Leadership in a Post-Digital World

Leadership too is changing, it must, in a world that is disrupting itself, the very qualities of entrepreneurs that "works" in the new mobile workforce, must also adapt to a new kind of leadership, one that is technologically agile and with values compatible with the emerging Millennial workforce and a new work culture that is forming. This is true in North America and will hold true in India, Brazil, Europe, no matter where you live in the world. 

Growth Hacking Disruption Itself

Every decade from here onwards, is going to be principally, the most "disruptive" ever, as more technological innovations and artificial intelligence converges in the workplace and in society, than ever before. Adapting to new technologies and economic hardship, requires a new vision of what leadership and corporate culture means.

In a post-digital world we are "always online", may work from home and may increasingly relate to each other on mobile devices or in VR environments. That sort of connectedness requires a different fundamental attitude towards what leadership is and how it influences us in our organization(s). 

Leaders must be able to inspire their employees, venture capital and speak to their market anticipating future trends and enable the company to be the go-to solution customers will need six months, one year, five years down the road.

Using the same old leadership rhetoric won't work like it once did as management bridges the gap with younger leaders more in tune with contemporary trends. The world, both employees and consumers, are becoming more immune to advertising, the sales pitches, and the like, leaders must hit the reset button to find a new level of authenticity to remain exceptional motivators. 

-1-  Lead for the Future

In a world on the verge of exponential technological adaption, startups and entrepreneurs and the tech savy c-executive, have to embody innovation in their own workflows and lead by example, so the entire company culture can  become more agile so as to build the company that will resilient to changing demands of the future market. This requires an individual and cultural commitment to never-ending education and self-learning. 

-2- Be in Tune with Consumer Trends & Popular Memes

Too often CEOs and co-founders remain bogged down in the details of running their companies, however they also have to stay current to values of young people  who may become their future customers and this should permeate the way sales, marketing and product dev is done. Having an "old-school" mentality in 2016, simply won't work and you will be unable to scale your startup to contemporary customers or sustain and improve your established prowess in the market. 

-3- Listen to your Brand Advocates

Being in touch with your end-user, your customers and your brand advocates begins at the top. Is the company culture one of customer-centricity? Is the product being optimized according to the feedback of the average user? For customer success to optimize the experience of the consumer, leadership must have a grass-roots approach where the solution and service truly listens to its users and most loyal user-base. 

-4- Focus on the Storytelling of your Brand

The best leaders inspire their corporate culture and their potential customers with a narrative and a branding story that goes beyond the product, goes beyond marketing to the most simple, genuine and human emotional experiences.

Does your video content inspire with corporate social responsibility campaigns? Does it fuel interactive content from your consumers, in the form of innovative fresh user generated content? Does your content feel bold and new and is your company fertile grounds for emerging leaders with stellar employee driven content initiatives?

The best CEOs therefore are those that can leverage their company's uniqueness and authenticity and translate that into every aspect of the business. This means video, verbal and content persuasion of storytelling is key to the future of leadership. It's not enough to be talented in bus-dev, it has to translate into your company's video content, content marketing and the internal communication from management in a spirit of co-ownership of the entire brand.

Storytelling is not built upon pyramids and hierarchy, it's built by the mindshare & insights born of effective collaboration. 

-5- Creating An Experiential Corporate Culture

Allowing others to fully engage with their own leadership potential means hiring the smartest people you can find who fit the company culture and then giving them the space, recognition and benefits to truly produce the highest level of performance which they are capable. Creating an environment where innovation happens means Leadership must not only buy-into these principles but lead by empowerment. 

Harnessing the collaborative potential of Millennials may mean doing things a bit differently, and not simply imposing the status-quo style of management upon them. Being flexible and allowing your employees to lead requires trust that you have hired the right people and unless your company is able to give opportunities to learn by failure, employees will never fully buy-into fully identifying with their full ability to contribute to the shared vision. 

Leadership in a post-digital world means scaling with how human connectedness and a shrinking global (virtual) world evolves, and means new ways of relating to each other, that while benefiting from technology, is more genuine, personal and human than ever. 

 How do you think leadership is changing in a world of rapid technological change and the introduction of more AI?

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