Cultivate a Winning Culture Around Digital Leadership
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP CULTURE?
Effective leadership culture revolves around removing the barriers of the “top-down” management approach. Today’s Digital Leader is the catalyst; changing the way the organization thinks about service delivery, the customer experience, the employee experience, and supplier relations. The collective leadership culture empowers all staff to contribute to the transformation along the digital journey.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
A winning culture today focuses on Empowerment – not Management. When we empower employees to contribute and lead ideas and change through to fruition, we can ensure a transformative impact on the business as a whole.
A successful leader will transform the culture, develop a transformation roadmap, determine organizational readiness for change, execute the transformation, and continue the journey through optimization. An effective leader isn’t afraid to also be labeled as: innovative, collaborative, experimental, and forward thinking.
THE PRESSURE FOR DIGITAL LEADERSHIP
The desire to appoint a Digital Leader can develop from a demand inside the organization, as in forward thinking leaders and early adopters of new technologies. The pressure could also come from the outside; like changing supplier demands, or a shift in customer expectations.
The source of the spark dictates initial steps of defining Digital Leadership inside your organization.
Understanding the source will help you determine the most effective means to initiate a mindset shift, and will likely give insight into how to avoid pitfalls. If the spark originates internally, it probably means you have a Natural Digital Leader on the inside that is eager to transform the culture, processes, and business strategies. If the spark originates outside, it’s likely due to external pressure from suppliers or customers; the organization will need to designate a Digital Leader to organize the response. Wherever it originates, chances are the demand for strong digital leadership is palpable today.
BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE DIGITAL LEADER
Becoming an effective Digital Leader is not a “set it and forget it” task, it’s a continuous push; always encouraging the team to challenge the
status quo. Successful digital leaders place high value on communication, creativity, and a willingness to challenge processes. They explore new ways of leveraging technology and analytics to better support customers and suppliers, while securing their own environment.
Now that we’ve covered the need for Digital Leadership, how to become one, and how this leader affects change and a culture shift to begin Digital Transformation, it’s time to see if you’re the natural fit for the Digital Leader role.
Although real change starts with the Digital Leader, transformation is successful because of the collective culture shift of many motivated voices inside the business.
There are five steps to becoming an effective digital leader.
- Reframe your perspective
- Define your mindset
- Change your brain monologue
- Reinforce the new mindset
- Amplify behaviours with experiential learning
Taking these five important steps will ensure an effective Digital Leader is at the helm of your digital journey. Find out how to take these important steps in our comprehensive guide: 5 Steps to Becoming an Effective Digital Leader.
DIGITAL LEADER ROLE DEFINED: LEADING A CULTURE SHIFT
As an influential Digital Leader, you will implement internal communication processes that challenge traditional hierarchal collaboration roadblocks. You lead by your actions. You strive to be innovative, creative, collaborative, experimental, and curious, with a passion to network with peers, colleagues, and industry leaders. Digital leaders possess an agile mindset, and are more interested in being viewed as curious as opposed to an expert. The culture shift begins when the leader empowers multiple department heads, champions collaboration, and encourages teams to challenge current processes. When department heads use collaborative tools to discuss and challenge data analytics, they allow curiosity and agility to lead change and ultimately drive the business to transform.
ARE YOU A NATURAL DIGITAL LEADER?
Now that we’ve covered the need for Digital Leadership, how to become one, and how the Digtial Leader affects change and a culture shift to begin Digital Transformation, it’s time to see if you’re the natural fit for the Digital Leader role.
Asking 17 identifying questions, this assessment tool will define your leadership skills, and identify qualities to improve. As your organization’s well-rounded Digital Leader, it is your role to oversee the launch, completion, and optimization of your company’s Digital Transformation.
WHAT’S NEXT: Organizational Readiness
TRANSFORMATION WILL HAPPEN. ARE YOU READY?
You have big ideas. You have rallied your fellow Digital Leaders. You are ready to transform. But is the business? How can you be sure the organization is ready to manage the uncertainty and disruption that comes along with this level of change?
Check out our page all about Organizational Readiness, and find tools and helpful resources to prepare your organization for Digital Transformation.
