When working in a digital environment …
This phrase causes me to pause to consider what is a digital environment and how does this look.
I am a ‘young’ leader in my organization. I have held other leadership positions in some capacity at other times in my life but now, labeled ‘a leader,’ the magnitude of the role and what I am charged with accomplishing—it is leveled-up but welcomed.
I am reflecting if the leadership style is different or should be different with digital leadership. Do I need to distinguish between the two?
My leadership perspective is moving the culture of ‘us’ and not a ‘we’ versus ‘them.’ I appreciate, witnessed, been apart of a leadership style that brings a wave of excitement, well, sometimes – or at least momentum, to change. Not that leadership always has to bring change, but there is a need to continually challenge and level up those that you work with, empowering and supporting learning. I appreciate and a mentoring under an adaptive model, where Khan (2017) describes adaptive leadership as flexible, changing behavior by seeing the holistic view of a situation. Assessing the goals and needs of the group help to facilitate and decide the change needed, but all the while enhancing social capital. This sounds right.
Does this change with digital leadership?
– I don’t think so.
Flexibility. Assessing environmental readiness. Changing behaviors and culture. Same same…but different. Sustainable change with growing technology environments, an adaptable and flexible leader who can empower people to change practice and understandings will have more sustainable change and growth (Sheninger, 2014).
Leadership is not about strolling along the status quo but rather how to level up and challenge your colleagues, faculty or students, to grow and change. With digital leadership, recognizing this leadership with students and faculty, it is when there are common agreements around the change—#BetheDigitalChange (Casa-Todd, 2017).
The adaptive leadership model will guide me look at the current challenges in a holistic view to gain consensus in ideas and direction for the greater good of the group (Khan, 2017). I think one thing that may not change but certainly could look different is how the information is presented to those involved in the change and presenting a platform that all voices are heard. As Sheninger has pointed out in his article of “Pillars of Digital Leadership” (2014) that communication is a “two-way communication” amongst the stakeholders, using digital platforms to communicate, learning through doing (p. 2). The involvement and engagement of those participating in the change and growth, those are the stakeholders that also have to observe the use of the digital change. Whether it is students or colleagues, the observation, and modeling of proper use. The more that the modeling is observed, the more impact we have on those watching, helping them to imitate the positive behaviors (Casa-Todd, 2017).
We know from Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory that learning occurs through social interaction and imitating behavior, and the environmental situation is relevant (McLeod, 2016). As a leader, not only modeling the behavior I want to be used, I need to assess the environmental readiness, evaluating obstacles or paths. As evaluation as made, and assumptions are removed, the need for reflection is necessary to catch what you might miss. To help build a sustainable change of culture and behavior, as a leader I have to ensure that my message is clear, and presented from the collective voice, and also demonstrate that I share the responsibility (Casa-Todd, 2017).
In using the Sheninger’s Pillars of Digital Leadership (2017) 
to help push and promote change, the adaptive and reflective style of leadership, thus far (knock on wood) seems to be proving itself correct. Every day, many times a day, reflection on what I am doing, and how I am doing is important, checking to see that I am that leader that is adaptive situations, and fluid enough to change directions as the scenario deems. I also recognize that it is also not only me in doing the leading. In the distributive model, tech teams and other colleagues who have embraced technology personally and professionally will also be leaders of change. As Huggins (2017), building capacity is the power in learning individually or collectively and applying their new knowledge to professional or personal situations (p. 3). The theories of leadership to lead the work in a change in digital learning environments are adaptive styles that promote flexibility, supporting and embracing change. The change must be sustained. Digital learning transforms at a rapid pace, and the learners must trust that their efforts will have a result in a viable transformation, grounded in support and tolerance for risk and empowerment.
Digital leadership is about impacting people. “We are making a difference in our own world and maybe in someone else’s” (Casa-Todd, 2017, p. 110).
References
Casa-Todd, J. (2017). Social Leadia. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
Huggins, K. (2017). Developing Leadership Capacity in Others: An Examination of High School Principals’ Personal Capacities for Fostering Leadership. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 12(1).
Khan, N. (2017). Adaptive or Transactional Leadership in Current Higher Education: A Brief Comparison. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3).
McLeod, S. (2016). Bandura-Social Learning Theory. Simple Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html.
Sheninger, E. (2014). Pillars of digital leadership. International Centre for Leadership in Education.