Have you heard of the new phenomenon: The Digitally Deluded Leader? It was the topic of APQC’s June Human Capital Management Webinar. This was a new topic for me. So, before the webinar, I asked guest speaker Steve Hearsum of Roffey Park, an internationally renowned leadership institute based in the UK and Singapore, to participate in a brief email interview. Read his thoughts on what digital means for leadership.
 
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How is the digital age changing what is required to effectively lead within an organization?
Therein lies the question. Let’s start with whether or not this is a ‘digital age.’ The risk of framing our times as that is it assumes that it is radically different to what preceded it. We’ve asked lots of people: What does digital mean for you? And the word cloud illustrates clearly the lack of consensus around the answer and the tendency of human beings (particularly in organizational contexts) to forever seek the next big, new, shiny thing that will change the way things are done. The danger is we look forward and into the future, missing what is happening in the here and now. And that is the biggest risk: Leaders not paying enough attention to what is happening today.

What's at stake for leaders and organizations? What are the consequences of inaction and the benefits of evolving leadership for the digital age?
I shy away from predicting the future. Much of the research out there suggests that ‘experts’ we see on TV are by and large no better at predicting the future than a toss of a coin. So what is at stake is what has always been at stake for leaders and their organizations: The failure to adapt will be risky, and in some instances terminal. I do not see that as being significantly different to what has preceded, but the pace and rate at which that can happen is different.

What are some steps that leaders and aspiring leaders can take to start developing digital leadership capabilities?
There are many, and I do not have all the answers. For what it is worth, useful starting points would be to get to grips with changing patterns of interaction and communication amongst users/customers and staff, have the humility to admit they might need help and support that they have not needed before, and lastly to consider what they might need to let go of (e.g. power, status, identity, etc.) in order to adapt. This last requires humility—something that is not always present in the higher reaches of organizations.

What implications does digital leadership have for leadership development professionals and leadership development programs?
That is still unfolding. What I notice is uncertainty, fear, and confusion in many HR, learning and development, and organizational development people. Their clients and people they serve are still making sense of what digital means to them, and there is a lag. Maybe the biggest challenges are to determine what actually is different that matters, and what is the same. Also, there is a shift happening in who offers development and how. People in adjacent spaces to traditional suppliers are adapting and moving in, plus there seems to be a wrestle around the extent to which on-line learning can replace rather than just support face-to-face development. My hunch is there is a desire for virtual learning to win out, because it can be ‘cheaper.’ But I fundamentally challenge the notion it has the same developmental impact.
 
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