How can you lead change in a digital era?

You lead change in the digital era by realizing that you must AI DigiTransform your company in order to be digitally competitive. Initiate an AI strategy project that will rapidly ensure you achieve that objective. In particular, focus on the expectations of digital customers. Ensure you excel at digital customer experience (DCX).

It is essential to create a compelling narrative around the change. This story should connect emotionally and logically, explaining not just the practical reasons for the change but also how it benefits individuals and the organization as a whole. I have found that when leaders share personal stories or real examples that illustrate the positive impact of the change, it significantly strengthens the connection with their team, making the narrative not just a concept, but a relatable, inspiring reality.

Ideally, having a clear 'why' behind a change and engaging stakeholders is crucial. However, in the real-world, a project heading for disaster may require swift, decisive action from leadership, even without prior consultation with team members and stakeholders. In these cases, transparency and collaboration AFTER the intervention become even more vital for regaining trust and successfully turning the project around.

Having a vision and articulating this to your team or stakeholders take you into a personal inventory of your own values and principles. In today's digital era, many male leaders rely on data and market consequences yet this fall short of a full vision which needs to contain an emotional inspirational and engaging connection. Digital data points and market factors that are measurable are important but a vison without an emotional "why" will lack the motivational pull for those who's buy in you need to succeed. Sharing your vision means a deep connection with the story behind it, your vision for the world, for humanity, local or global, reasons why and the future illustrated with inspiration are a must in your leader's kitbag.

Leading change in the digital era, particularly during the 4th Industrial Revolution (IR4.0), requires a deep understanding of digital transformation and digital maturity within the organization. Transformational leadership is key; it involves guiding teams through the complexities of digital change by culture that embraces innovation, continuous learning, and adaptability. As a leader, assess the organization's digital maturity to identify areas for growth and improvement, involving implementing new technologies and reshaping organizational culture and processes to support digital initiatives. Strive for the organization to be prepared for present challenges and in tandem future-proofed against the evolving digital landscape.

To involve the team and particularly the DevOps team, it's pivotal to embrace a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. Transformational leadership plays a holacratic role here, inspiring and guiding teams through the digital transformation journey. By promoting digital maturity, leaders empower their teams to be equipped in handling the rapid pace of change. Handling involves not only adopting new technologies but also adapting processes and mindsets to support a more agile and responsive approach to innovation and problem-solving. In doing so, leaders harness the collective expertise of their teams to drive successful digital transformation initiatives.

You don't really have to have all the answers, trust your team: ask the questions, let them come up with answers and evaluate jointly.

Change management is a collective journey that involves your team. Here are 5 strategies to lead change: -Enrollment Change is a collaborative effort. Make them partners in the process, ensuring they feel a sense of ownership in its implementation and success. -Open Communication Channels Establish a continuous feedback loop - avenues for your team to express their thoughts, concerns, & ideas. -Regular Engagement Sessions Whether it's town hall meetings, virtual forums, or regular team huddles, connect regularly with your team. -Recognition and Celebration Acknowledge and celebrate team milestones. -Foster a Culture of Collaboration Leverage the diverse skills, knowledge, and creativity within your team to bring innovative solutions.

To involve your team, you need to engage with your heart and mind combined and tuned into natural differences. Every member of your team is unique in character, experience and natural reactive style. You are too. How well do you know yourself and others? Your superpower as team leader especially in a change process is first to recognize this flow me -you - us - and know it is of great value to find the best synergy mix. The sum of the parts is greater than the parts. Plan to access each team member's unique traits, gifts and skills level. Perceive their differences as a 'plus' and draw them together by sharing mutual values that are important to you and the team's objectives. Find the personal value of each and together without judgement..

Be aware that everyone will hear and perceive your vision differently. Share rather than dictate. Be aware of your audience's different styles of participation. Allow conversations without judgement, where perspectives are listened to and reactive views attained. It is vital at the beginning of a change or start up phase or any major reframing, a vision presented and shared must not become a destructive imposition or lacing clarity and direction. Sharing without judgement, in a timebound process, to gauge how the messages land is opening the door for engagement, inspires others to say their honest truth and uncovers glitches as well as possibilities and creative expansion of your vision.

Leading change in the digital era requires a multifaceted approach, especially when leveraging new technologies like Gen AI, the metaverse, and advanced robotics. Recognize that digital transformation is not just about technology adoption; it’s a fundamental shift in how organizations operate. Stay informed about tech trends and adapt leadership style accordingly. Aim for organization's digital maturity. Digitally mature companies exhibit qualities such as agility, innovation, and data-driven decision-making. As a leader, be transformational. Encourage creativity and drive innovation. Understand that automation and technology fundamentally change business models. In the metaverse and beyond, data is crucial. Become a data-driven leader.

Tech is not an end of itself it has to make you smarter, faster, "freer" and so on. Be open to experiment and try things, shows new ways and above all, ensure everyone that achieving different -better ways- is part of the journey. Whether is chatgpt, copilot, autoML or whatever future brings, think of it as if you were batman adding tools to your belt.

Leveraging technology in leading change is not just about adopting new tools; it's about transforming your approach to suit the digital era. In leading change in the digital era, effectively leveraging technology is key. Use digital tools to improve communication, streamline processes, and enhance decision-making. Embrace data analytics for insights and artificial intelligence for efficiency. However, it's not just about the tools; it's about fostering a digital mindset within your team. Encourage adaptability, continuous learning, and innovation in using technology, aligning it with your change management strategies to drive organizational success in the digital landscape.

Embrace a leadership style that aligns with IR4.0. Understand the power of AI, machine learning, and high-speed networks in enabling intelligent, cooperative robots across industries. Champion digital transformation by identifying risks of volatile innovation, agility, and collaboration. Recognize the potential and risk of the industrial metaverse as a fusion of physical and digital realms. Digital twins play a crucial role here, creating virtual replicas of products or processes to predict performance throughout their lifecycle. Prioritize risk assessment in the digital transformation journey. Digital risk encompasses process automation, decision automation, and digitized monitoring.

Every one reacts to tensions and risky situations in different ways; men often take higher risks and action steps, women talk more both inside their head and with a topic. Women can be more risk adverse yet take emotional risks quicker than men. Understanding different instinctive natural responses to risk and talking things out can mitigate the tensions and turn challenges into opportunities shared. So you increase the potential to take risks and expand the collective ownership of such risks. A win for all. Synergy works best together!!

I like to conduct a comprehensive analysis of any risk potential in a few different ways: - Involve my stakeholders in the change process from the beginning. I engage them in conversation to help me understand its implications on processes, people, technology, and culture. Their insights can help identify potential areas of resistance or other risks. - Establish mechanisms for employees to provide feedback or express concerns. This can be surveys or open office hours. - Identify and train change champions within the organization. This can help in disseminating positive messages and addressing peer concerns. - Test in Phases: Implement the change in phases, starting with a small group or department.

Adopting change is vital for high-performance organizations. Despite uncertainties, our adaptability defines us. Change comes with risks, including team resistance, mistakes, and failures. However, these challenges offer growth and innovation opportunities. We must assess and mitigate collective dangers to fuel growth and be prepared with contingency plans. Every wrong decision is a learning opportunity, propelling us towards wisdom. Efficient risk management increases our chances of success. Effective communication and support ensure a smooth transition. Celebrate every success along the way!

Embracing diversity is fundamentally a basic promise to value all people; yet often the deeper value comes not merely seeking different perspectives but listening and engaging at a level that touches the emotional nature of each person and studying the nature of differences. If we place 12 people in a circle, we need to be able to listen, observe, contribute and collaborate without judgement of anyone or any word of gesture contributed. Everyone of those 12 will have commonalities as human beings, differences from all other aspects such as age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexual preferences, religious beliefs, cultural norms, life experiences. Diversity seeds unity when we share human values and similarities and honor our differences.

?Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.” (Malcolm Forbes) and “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” (Stephen Covey) - summarize it actually very well. The time of best practice is over. The pressure to deliver out of the box solutions is now and for this you need diverse perspective's, experiences and paradigms, channeled towards one direction.

I firmly believe that diversity is our greatest asset in embracing change. The fusion of unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds within our team opens an avenue for fresh insights and innovative solutions. Our customers and partners, too, enrich us with their diverse viewpoints, contributing to the holistic growth of our organization. Afar, unexplored markets and cultures burgeon with potential, waiting for us to understand their needs and preferences. To truly embrace change is to welcome diversity. It fuels our understanding, broadens our reach, and catalyzes our innovation. Let's rejoice in this vibrant spectrum of diversity and use it as our compass in navigating the exciting journey of change.

Embracing diversity in leading change isn't just about inclusivity; it's a strategic approach for thriving in the digital era. Leading change in the digital era requires embracing diversity in all its forms. Diverse teams bring a range of perspectives, ideas, and problem-solving approaches, which is crucial in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Foster an inclusive environment where different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints are not only accepted but valued and leveraged. This diversity of thought is key to developing innovative strategies and ensuring your organization is adaptable and resilient in the face of digital transformation.

It’s not enough to embrace diversity; it’s crucial to create an environment where opportunities to cross-collaborative with team members with different experiences, backgrounds, cultures, and departments are a standardized part of work. Diversity of thought and ideas is not beneficial if your departments are siloed, or there is a culture of toxic competition in your company. Take a look at your culture, workflows and collaboration frameworks in your company and evaluate whether they encourage or hinder diverse cross-collaboration.

Covey called it the 7th habit: "sharpen the saw". Make sure you are always open to learn new things, look ahead at trends and keep a curious mind. Sharpening the saw is a continuous journey, in our current world everything changes fast, I know is daunting, but is also a wonderful time to be an agent of change. Be sure to instill that same habit to your team.

In my perspective,continuous learning is not just an option—it's a necessity for navigating the ever-evolving landscape of change. Like a ship's captain adjusting sails to catch shifting winds, we must adapt to the currents of our industry. By staying curious, seeking feedback, and embracing the joy of learning, we transform change from a challenge into an opportunity. Through constant improvement, we refine our skills, broaden our horizons, and enhance our resilience. Let's stay ahead of the curve, driven by excitement for what lies ahead. Keep learning, lead change, and experience true growth and success.

Continuous learning can be fostered by adopting a growth mindset -so the belief that our abilities can be developed through effort, feedback, and learning. A growth mindset motivates us to seek challenges, embrace failures, and learn from them. It also makes us more open to feedback, criticism, and change. So, continuous learning is a vital and valuable process that can help us achieve personal and professional success. As the quote by Alvin Toffler says, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Therefore, we should embrace continuous learning as a lifelong journey, and enjoy the rewards it can bring.

Leading change in the digital era requires embracing technology and innovation. Stay informed about digital trends and their implications for your industry. Foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability within your team. Utilize digital tools for effective communication and collaboration. Encourage experimentation and be open to new ideas. Lead by example in using digital solutions. Finally, ensure transparent communication about changes and their benefits to secure buy-in from all stakeholders.

Here are few key measures I have implemented in leading change in a digital era to ensure successful transformation: -Crafted a clear vision and strategic roadmap for digital transformation, ensuring alignment across all stakeholders. -Implemented a structured change management process to guide employees through the transition, addressing potential barriers in adopting the change . -Deployed agile methodologies breaking down initiatives into manageable tasks and iterating based on feedback. -Invested in digital tools Mailchimp, MS teams, Jira, Confluence, MS SharePoint to streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and drive efficiency for CM -Identified and mitigated risks associated with the change management initiatives.

In the digital era, leaders must embrace technology as a catalyst for change. It's not just about digitization; it's about transforming processes, tools, and mindset. Data should be seen as invaluable insights that shape decision-making. Nurture a culture that celebrates digital innovation and empowers each team member to contribute with digitized solutions. Break down silos to foster cross-functional collaboration for robust, integrated strategies. Remember, leaders don't just navigate the digital era, they lead it. Together, we can digitize, innovate, and elevate.

The future is full of changes, challenges/opportunities, and surprises (aka uncertainties). Two things come to mind for leading change in a digital era: (1) Perhaps when the world is seemingly more complex and filled with more uncertainties, we can depend less on the answers from the past. Therefore being inquisitive and asking the best questions of ourselves and others will become fundamental for moving forward. (2) We are in the digital era, so technologies such as data/AI are automatically taking center stage in our society and our thought process. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that the role of devil's advocate is not neglected and key conversations are not missed.