For many years, countless articles, papers and books have been written about leadership styles and management approaches. There may be hundreds of studies on the subject. But as we keep saying, it is time for change, and the concept of leadership will have its share of it too.
From now on, a whole new "leadership style" will be part of our lives, and we can already hear its footsteps. We will be talking about digital leadership and digital leaders far more often.
Who is a digital leader?
Digital leaders are people who understand digital well and are always open to learning, who put digital into practice, who can translate it as positively as possible into company goals and business results, and who can bring together strategy, culture, communication, technology and data to make all of this happen.
We should also say this: we are not claiming that every leader will or should become a digital leader. That isn't even possible. But in the New Digital Age, the people who manage and drive transformation will certainly be digital leaders. This approach, one that moves forward through persuasion, values constant communication and dialogue, embraces change and shapes business strategy accordingly, is agile, draws on an inclusive and egalitarian culture based on collaboration rather than hierarchy, and is willing to be held accountable as transparently as possible when needed, will be a defining factor for the entire business world in the period ahead.
What skills are needed for effective digital leadership today?
Digital leadership will also play a very important role in companies' success. According to Deloitte, 42% of large companies now believe that investing in digital leaders is very important. So, given that, what do we expect from them?
The answer is simple. We expect digital leaders to be magicians who can juggle many balls at once without dropping any of them.
These balls are:
- Vision + Strategy
- Technology + Data
- People + Communication + Culture
We will expect them to juggle these balls well together and to make sure they all move along the same path toward the goal, without getting tangled and, ideally, supporting and accelerating one another. So how will this happen, and which key competencies do digital leaders need to make it possible?
1. Communication & Dialogue
Is there anyone left who doesn't believe in the power of communication?
Its importance has been obvious for years. But in the New Digital Age, digital leaders are expected to communicate continuously, using digital channels as well and within a defined communication strategy: keeping employees constantly informed about developments, talking with them, being open and clear, answering their questions, in short, building and maintaining a very strong communication network.
To do this, as we said, they need a very good communication strategy and to know who they are addressing. Convincing employees, getting them to focus on a common goal and delivering the right messages for it are impossible without these two things.
On the other hand, with flexible and remote working models entering our lives after the pandemic, it has become much more important for leaders to be more visible and closer to employees and to build stronger relationships with them. During this period in particular, we see leaders frequently sharing all company developments with their employees through video calls. This helps management connect with employees and stay in closer contact with them, even in difficult times.
2. Vision & Strategy
You may know from our previous articles that we don't think of these two concepts separately.
Put most simply, as the saying goes, "No wind is favorable for a ship that doesn't know which port it is sailing to."
The most important competency expected of digital leaders is
being able to answer the questions "Where are we going?" and "How will we get there?", being flexible about these answers when necessary, and getting their employees to believe in them. A leader who cannot do these things is unlikely to lead themselves and their team to successful performance.
3. Digital Literacy
In the Digital Literacy Study conducted by Harvard Business Review and MIT before the pandemic, 1,000 CEOs were surveyed. Of these CEOs:
- 90% said digital developments directly affect their business models and, to a large extent, force them to change as well.
- 70% said they do not have the right skills to adapt to this change.
These figures, reported at CEO level, also show how important digital literacy is from the very top of an organization to the bottom (we discussed this in detail in our article "What Are the Must-Have Digital Skills?" for anyone who would like to go back and read it).
Of course, it should also be underlined that the CEOs in this study are certainly not a generation born into digital. I think it wouldn't be wrong to use the term "digital immigrant" for this profile. We are talking about a generation from an older cohort, experienced but not as familiar with or close to technology as the generations after them, yet, partly thanks to their experience, able to act quickly and proactively and always open to learning in order to develop. They are also very aware that if they don't develop themselves enough in understanding digital, continuous learning and keeping up, they will fall behind. That is why they act with a focus on continuously developing their cognitive, creative and social skills.
4. Innovation and Risk Management
"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks." Mark Zuckerberg
We continue with another pair that we see as closely related.
In the digital age, the landscape changes very quickly. This shows all of us how important it is to be able to find new and creative solutions.
Trying the untried, boldly choosing different paths and solutions than usual, and fearlessly embracing the possibilities offered by new technologies in order to gain a competitive advantage and grow are among the things absolutely expected of digital leaders. Moreover, being innovative alone is not enough; spreading and sustaining an innovative culture within the company is also near the top of the list of what digital leaders need to do.
Of course, this approach also involves taking risks. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the ability to take risks is rapidly becoming a vital component of digital leadership. Sometimes trying the untried or implementing a solution that has never been tested is risky, but it can also lead us to positive results. In short, innovation isn't possible without risk. If you can't take risks, you might as well give up on digital leadership right now.
5. Adaptability and Flexibility
Things may not always go the way we want. We may suddenly face situations we have never experienced before, just as we did during the pandemic.
These two important competencies, which we can define as the ability to adapt easily and as quickly as possible to new and sudden situations, and the ability to switch between different mindsets and thinking styles in order to manage change processes well, achieve results and move forward without losses, are now extremely valuable not only for digital leaders but for everyone. Indeed, it is a fact that during the pandemic in particular, all of us made significant progress on these two competencies, even if we didn't notice it. Competent digital leaders are those who quickly adapt to situations like these and are always ready to make the decisions that will bring the company through with minimal negative impact.
As we come to the end of our article:
Digital is fundamentally changing every aspect of the business world, and especially the way companies operate. We are talking about a huge game changer. At this point, in the first stage, the most important responsibility for companies, and especially for HR organizations, should be to prepare the workforce and the organization as well as possible for the new digital age. In this sense, rather than focusing only on digital leaders, rapidly training the entire organization, particularly in digital competencies, and helping it acquire new skills are among the first things to do to be ready for the age ahead.
See you in the next article,
