A leader's role in digital transformations

Following on from my previous post about the concept of digital transformation, this one will concentrate on the leadership's role in this journey.

While the concept of leadership has been widely debated, I believe the role a leader can and should play in transformational journeys has received insufficient attention.

Transformations have become the status quo in an era where digital has become the norm and the pace of innovation is faster than ever. Clearly, "change is the only constant in life" and this is also true in business.

This puts a strain on employees' ability to perform. And, by extension, the organizational strategy's effectiveness.

This is why leadership buy-in is critical; otherwise, the initiative will likely not reach their full potential. However, while this is a necessary condition, it is insufficient.

It is equally important to set a good example and accept responsibility for communicating the newly transformed agenda.

Assuming the former is true, the competencies of a transformational leader are a mix of pragmatism and idealism.

The most difficult challenge for leaders of any organization is ensuring the success of their digital transformation, good leaders should:

• Have ability to adapt vs. rigidity of plans

• Focus on value creation over value delivery

• Inspire innovation and lead by example

• Re-imagine practices and processes

• Be able to recognize their own and the organization's weakness and strong points

• Accept anything worthwhile doing will have setbacks and learn from it

And, yes, leaders need a strategy if they want their digital transformation to succeed.

More about that topic in my next blog post :)

Stay tuned, and as always share your thoughts.