Digital transformation is the integration of new digital trends into a business, impacting how it operates and adds value to clients. This transformation also foresees a cultural change within the organization, making it to challenge their status quo while trying out new ideas and coping with failure.
The digital revolution has brought a new era of human engagement and empowerment across all business models in their operations. Never before has there been a more powerful impact on human behavior than the combined effects of digital transformations. This shift has had tremendous impacts on the changing leadership roles and responsibilities, regardless of the industry one is affiliated to.
This transformation has brought forth various changes in leadership development, including ways of thinking, looking at innovation with a fresh perspective, and getting the best out of technology can offer in the business.
Leadership Styles And Digital Transformation’s New Technologies
Technology’s presence challenges all leaders. Technology is here to stay, and you, as a leader, need to continually learn new leadership styles, how to manage it and make it work for you and your career development. The challenges of new technologies come from many directions.
While there is absolutely no one-size-fits-all model for digital transformation in businesses, there are five key principles in leadership styles that underlay all successful transformations.
1. Establish the “Why” and the “What” for the Transformation.
The “Why” creates the motivation to change – a vital piece of the process. The “What” defines exactly what is changing and creates a vision for what the organization will become after adapting to the new reality.
“What” is changing must be specific and should be crafted with the same deliberateness as the “Why.”
The two fit together and feed one another. For example, “We are changing to become more competitive because we are losing market share to companies that have focused on reducing operating costs.
2. Over-communicate the “Why” and the “What.”
All too often, leaders tell the staff once in a mass email or memo posted on the organization’s internal website and move on to execute the “change.” Remember, your organization’s culture is firmly anchored in how you operate today. Without convincing the staff (the group that is actually being personally impacted by the change) of the necessity and inevitability of change, there will not be a successful transformation.
3. Your Personal Commitment to Digital Transformation.
Transforming your organization is your full-time job. Everything you do must be in the context of that transformation, and you must know that every action you take and every statement you make will either reinforce the transformation or undermine it. A key result of your personal commitment and your personal involvement in the day to day transformation process will be your ability to remove obstacles.
The largest hindrances to the growth of a business are the lack of proper communication and public relation skills. Jumping on the latest trends is a sure way to ensure that both your staff and clients are committed to the transformation you’re initiating. For instance, one of the newest technologies used by successful brands is podcasts.
With over a million active podcasts and about 30 million episodes online, you should incorporate hosting a podcast as a way to communicate not only with your clients but also share useful information with colleagues. Do not forget other digital best-practices, such as having an active social media presence and building high-quality blogs and websites.
4. Courage.
Being a Change Agent is hard, and at times, personal. Those that set out to resist this transformation, or perhaps resist all transformations, will either passively or actively undermine the change.
5. Set the Hook.
Remember how hard it is to drive change? Managing to maintain the status quo is easy, but leading the transformation of an organization is difficult. This is because your organizational culture is anchored in how you do “it” today.
As a Change Agent, you must anchor the transformed aspects of your organization in the culture for it to be a lasting change. You have to Set the Hook.
How To Develop Leadership Skills
As with any other part of modern life, it is important to move on and develop our skills, improving our knowledge and abilities. Ideas and methods that were appropriate years ago may now be outdated and inapplicable to the present environment. This applies to the development of leadership skills, too.
One of the areas that have changed during recent years is the attitude adopted towards a leadership skill. Whereas once upon a time, the attitude was, “do your best,” it is now “try your best.” Employers have now realized that they have to develop the staff before them and not aim for perfect staff intake. This is a leadership skill of itself, not expecting to find perfection where perfection just isn’t possible.
Any leader responsible for failing in this mission will need some leadership skill top-up training.
Digital Transformation’s Impact On Leadership
Reinventing your company in the digital world will help your organization achieve higher customer service levels and enhanced customer experience, which can be attributed to good leadership. Good, effective leadership means stronger innovation, with new products and services launched with increased speed to market. This also includes understanding and working on ways that result in a reduced risk of failure through the correct design of the transformation, and delivery assurance of the programmed objectives and the business case.
The bottom line
With new technological trends constantly emerging, there will be a significant shift in the paradigm in business development. Company executives and leaders in organizations must brace for the continuous exploration of digital trends and reassess their talent strategies. The entire process won’t end at both the attraction and retention stages, as decision-making will be highly dependent on how flexible they’ll be in embracing the new era.
It is important to acknowledge the need for leadership training while aligning the teachings to current digital technologies. Having in mind trends such as starting a podcast will greatly benefit the organizations in their digital transformation journey.
Looking into the near future, every organization will have to transform their mode of business operations to incorporate the new technologies if they are to flourish. Those with digital-ready leaders will continue to have the upper hand against their competition and stay ahead of the curve.
Today’s successful businesses have leaders backed with a formidable MBA degree that sharpens their leadership skills and styles. With the help of MBA consulting, you too could be one of the leaders with cutting-edge ideas.
Summary:
Digital Transformation and How It Affects Leadership
The digital revolution has brought a new era of human engagement and empowerment across all business models in their operations. Never before has there been a more powerful impact on human behavior than the combined effects of digital transformations. This shift has had tremendous impacts on the changing leadership roles and responsibilities, regardless of the industry one is affiliated to. While there is absolutely no one-size-fits-all model for digital transformation in businesses, there are five key principles in leadership styles that underlay all successful transformations. Establish the “Why” and the “What” for the Transformation. Over-communicate the “Why” and the “What.” Your Personal Commitment to Digital Transformation. Courage. Set the Hook. With new technological trends constantly emerging, there will be a significant shift in the paradigm in business development. Company executives and leaders in organizations must brace for the continuous exploration of digital trends and reassess their talent strategies.
