Leadership in a Digital World

The role of leadership in the digital age is more important now more than ever.  As moral and ethical boundaries are more subject to being crossed (Dubey, 2019), good and ethical leadership becomes essential and not just an abstract idea. Defining the role of leadership, as we acknowledge Klaus Schwab’s fourth industrial revolution, which in my opinion, is yet another black elephant, becomes more imperative as managers might be needed less. Still, leaders would be called upon to empower others to lead and create self-organized teams (Dubey, 2019).  Leaders would need to create an organizational environment of adaptability (Burke, 2018). Leaders would have to ensure that the vision forward includes ways by which transitions, chaos, and ambiguity can be handled efficiently by self-organized teams. Leaders would have to operate in a flat world (Cortellazzo et al., 2019; Friedman, 2007), as there would no longer be a need for a tall structure hierarchy. The top-down approach might even be seen as unsustainable (Dubey, 2019).  The focus should be on shared and distributed leadership. Regardless of our personal views on whether the world is flat or spiky these days, leadership would have to facilitate an environment in the digital world where there is participation, involvement, and contribution from everyone, as noted by Dubey (2019).

As can be gleaned from the discussions and reading assignments in the technology and leadership course, the role of a leader in a digital age would be as follows:

1. Build participation (Dubey, 2019; Kelly, 2016)
2. Foster Adaptability (Burke, 2018; Dubey, 2019) – They must manage disruptive change due to the fast pace of technological evolution.
3. Empower teams to be autonomous, work with freedom, and make decisions (Burke, 2018; Dubey, 2019)
4. See the big picture as they gather insight and knowledge towards organizational goals (Dubey, 2019)
5. Direct, clarify, and give purpose – great leaders can decipher complexity and break large tasks down to simpler, more manageable tasks (Burke, 2018; Dubey, 2019)
6. Energize, inspire, build bridges – Since boundaries, barriers, and distance between organizations, people, societies, and places have greatly reduced, leaders are called to ensure there is an understanding of diversity, inclusion, open-mindedness, and flexibility to navigate the disruptions of technological advancements (Dubey, 2019; Kelly, 2016).
7. Maintain accountability (Dubey, 2019) – To ensure that everyone is not just working in silos and glossing over problems, and to also ensure responsibility is a value upheld. As digital transformations become even more widespread, the leadership role will be to weed out any potentially unethical behaviors, as noted by Cortellazzo et al. (2019).
8. Setting clear guidelines and practices that have data security policies at the forefront. Setting clear expectations for employees and modeling ethical behavior, especially because organizations that rely on virtual communications tend to see and hear more aggressive and unethical behavior than during a face-to-face interaction, as noted by Cortellazzo et al. (2019).

From the leadership course this term, I take away 4 lessons:

1. When it comes to the pace of technology, catch up and be in the know or stay out of the way because it is a moving train with no stops along the way. Hindrance is unnecessary, and resistance is futile;
2. Not all technology is useful, but when the right technological advancement comes along, it is life-changing. This can be seen in both the education and health care fields.
3. No one is too old to learn a new digital tool.  Week 2 of the course was an eye-opening exploration of several digital tools I thought I would never enjoy, but did, and;
4. Words are powerful. We have seen how a few words on Twitter or a blog can set off a thread of ideas, discussions, agreements, and oppositions.  In my blog post about cyberbullying, we can see how a few words led to a young girl taking her own life. Poumpouras (2015) mentioned that because we live in a world where we can email what we want, text what we want, say what we want online, we must be discerning about our words and their power.  Words are a powerful tool, and as leaders, we must use them wisely — to lift up and never to put down another person. To see other people’s perspectives, as well as to let our voices be heard.

Since I am only at the beginning of my quest towards leadership, it would be easy to incorporate lessons learned through the course to lead more efficiently in a digital world.  As Kelly (2016) pointed out, technological advancements upset the old order and form an intelligent, interconnected cortex around the globe.  In that case, several important leadership skills will be needed to carry out the role of a digital leader, such as Mastering communication and owning our behaviors as leaders.  To achieve their goals in a digital age, leaders should be able to communicate through digital media. They must be able to e-communicate and convey the right message to the target audience.

            We can learn something from Louis Evans, who tells us about her experience of trying to connect with the 20-year daughter of her partner.  Louis took her to what she began to slowly realize was a “baby boomer” concert.  While Louis was having the time of her life, she took a moment to look over to the 20-year, and behold, the 20-year was looking down at her iPhone and occupied with whatever she was doing.  Before overreacting and saying something like, “put that away…,” Louis used what she called the 5-chair technique.  According to Louis, the 1^st chair is where we attack because we are in judgment mode….we blame, criticize, complain, and think we are always right.  She describes the 2^nd chair as our self-doubting space, our fear of being rejected or failing.  The 3^rd chair is where we wait and ask ourselves, “What am I thinking?”  We observe ourselves and others.  The 4^th chair is self-awareness, being assertive without being aggressive.  It is where we know where we are.  The 5^th chair, according to Louis, is where we decide to feel compassion, empathy, understand, and do some active listening.

We mentally move through these chairs when we decide how to act or react in our personal lives or as leaders.  Some of us get stuck sitting on the first chair where we blame, complain, or attack.  When new technologies arise in our field, how do we react?  As leaders, we must decide whether it is more important to be stuck in our ways or to be adaptable and have dynamic relationships and interactions.  When there is a change in the nature of our work due to the pandemic, do we complain? Do we doubt our abilities?  Are we observers?  Are we learners?

Just as Louis was mentally navigating her “5 chairs,” the 20-year turned to her and handed the phone to Louis and said, “look, I told everyone on my social media feed about the concert and how cool it was….I looked up the group and was surprised by how long they have been playing together…40 years…wow, isn’t that cool?  The 20-year was not disconnected and uninterested; she was multitasking in her digital reality and expanding her experience of being at the concert with Louis.

Communicating in a digital era is not just about the physical and tangible. It is an expanded experience outside our known boundaries.  Since we will quickly make decisions in the digital age, we must know what “chair” we are sitting on when we begin to lead and how to shift.  We, as leaders, must know how to accommodate that expanded reality and think before we react, speak, interact, Tweet, or post.

Whether we are talking about Kelly’s (2016) vision of the future, or any of our own thoughts throughout the course, at the end of the day, everything can be taken from us, but we always have the option to choose our attitudes, our words, and our leadership style.

References

Burke, W. (2018). Organizational change: Theory and practice. (5^th ed.). Sage.

Cortellazzo, L., Bruni, E., & Zampieri, R. (2019). The role of leadership in a digitalized world: A review. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1938. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01938

Dubey, A. (2019, April 24). This is what great leadership looks like in the digital age. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/leadership-digital-age-leader/

Evans, L. (2017, January 11). Own your behaviours, master your communication, and determine your success. TEDxGenova. https://youtu.be/4BZuWrdC-9Q

Kelly, K. (2016). The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 technological forces that will shape our future, Viking Press.

Holdeman, E. (2020). Black Elephant Disasters. GovTech. https://www.govtech.com/em/emergency-blogs/disaster-zone/black-elephant-disasters.html

Poumpouras, E. (2015, June 3). Words: Your most powerful weapon.  TEDxStLouisWomen. https://youtu.be/03FsTbkcxuI