Adaptability and innovation are essential to steering a business through today’s dynamic technological landscape, says Karl Escritt, CEO of Like Digital & Partners.
Over the past ten years we’ve seen a huge shift in the digital landscape. Cast your mind back to 2014 and the iPhone 6 was the new kid on the block. We were only just starting to hear about ApplePay, augmented reality was still a vague concept, and cloud computing, voice recognition and 5G were new trends to watch.
In 2024, the world looks very different. ChatGPT is now used by millions in the workplace to generate ideas and create content. Businesses are thinking about how AI might change the structure of their work and indeed human jobs. Hyper-personalization is everywhere from food delivery apps to Netflix to Amazon and our data is constantly being utilised to enhance our purchasing experiences. It’s an incredibly fast-moving and exciting time of major societal change.
With this, the role of business leaders and CEOs has evolved significantly in the last decade.
We can’t forget that the pandemic years accelerated the digital transformation of most businesses at an astonishing rate. Whether you were on board or not, you had no choice but to go with it. We all had to learn to live with the unexpected and find new ways of doing things.
So, at a time when businesses have the resources to understand their consumers and employees better than ever before, what does it take to be a good transformational leader? Here are some key lessons:
Data literacy
Leaders don’t need to be experts on every single trend in the digital world but they should be asking the questions about how they fit into the landscape. They should use data and technology in their decision making, as well as promoting its use across the organisation.
Adaptability
Perhaps the most important trait of a transformational leader is adaptability which means to be able to accept and react to industry changes, and be flexible and versatile enough to navigate them. This is a skill which can be learned over time and comes with experience.
Innovation and visionary thinking
Leaders need to be focussed on the future and adopt a growth mindset when it comes to all areas of the business. They should always be thinking of new ways to streamline or improve operations and have a clear vision on how technology is going to help move things forward.
Three simple truths to keep in mind:
Transformational leaders need to be ready to face the challenges most businesses are facing in 2024. Here are three key truths that are always worth keeping in mind when it comes to digital:
There is no end to the digital transformation
Companies often start the transformative journey and want to put a deadline on when it will be ‘finished’. But the truth is, it doesn’t end. The digital space is constantly evolving, and leaders need to be in the right mindset to accept this and keep learning, growing, and adapting.
We are in a major era of change
Embracing change and seeing it as an opportunity rather than a hindrance is essential to a growth mindset. Leaders must be able to pivot their strategies and adopt new ways of working to keep up with the pace. In the world we currently live in, change is rapid and to be successful you can’t try and fight against new technology.
Creative thinking and failure must be encouraged
Lots of companies love to talk about the autonomy they give their employees and how empowered they are, whereas the reality can look somewhat different. Transformational leaders need to nuture an environment where people can think creatively and be allowed to fail.