strongest or the smartest who survive, but those most adaptable to change.”
So what does the world expect from us now?
Everything technology can’t yet offer.
More mindset. Less muscle memory.
