Developing leadership roles for a digital age
| Date | 14 October 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-10-2019-168 |
| Pages | 233-234 |
| Published date | 14 October 2019 |
| Author | Chris Underwood |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Strategic commentary
Developing leadership roles for a digital age
Chris Underwood
The prolific rise of digital
technology and data science is
reshaping every facet of
society as well as having a profound
impact on how we work. No business
can –nor indeed should –avoid the
implications, challengesand
opportunities that come with
embracing digital transformation.
Data science in particular is driving
the evolution of business and the
workspace and this is only set to
grow, considering we have barely
scratched the surface of the A.I,
Machine Learning (ML) and the
cognitive computing revolution.
One of the biggest challenges for
businesses is in how to respond
quickly, but appropriatelyto the
disruption occurring aroundthem so
that they are able to harness the
opportunities that change brings,
especially as research from McKinsey
shows that by 2030, 30 per cent of
industry revenue will come from new
business models.
Shifting business models and
emerging roles
Harnessing digital transformation to
respond to disruption and –indeed –
to be a disruptor requires a
fundamental shift in business model,
impacting everything from customer
experience and operations to
marketing and culture.
As such, leaders now need to be
agile, nimble, adaptable and capable
of driving a culture of innovation and
continuous improvement.They need
to understand how digital technology
and data science can shapetheir
organisations and those of their
competitors, be vigilant to the ever-
increasing risk from cybercrime,while
still retaining the foundations of
traditional leadership in terms of
displaying emotional intelligence,a
sense of purpose and realising the art
of the possible.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, leadership
roles have changed and developedin
recent times to reflect this. Chief Data
Scientist, Chief Digital Officer,Chief
Data Officer, Chief Transformation
Officer and Chief Information Security
Officer –these are not rolesthat
existed until recently,but are now
joining the C-Suite and are certainly
influencing the executive.
The traditional leadership team is
rapidly evolving. The trinityof the
CEO, CFO and COO still standsfirm,
however, new “Chiefs” and
triumvirates of CIO, CDO and CMO or
CPO are forming and joining the table
reflecting the hugely transformative
role that both digital and data are
playing across every industry and
function of an organisation.
Finding the right leaders
These new roles bring with them great
opportunity, but they also raise
challenges. For example, for a recent
Executive Search mandate,78 per
cent of the CDOs we engaged with
were in their first senior leadership
role. As such, they will have limited
experience of how to operate at
executive level and speak “executive”
Chris Underwood is based at
Adastrum Consulting, London, UK.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-10-2019-168 VOL. 18 NO. 5 2019, pp. 233-234, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 233
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