Thomas Lim is a public service coach with Thrive Consulting and the dean of Thrive Academy.
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Many companies today have embraced digital as part of their work and digitalization, and it is a priority on management’s agenda. Yet, with the rapid advancement in technology, the level of innovation is at a frenzied rate and growing exponentially. Technology development in the Internet of Things that enables everyday objects to be connected, sensor technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning have added to the confluence of technologies. Together with blockchain, high-speed mobile, virtual worlds and augmented reality, these have the potential to create unprecedented digital maelstroms. Many organizations are beginning to realize this new level of social and technological "wicked-mess" issues requires new leadership paradigms to navigate the choppy waters caused by the storm of technological disruption.
Here are four suggestions for how organizations can navigate this changing landscape:
1. Draw up a vision of digital leadership.
Foremost in establishing digital leadership is to define what it means and why it is important at this time of the organization’s growth. Encouraging all levels within the organization to have their voice, starting with the senior leadership team, is essential. This allows the underlying assumptions and definitions to emerge so that there can be collective agreement and consensus as to what digital leadership entails and the desired future picture that all ranks can rally behind. The vision needs to highlight benefits for all parties—from customers to staff, shareholders and partners. The digital leadership plan needs to communicate the importance of responding to a disruptive technological era and navigating market conditions in a volatile and chaotic environment. A mindset shift is the goal, one that is centered around continuous and rapid knowledge updates and keeping skills from becoming obsolete in service of the vision.
2. Devise a strategy for digital transformation.
Having a digital leadership vision is the first step. Next, the management team needs to translate the vision into strategies for their specific context and answer the question "How do we get there?" In devising the strategies, it is important to map digital leadership within the frame of the broader organization transformation agenda. Digital leadership must transform the way staff work and there is a strong component of change management needed. Without clarity on how the digital transformation can create new opportunities for deeper engagement with customers and stakeholders, digital leadership will ring hollow as another fad. Digital leadership is about translating the desired digital transformation outcomes into workstreams and managing the change process.
3. Democratize digital leadership.
For transformation to succeed, all levels of leadership need to step up and pull their weight. The collective digital leadership demands that there is a systemic equipping of leaders to be competent in digital skills at the appropriate level. The management team needs to discern which roles require digital engineering and science skills, what percentage of the workforce needs basic, intermediate and advanced data management capabilities and how this affects the staff’s day-to-day work. Workplace coaching is a powerful intervention to activate the deep learning cycle in employees as it can fuel motivation from a place of self-determination. Employing coaching from a sense of purpose and autonomy can elevate confidence in navigating the changes arising from the creation of new systemic structures. This can help enhance policies, processes and systems to support the digital vision manifest in delivering quicker and more accurate support internally and, ultimately, better products and services for customers. The organization development team should consider putting in place a competency framework to develop the full range of digital leadership and coaching capabilities across the different levels and functions across the organization.
4. Develop best practices to enhance digital leadership.
Effective digital leadership goes beyond the acquisition of technical digital skills. Having a culture of resilience and customer centricity, coupled with a growth and learner mindset, are key to continued innovation and success. In my experience, leaders who can engage their teams to maximize adoption by using different levels of perspective are more effective. Having practices that promote alignment of purpose, empowering staff with autonomy and promoting mastery can create a virtuous cycle to inspire better collective action with superior results. Digital leadership assimilates industry best practices and adapts them for their own unique situations. Becoming an active contributor and learning from various communities positions organizations to be on the cutting edge of their digital leadership journey.
Thriving organizations are anchored by their purpose, vision and value. Having a systemic approach to digital leadership can position organizations to steer through the disruptive waves of technology toward greater heights. By fostering new mental models to work in the accelerating digital era, digital leaders help increase productivity, which, in turn, can lead to greater customer satisfaction, giving a boost to loyalty and retention. Staff likewise gets inspired and experience an uplift in morale and motivation, propelling the organization toward its future desired reality in fulfilling its vision.
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