by
Klaus Rimke
Has the digital age changed leadership?
Training, conditioning, and repetition are interactions that all play a role in retaining learning events, changing behaviours, making them habitual. Building a directed culture within an organization takes leadership. The type of leadership role adopted can be varied, leadership through reflection helps one to consciously look at what or how your role and or influences played in directing the outcome. Some of this information can be gleaned from various reflective processes, both internal and external. For example, external reflection could be achieved through after-action reports and data collection such as scores or test results. Now, if we include a focus on self, and see how it allows for reflection on your actions, the effect had on the outcome, with that could other solutions have had other effects (Castelli, 2016). In my reflections on leadership and implementing digital technologies, in some cases requires thinking outside the box. Leadership qualities such as being self-aware, mindful of the present moment, and applying personal wisdom, experience and maturity, all play a role in reflective leadership. When incorporating these ideas and adapting to the changes created by digital learning, a reflective viewpoint would look at process changes. Processes such as in testing knowledge retention once viewed as hands-on verification through observation, demonstration, and repetition. Many safety compliance and regulatory organizations, still require a way to verify compliance and look toward traditional verification methods. Add the accessibility of knowledge through digital technologies and the question becomes, how can leaders verify skill and ability in the digital world? As the lines between a physical interaction of observation and the use of digital technology as a verification process are blurred, by computer-assisted testing, AI, and automation.
Another factor that can affect assessment is the perceived lack of separation between leaders and teams. While this can facilitate work groups, hiring and training global employees, and educating online students, it creates a unique set of problems in training. Despite this perceived proximity, a degree of separation is always maintained and can foster a unique set of problems. Some solutions can be achieved through technology, such as LMS’s, which can provide online blackboards and video instruction modules to ensure basic skills are met. Social media and the various video and chat communication tools can also be implemented and utilized to contribute to learning events. In addition, leaders will need to adapt to incorporating learning through the growing realm of automation and 3D learning simulators. Leaders, their teams, and learners’ experiences with these will contribute to determining how learning theory will adapt or be changed entirely by such experiential learning experiences. Adapting to, accepting and promoting change through technology, from a leadership viewpoint, will invariably be related to buy-in on the part of leaders, learners and their teams, as well as adapting to the process used in implementing new technology.
In my personal experience, the need or ability to adapt to change in a timely manner as well as being able to learn from mistakes are two of the most critical leadership skills to possess. While it can be challenging, once you begin to actively practice these skills, learning through reflection begins to occur. When you feel that you thought or reflected on a decision too long and appeared indecisive still a learning event. So how does this change digital influences, modify how we look at leadership theories or does the theory need to change when used in digital learning environments? In comparison, Khan (2017) looked at adaptive and transactional leadership, with adaptive leadership providing a higher capacity as the catalyst for change. Reflective and adaptive leadership both appear to follow many of the same traits and with the similar outcomes. Adaptive leadership theory, however, doesn’t explain how the leader reaches his decision, only that they must carefully consider external changes that can inversely affect an organization. Thus, reflective leadership theory provides a method of reflection that can will help provide multiple viewpoints and insights through reflective pattern recognition. Distributed leadership as discussed by Huggins (2017) also requires the ability to delegate authority and release some of the control normally held. The reflective ability to determine how this will affect both the leader and the learner is based on how much risk the leader is comfortable in giving up. What I’m trying to say, is that in my opinion distributed leadership theory still requires some form of training and reflection to determine how, when, and where to relinquish power and control. The military machine does this quite well through teaching up and delegation, exercises and training events and in doing so increases the risk capacity within the leaders. In fact, it’s a brilliant way to build confidence, and leadership skills in a subordinate.
The question of leadership and the ability to adapt to the digital world relies on a leader’s ability to critically evaluate situations through their technical experience and knowledge within their field. Tying work with a specific mission helps in understanding the culture within the organization. Buy-in, compliance, and success are all tied to the mission and vision of the organization because these help the target audience know the expectations of the leaders. In turn, the leaders are expected to help their teams reach the organization’s identified goals in keeping with the culture of the organization. These leaders recognize the group’s capacity, are responsive to their team’s needs, and adapt quickly to change. To be responsive, they provide the proper and timely communication in both directions and offer constructive feedback. They also understand that leaders must demonstrate ethical behaviour and build their teams’ trust in them. Responsive leaders foster characteristics that meet the goals of reflective leadership by creating a safe environment through consistently ethical behaviour, open communication tools that challenge outdated customs, cultural beliefs, and assumptions (O’Toole 2008).
References
Castelli, P. (2016). Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organizational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217-236.
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).
O’Toole, James (2008). Notes Toward a Definition of Values-Based Leadership. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 1(1).
Sheninger, E. (2014). Pillars of digital leadership. International Centre for Leadership in Education.
Wenek, K. (2005) ‘Leadership in the Canadian Forces: Doctrine, http://www.cda-acd.forces.gc.ca.