As a matter of fact, technology is changing everything no matter what industry your business is in, B2B or B2C, retail stores or e-commerce platforms. Technology isn’t necessarily an isolated specialization any more. However, it should be understood that you don’t have to master technology in order to lead in a digital environment. You need to have the ability to link the use of technology to a value proposition.
An effective digital leader will be aware of the business goals and knows how their job responsibilities support it. So, the success or failure of digital transformations depends on a leader’s ability to transform from a management mindset to a leadership mindset.
“Digital leadership is a combination of leadership style of transformational leadership and the uses of digital technology. Digital leadership is defined as the combination of culture and competence of a leader in optimizing the use of digital technology to create value to the firms. It can be addressed at both organizational and individual levels.
At the individual level, digital leadership may be carried out by the Chief Information Officer (CIO) or other individuals who are responsible for overseeing digital assets, including email and electronic documents. No matter what the individual’s job title is, an effective digital leader is always aware of corporate goals and knows how his or her own job responsibilities support them.”
Organizations that value digital leadership often place value on communication, creativity and a willingness to explore new ways that technology and digital information can be used to successfully address outward-facing business projects, internal projects, projects that affect operations and unplanned work.
It’s also important to also understand exactly what digital transformation means to help understand the role of a digital leader. Essentially this is the use of new, fast and frequently changing digital technology that is here to solve problems. But what exactly are the benefits of this digital leadership?
#1: Define a clear goal and vision: Digital leaders define a clear picture that’s shared and understood across the entire organization. When done right, digital is baked into every part of the business rather than a discrete line item in a plan. Every department and stakeholder of the vision should see the potential ROI of digital and understand how they can contribute to the process.
Digital organizations should often set a long-term vision to transform their company while being clear that their strategy to achieve that vision will continuously evolve based on market conditions and constantly changing customer expectations.
#2: Stay on top of the technological changes: To keep the workforce motivated to accept digital transformation, it is important for digital leaders to stay ahead of their learning curves as well. Digital leaders must have a proper understanding of the technologies the organization is going to use to track the results of their initiatives.
Digital leaders don’t just hope for an agile mindset; they must ensure that it’s built into the fabric of the organization — organizing cross-functional product teams, incentivizing toward results and not completion, and continuously upskilling talent to improve products and experiences.
#3: Help employees speak the same language: Human factors determine the survival of an organization, especially when your company is in the digital transformation process. The lack of expertise and inability to keep up with technology can result in anxiety and fear of being left out in employees. A digital leader should be able to recognize these fears, help employees cope with them, ensure that everyone understands the terms and concepts being used, and avoid using jargon that may confuse non-technical departments or vendors unfamiliar with your acronyms.
Without technical implementers, no digital transformation can take place. Your duty as a leader is to assist technical implementers in effectively articulating what they’re doing and why, as well as to assist nontechnical employees in understanding what’s changing and how they might need to adjust. Even if you can’t do the work yourself, you must grasp enough to express properly what’s going on.
#4: Accept the tension and know the balance between guidance and direction: Many employees will get lost when Digital transformation happens in their company. An effective leader should know how to cheer and motivate them, they should let their employees speak up their thoughts and take part in the company operations, they also need to avoid being too rigid and become more adaptable and flexible in the meantime.
An effective digital leader is one that encourages employees to innovate and evolve during changing times. It is crucial for the leader to create an environment where the people of the organization embrace this change and develop an understanding of how it affects the business structure.
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