In the digital age, CEOs need a new mindset
With every business turning into a digital and data business, do we need a new kind of CEO?
The digital age has brought with it an expectation that CEOs think about business models, not just products. The CEO must think about customers and data, not just about technology. The CEO must think about the whole company, not just about the product. And most importantly, the CEO must think about the future—not just focus on what can be done in the next quarter to meet revenue goals.
These are all significant changes from how many businesses were run even 10 years ago—and they require a shift in mindset for any leader who wants to thrive in this new era of business leadership.
These are the three new competencies every CEO should master.
- The CEO must be a data-driven leader
- The CEO must lead in an agile way
- The CEO must have digital behaviours
You can’t lead a digital-first business without understanding what your data can tell you.
As a CEO, you can’t lead a digital-first business without understanding what your data can tell you. It’s not enough to just collect the data and hope that someone else will use it. You need to understand how data can help you drive business decisions and make better predictions about the future of your company.
You don’t need to be an expert in data science or statistics yourself, but understanding how data works is critical if you want to translate information into insights that lead to better business outcomes.
The goal of any CEO should be to take advantage of their team’s expertise in order to make smarter, faster decisions based on all available information—and not just intuition or gut instinct (though those are still useful).
Agile leadership requires giving up on control — and re-framing your role as coach.
Let’s talk about the relationship between a CEO and their employees. For example, let’s say you are a CEO who wants to turn their company into a digital business but doesn’t know how to do it themselves. How can they empower their employees?
What makes agile leadership so effective is that it gives up control in favor of empowerment. It requires that you give up on some of your own responsibilities as well as those of your teams, but in exchange for this sacrifice comes increased innovation and value for customers.
The best leaders don’t just talk about doing things differently, they act differently.
The best leaders don’t just talk about doing things differently, they act differently. They understand that the only way to win is to be different from your competitors.
They act differently because they know that their customers are changing and evolving at a rapid pace and if you want to stay relevant in the market, then your company needs to adapt too.
Here are some examples of how NOT to behave:
- Don’t ignore feedback from customers and employees – it’s essential for building relationships with them!
- Don’t keep doing what worked in the past without adapting those strategies for today’s customers’ needs…
The most effective CEOs are those who lead with a digital mantle.
But when it comes to leading in a digital-first environment, the most effective CEOs are those who lead with a digital mantle. They understand the importance of data and how it can be used to drive better decision-making, create more innovative products and services, and ultimately deliver value to customers. The ability to adapt quickly is also essential—because change is happening so quickly today, businesses need leaders who can stay ahead of the curve as they figure out what’s next for them.
To be effective in this new landscape, CEOs must be able to lead teams that are driven by data rather than gut instinct or emotionality; they must embrace agility as an organizational mindset; and they must know how to navigate through disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) or blockchain.
