Strong digital leadership has never been more critical. In an age of rapid technological progress, relevant cultures of learning are needed to meet the unique needs and requirements of the students they are intended to serve. The purpose of this post is to shed light on digital leadership and the driving forces behind it by exploring the key qualities an effective digital leader must have when working in digital learning environments (DLE).
Leadership looks very different for educational leaders today. Change is accelerating at an unprecedented speed due to consistent advancements in technology, bringing forth new and complex educational challenges. However, successfully meeting these challenges requires leadership skills and capabilities different from those that helped them succeed in the past. To adapt to the needs of contemporary society, leaders working in DLE need to reconsider the role of leader and adopt a strong digital leadership approach (Shenigner, 2019).
Digital leadership is the strategic use of technology to achieve educational goals. It is a combination of mindset, practices, and skills embodied by someone who constantly seeks opportunities to leverage and use technology to strengthen learning experiences and improve student outcomes (Shenigner, 2019). However, unlike face-to-face leaders, digital leaders working in DLE are restricted to digital platforms to demonstrate their leadership behaviour and to strengthen relationships when collaborating and communicating remotely (Shenigner, 2019). Given this, to be an effective leader in these types of environments requires certain core qualities.
In my personal and professional experience, being a student for eighteen years and an ESL instructor for over a decade, there are aspects of an effective leader, such as creating a clear vision and inspiring others (O’ Toole, 2008), that are simply timeless. Yet, as I reflect on my learnings, I am surprised by how much this list expanded. Although, I narrowed my selection down to four core qualities to keep this post brief. Successful digital leaders working in DLE appear to be the ones who are 1) credible; 2) self-aware; 3) adaptive; and 4) skillful.
● Credible
Good digital leaders know credibility cannot be cultivated without time. Digital leaders can build their credibility by throwing out rigid hierarchical structures to establish mutual trust among members while simplifying the decision-making process (Castelli, 2016). By relinquishing control, they provide their team with the freedom to leverage tools that inspire “creativity and a passion for learning” while they collectively create a learning culture that is “relevant, meaningful, applicable, and provides all students with the skills to succeed” (Shenigner, 2019, para. 7). But, the ability of a leader to earn and sustain personal credibility depends first and foremost on how well they know themselves (Kouzes & Posner, 2011).
● Self-aware
Effective digital leaders need to know themselves to lead others successfully. They conduct ongoing assessments of their strengths and weaknesses (Kouzes & Posner, 2011) and actively seek feedback from others (Castelli, 2016). An example of self-awareness when leading in DLE might be confidently leading to do what they believe when course authoring, but recognizing their inherent design bias and taking steps to combat it (Jones, n.d.). Of course, trusting in your abilities and acknowledging deficiencies is essential, especially in uncertain and challenging situations. However, strong digital leaders also need to be adaptive.
● Adaptive
Successful digital leaders know that change is necessary to do things better. They understand the importance of being adaptive because it offers a strategy to keep up with digital trends and address complex challenges (Shenigner, 2019). In DLE, these challenges might be “the need for greater access to open and distributed learning, new technology, funding decreases, student demographics, globalization” (Khan, 2017, p. 182), and being able to adjust to the evolving needs and requirements of the next generation of learners (Jones, n.d.). While this is no easy task, it presents digital leaders working in these environments with the unique opportunity to embrace new technologies and innovative educational methods to enhance or change their learning cultures to better equip students for the future (Shenigner, 2019). Even so, being adaptive alone is not enough. A quality digital leader also requires the appropriate skills to be a fuse of change within their context.
● Skillful
Superior digital leaders recognize that great leaders are not born, but made (O’Toole, 2008). Digital leaders invest the time to develop skills that empower and mobilize others. In DLE, this requires them to continuously seek, share, and apply new knowledge and skills to achieve high levels of team performance through assistance technology (Shenigner, 2019). For instance, in digital environments where leaders and teams are communicating and collaborating remotely, there can be confusion about how tasks should be completed or what a team member’s role is within an assigned project. An effective digital leader in this context might choose to leverage social media as a tool to increase coordination and speed of communication between teams to establish stronger relationships and engage all stakeholders (Shenigner, 2019).
In conclusion, leaders working in DLE need to embrace a digital leadership approach to be positive forces of change and to reach their educational goals within an age of rapid technological progress. This requires leaders in these environments to cultivate credibility, develop self-awareness, consistently adapt to change, and continuously pursue new opportunities for individual and collective development to successfully meet the rising educational challenges of the moment.
References
Castelli, P. (2016). Reflective leadership review: A framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217-236. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/docview/1767544220?accountid=8056&parentSessionId=4iAOk1nntfAqj0m4lFio9T8cPhc1RAbsfZJ5WghVCdE%3D
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). DOI: https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i3.3294
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2011). The characteristics of admired leaders. In Credibility : How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from Skillsoft e-book database.
Jones, C (n.d.). Introductions, role and leadership focus [Audio]. In Voices of Leadership. Royal Roads University.
Retrieved from https://malat-coursesite.royalroads.ca/lrnt525/schedule/voices/
O’Toole, J. (2008). Notes Toward a Definition of Values-Based Leadership. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 1(1). Retrieved from https://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol1/iss1/10
Sheninger, E. (2019, December 19). Pillars of digital leadership. International Centre for Leadership in Education. Retrieved from http://leadered.com/pillars-of-digital-leadership/
Hi Ashley,
I appreciated how you linked credibility and self-awareness – and it brought me back to your point that many leaders now need to leverage technologies to communicate as in many environments people are still working and learning remotely. What are the practices and actions you can take to establish credibility and how do you build in authentic feedback (for yourself and your team) so that you can constantly assess where you and your team are at? In her post and introduction Corie talked about “visibility” and I think it becomes that much more challenging to engage your colleagues at a distance when so many of our past practices were based on informal check-ins, chats and conversations that helped create connections. How does a leader become more visible, and as you also point out, how do you build in the communication practices that can help make roles, tasks and actions more transparent?
Ash, I enjoyed reading your post and the leadership qualities that you have highlighted resonate with me deeply. The one question on my mind on reading your post was can these qualities be accquired? I seem them as timeless, relevant today and for many tomorows to come.
How can one develop these qualities and what could be the potential barriers to becoming more self-aware, adaptive, credible or skillful? How can an aspiriing digital leader overcome these barriers?
I love your suggestion about throwing out rigisd heirarchical structures and relinquishing control. Made me think why dont more leaders do this? How can leaders who have the potential but struggle with building these qualities be helped?
What is the role a leaders constituency ( or followers or subordinates- dont like these words much but unclear what to say instead) play in the leaders evolution? For example for those who appreciate their leaders for the most part and would like them to evolve and grow as digital leaders, is there something they can do to shape their leaders?
Your post has given me a lot to reflect on and learn. Thank you for that.
Hi Ashley
I am curious about the ways leaders work outside the hierarchy to influence systems and I think based on your post that I am linking credibility is part of this. In some ways it is almost easier to build credibility in certain organization structures by not being part of the explicit leadership team. For instance, it has been easier for me to influence systems as faculty than in a previous management role at my institution. There is this concept called positive deviance which your post made me think of. It’s the idea that there are certain people in organizations who enact change with less resources, leading from wherever they are in the organization. I suspect that credibility is a large part of how these positive deviants can influence systems and your post helped me to formulate my thoughts around this and also I admit sent me into a rabbit hole about positive deviance again. Thanks!
Reference:
Tuhus-Dubrow, R. (2009). The Power of Positive Deviants. Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow.
https://rebeccatuhusdubrow.net/2009/11/29/470/