Leaders Navigating Technology

The importance of leadership roles have new responsibilities with the advancement in technology, influencing dynamics within teams, business practices, and skill development.

Continual growth of technologies means re-examining the structures within businesses and finding which tools and methods to utilize to achieve maximum results. Cortellazzo, Bruni, and Zampien (2019) found that “leaders are key actors in the development of a digital culture: they need to create relationships with multiple and scattered stakeholders, and focus on enabling collaborative processes in complex settings, while attending to pressing ethical concerns”. This demonstrates the wide scope of leadership responsibilities and the adaptability necessary to successfully navigate business in a tech world. This is supported by Jonk, Anscombe, and Aurik (2018) who state that, “as digitization disrupts at an ever-increasing rate, leaders are challenged to accurately anticipate shifts in the business environment, and to make their organizations markedly more agile”. Furthermore, “leaders need to invest in upskilling employees in an effort to support and motivate them in the face of steep learning curves and highly cognitively demanding challenges” (Cortellazzo, Bruni, & Zampien, 2019).

Communication that favors an inclusive work environment through various tools is crucial to foster collaboration and unity (Corellazzo, Bruni, & Zampien, 2019). Although technology presents many new opportunities and ease of access, “the solution is to use new technologies to augment rather than replace human activity” (Jonk, Anscombe, & Aurik, 2018). Therefore, human connectivity and relationship building is a traditional method that should still be utilized to create supportive cultures that contribute to enhancing performance. Cancialosi (2018) supports this, stating that, “the findings suggest that team dynamics are much more important to performance than the individual skills of the individual team members… The most important factor in predicting high performing teams is psychological safety followed by dependability, structure, and clarity of work, meaning, and impact”. This demonstrates that leaders that help positively shape the culture within an organization have beneficial business results.

There is no denying that digital tools impact the roles of leaders when deciding how to implement new practices within specific teams. Regardless of the demands of quickly navigating options, there is also an abundance of information technology to allow for informed decisions to be made.

References

Cancialosi, C. (2018, November 6). The critical role of culture in technology transformation. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2018/11/06/the-critical-role-of-culture-in-technology-transformation/?sh=346de7c83807

Cortellazzo, L., Bruni, E., and Zampien, R. (2019, August 27). The role of leadership in a digitized world: a review. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6718697/

Jonk, G., Anscombe, J., and Aurik, J.C. (2018, March 29). How technology can transform leadership – for the good of employees. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/how-technology-can-transform-business-performance-for-human-good/