Leadership 2.0

Steering a digital transformation journey demands a strong sense of purpose, commitment to restructure the organisational core, and unwavering focus on the long term.

- NADA R SANDERS

We are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution—an age of AI, machine learning, robotics, blockchains, and IoT. It is a new era requiring new strategies to remain competitive. Old ways of leading organisations will no longer work. We need Leadership 2.0. If you do not believe this, then just look at what is happening to big-box retailers and incumbent organisations that are now on the brink of bankruptcy.

Successfully leading an organisation in the digital age takes bold disruption and a commitment to reengineering the company’s DNA. This level of change cannot be a knee-jerk response or just reaching for the newest CRM platform. Mutating from a traditional company with a rigid hierarchy and profit-based mission into a ‘humachine’—a combination of the better qualities of humankind with the mechanical efficiencies of machines—requires five distinct steps: developing a long-term vision, accurately assessing the status quo, allocating resources, embracing organisational transparency, and launching experimental pilot programmes.

Step 1: Develop a long-term vision

Many executives feel pressure to rapidly become ‘digital’ by acquiring technology. But research reveals that the most successful companies do not react to pressure. Instead, they begin by developing a long-term vision, driven by their unique intentionality and mission. Then, they carefully think about what a company’s structure should look like to support this vision.

Far too often, companies focus on current problems and find quick ways to address them. They merely ‘patch’ the current system. Hasty patches may have worked in the past, but it will not work in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Preventing your boat from capsizing is not the goal—it is ‘competing’ in the boat race.