As part of the Leading Change in Digital Learning course, we were asked to write about our most important leadership attributes of a leader working in digital learning environments. As a human resources practionner, I work with leaders in organizations and since the beginning of the pandemic, I have supported them virtually. Some of these leaders have shared their struggles leading in a digital world and I decided to ponder the question of what it takes to be a digital leader in organizations today. But first, what is digital leadership? Sheninger (2019) defined it as “establishing direction, influencing others, and initiating sustainable change through the access of information, and establishing relationships in order to anticipate changes” (para. 5). He further described it as “a transformed construct of leadership that grows out of the leader’s symbiotic relationship with technology” (para. 7). Essentially, digital leadership is composed of fundamental leadership skills combined with technological agility and ability.
Araujo et al. (2021) shared their perspective of these fundamental leadership skills a digital leader must possess which are flexibility, adaptability, “intellectual curiosity and hunger for new knowledge” (p. 52). The authors further added that digital leaders must have the passion to lead while valuing various perspectives and be comfortable navigating the unknown. To the same degree, Sheninger (2019) stated that “leaders must understand the origins of fear and misconceptions that often surround the use of technology” (para. 1), furthering the point of the unknown. I appreciated both the authors’ views on understanding the misconception of leading in a digital world and the importance of uncovering apprehensions with technology. These views provided me with a frame of reference for what I believe are key leadership attributes in a digital world.
In my own reflection on what it takes to be a digital leader, transparency and broadminded are two qualities in a leader that I found relevant in a digital environment, from both my experience and the literature. Araujo et al. (2021) discussed transparency as a key attribute for digital leadership when understanding critical information, but also when tapping in the opportunities that transparency offers for these leaders. For instance, leaders can leverage social media to tell great stories about their teams and their organizations and interactively engage in online conversations (Sheninger, 2019). However, I believe that supportive transparent cultures would need to be in place for these leaders to effectively lead with transparency. This last point is worth exploring further as what it takes for a transparent leader to be successful in his or her own organization.
As for broadminded, I did not consider this quality in the first place until I met with my assigned team to discuss our ranked digital leadership attributes. Broadminded was deliberated on our team in relation of personal biases and assumptions awareness in a leader. I initially understood broadminded as liberal, flexible, open to new ideas, and progressive. Pasovska & Miceski (2018) discussed broadminded leaders as part of transformational leadership and specified that transformational leaders “accept the diversity among people” (p. 237). In the transformational leadership realm, Castelli (2015) discussed reflective leadership involving “self-awareness and mindfulness” (p. 219) of own behaviors and recognizing own biases and own judgements. Thus, a broadminded leader should recognize his or her inner dynamics and create an openness to the various perspectives. From the authors’ viewpoints, I appreciated broadminded being more than just being open to new ideas and beliefs, but also being aware of personal bias that may influence the leader’s actions and words.
In conclusion, both Sheninger (2019) and Araujo et al. (2021) agreed that fundamental leadership skills are still required to digitally lead in organizations. Our team ranking exercise also supported that viewpoint of the importance of basic leadership attributes (Messier, 2022). Along with acquiring a “symbiotic relationship with technology” (Sheninger, 2019, para. 7), transparency and broadminded are two additional attributes that I believe leaders must possess to virtually lead as long as organizations as stated in Araujo et al.’s (2021) study are ready to embrace digital leadership.
References:
Araujo, L. M., Priadana, S., Paramarta, V., & Sunarsi, D. (2021). Digital leadership in business organizations: an overview. International Journal of Educational Administration, Management, and Leadership, 2(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.51629/ijeamal.v2i1.18
Castelli, P. (2016). Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 217-236. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1767544220?parentSessionId=uyMJZjZ4QsF8UURtTaamZS0cyP7p3H2hVxX%2BFNLSOno%3D&accountid=8056
Messier, S. (2022, February 5). Team C Leadership attributes ranking result. Stephanie’s Blog: A MALAT Student. https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0225/team-c-leadership-attributes-ranking-result/
Pasovska, Silvana and Miceski, Trajko (2018) The impact of transformational leadership in improvement of the organizational capability. International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 6 (2). pp. 235-246. http://www.ijier.net/index.php/ijier
Sheninger, E. (2014). Pillars of digital leadership. International Centre for Leadership in Education. http://leadered.com/pillars-of-digital-leadership/
February 8, 2022 at 12:57 pm
Stephanie,
Thanks for your post and in-depth explorations of two of the attributes – transparency and broad-mindedness as key components for leading in digital learning environments. I was intrigued by your point “supportive transparent cultures would need to be in place for these leaders to effectively lead with transparency.” In your own context, what does a transparent culture look like? I also noted your emphasis in describing broad-mindedness as going beyond just being open-minded “but also being aware of personal bias that may influence the leader’s actions and words.” I think this is an important point, and wonder how leaders can also make this self-awareness more visible – can sharing your own positionality help create a more transparent culture?
March 8, 2022 at 4:37 pm
Hi Michelle,
First, my apologies for the delay in my response. The WP comment got stuck in my junk folder. Thank you for your questions. In response to the first one regarding transparent culture, my own experience with transparent culture is from my corporate days at GE. GE’s culture was value and performance based. The corporate values were communicated and implemented in everything GE was involved with. From onboarding a new employee to project management, mergers and acquisitions as well as quality through six sigma, everyone knew where they were standing and the communication from the top to bottom was of transparence. KPIs and our measures against were communicated regularly, the outcomes of talent management discussions were communicated as part of performance management, and the good and the bad news were also shared to all associates. Jack Welsh, former CEO of GE, was a straight-shooter and a transparent leader who hired leaders who were not yes people, and also communicative. As for self-awareness, I believe that if a leader is self-aware but also has his or her ego in check especially when it comes down to position-power, they can contribute to a transparent culture.