Defining Leadership In The Digital Age

The digital age is upon us. As businesses scramble to make the best of technology has to offer, we look at what leadership means during such times and the role that business leaders need to play to ensure the digital transformation is a success.

- Dhruv Mukerjee

The business ecosystem today is vastly different from the past. The nature of work is more collaborative and fast evolving than ever. Consumer preferences have been rapidly evolving and companies face both uncharted threats and opportunities as this opens newer markets and revenue streams. Unlike a time when changes within businesses were incremental, the current age of digital growth—both within business and consumers alike—has been far from taking small steps; today it is more akin to taking giant leaps.

As technology becomes the bedrock of market change, companies are slowly realizing that they now need to get used to surviving in a dynamic ecosystem where short term equilibrium is rare to be found. Business models have been under a constant need to evolve in an effort to reflect consumer needs more accurately and in turn, many who have failed to do so have perished. New market leaders have emerged as a first-mover advantage has played to great benefit, while in certain cases, companies that have adopted digital technologies later on, by driving their growth through a clear purpose and a well-honed work culture, have grown to capture a major portion of the market share. Traditionally big corporations compete with upstarts as decentralized use of technology helps surpass the economy of scale and build profitable enterprises. What has been called the Industrial Revolution 4.0—often with good reasons—has thrown the global economy into chaotic waters. It has led to terms like ‘Digital Darwinism’ enter the business lexicon, again with due reason.

It is in this reality that business leaders today find themselves at the helm of their organizations, on their shoulders the responsibility to successfully navigate their companies.