In an ever changing world, leaders have to be quick to adapt to changing landscapes especially in digital learning environments (DLEs) which are dynamic and often involve multiple stakeholders at various levels. For this reason, I believe in order for a leader to be successful working in a DLE, they require these three attributes: inspiring, strategic or forward-looking and possess effective communication skills. Intertwining these three skills will allow the leader to mobilize their stakeholders and/or followers, plan and make decisions accordingly and build capacity.
Inspiring has always been at the top of my list of attributes of leadership which is consistent with the findings from Kouzes & Posner’s (2011) research; inspiring consistently ranked among the top 4 attributes over the years and globally (p. 5). Reflecting on my experience of working for an organization where transformational change was the driving force in achieving the organization’s vision gave me insight into how valuable this leadership attribute is at motivating workers and ensuring that everyone’s work aligns with the organization’s values. Leaders were passionate when presenting the Gantt charts and action plans to staff and stakeholders while providing regular updates on our progress and timelines in achieving the goal. Their optimistic, positive energy made it easy to aspire to the work. I believe that working in a DLE, a leader would need to be able to convey their passion and commitment to the work and vision.
The LEADS framework is a leadership capabilities framework which guides much of my work and under the Systems Transformation heading of this framework, it states “leaders demonstrate systems/critical thinking and orient themselves strategically to the future” (Canadian College of Health Leaders, 2021). For this reason, I believe leaders working in a DLE need to be strategic planners or forward-looking with the ability to see the “big picture”. They need to be prepared for anything and everything that comes their way while providing the necessary support, resources and tools their followers may require to continue to align their work with the vision. Effective leaders require the ability to predict potential conflicts or challenges which may affect the vision. It is this ability to look ahead which allows them to be prepared to address challenges or conflicts by formulating possible solutions to address them. In addition, because they are able to see the whole picture and communicate effectively with the various stakeholders, they can make a well-informed decision in which all the stakeholders’ cases have been taken into consideration; no crucial information is missing. This attribute is essential for a leader working in a dynamic environment in order to be able to deliver results.
Lastly, Sheninger (2019), lists communication as one of the seven pillars of digital leaders in education and states, “digital leadership is about engaging all stakeholders in two-way communication” (p. 2). A leader needs to be an effective communicator to engage stakeholders so that there will be “buy in” with the vision by gaining a better understanding of how it benefits them. This attribute is also highlighted by the LEADS framework (2021) and includes the leader’s ability to listen well while creating an environment where there is an open exchange of information and ideas. This in turn leads to team building where there is collaboration and cooperation towards achieving the desired results. As stated above, good effective communication ensures that all factors are considered before a leader makes a decision. For these reasons, I believe that communication is a necessary attribute for a leader working in a DLE to build the necessary relationships.
In closing, the following three attributes: inspiring, forward-thinking and an effective communicator are necessary for a leader working in a DLE to possess in order to achieve success in a dynamic environment with multiple stakeholders at various levels.
References
Canadian College of Health Leaders. (n.d.). LEADS Framework. https://www.leadscanada.net/site/about/about-us/framework?nav=sidebar
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2011). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it (Vol. 203). John Wiley & Sons.
Sheninger, E. (2014). Pillars of digital leadership. International Center for Leadership in Education, 1(4).
Hi Gail,
Thanks for your post and sharing your three top attributes. Thanks for sharing an example of when an organization was able to move through a transformational change and strategies that helped. You shared that “Leaders were passionate when presenting the Gantt charts and action plans to staff and stakeholders while providing regular updates on our progress and timelines in achieving the goal. Their optimistic, positive energy made it easy to aspire to the work.” I think in hindsight many leaders would say “of course we would share everything and give regular updates on progress”…but I think so often this part of a change process gets overlooked and leaders perhaps don’t realize how encouraging it can be when there is positive energy and momentum as something moves towards completion. I also appreciated you sharing the LEADS framework – there are so many challenges to building leadership skills, and it is great to see a shared framework that can help frame a positive leadership approach that is consistent across a whole sector. In your role are you given opportunities to connect with other leaders (formally or informally) around the framework?
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for your comments. I feel that I was fortunate to work for an organisation which is wanting to do things differently because it is the first of its kind in the country. However, the challenge with being the only one is that everyone is watching to see what you are doing. I would agree with your point that details in the change process gets overlooked as it was with this transformational project; peoples’ jobs and job responsibilities changed because of the project. This was a large scale project which is now in the evaluation phase and I believe they are looking to make minor changes now that it has been implemented and data has been collected.
In my current job, there are lots of changes occurring in my department with many of staff resistant to change and wanting it to stay the same even though it is obvious there were limitations with the old working model. Even today, when I inquired as to why we do it this way, I heard the answer, “well that’s the way it has always been done” and I think that it is an exciting time to start making changes because we are currently going through change and restructuring.
As for the LEADS framework, I wish that I had more opportunities to connect with leaders around the framework and I think that if I want to pursue further education in Health Management there would be more opportunities. However, as mentioned it is a framework that I use to support my thinking and decision making for my program.
Hi Gail,
I am noting a theme of change being an important contextual factor for leaders in online learning environments in quite a few of our blog posts, and I believe you have argued effectively for navigating this by “intertwining…inspiring, strategic or forward-looking and possess effective communication skills.” I really appreciated your thoughts on communication in particular, and would be curious to know if you have any experience or knowledge of either positive or negative communication practices, meaning skills, tools, procedures, etc.? My distributed organization has grown very organically and its communication processes are somewhat ad hoc. I have been trying to lead change in standardizing tools and practices more, but it’s still a work in progress.
Hi Alisha,
Thank you for your comments. Communication is such a big topic and I have been fortunate to have worked with some fantastic communicators and some not so great communicators. This has allowed me to pick up many tips and tricks along the way in a variety of working environments. A couple of tricks: being an active listener, being curious, being respectful, being humble, repeating what was said to confirm I understand the message. For virtual meetings, many of these tricks transfer but I also believe that setting the ground rules or expectations early on and sending meeting agendas with the points that are to be discussed prior to meeting so that people can come prepare. Hope that gives you some ideas. Happy to discuss further if you would like.