The challenge of leading in the era of digital transformation

You are going to read about:

• The different types of leadership;
• What is the best type of leadership for times of crisis?
• What kind of leadership best fits a digital transformation?

We are living in an era of products and services digitalization when companies and people are more accustomed to solving needs and desires through technology in an agile and increasingly satisfying way. A few years ago, we couldn't imagine how uncomplicated it would be for us today to order food, a taxi, share a car, conduct banking, watch a determined movie where and when we want and even find the crush. Today, all of this is in the palm of our hands. If experience A isn't good enough, in a second, I'll switch to B. Simple, fast, free of charge. 
 
Undoubtedly, this is creating a rush by large and successful traditional companies in search of creating new offers so as not to lose space in the market. It is not new to them that startups can grab their market share.  According to data collected at Startupbase, a database on the Brazilian startup ecosystem, there are currently around 12,800 startups in Brazil, distributed in various segments, such as banking, retail, education, and even civil construction.
 
This fast-paced environment ends up requiring all companies to enter the era of digital transformation. However, teams within organizations are made up of people from very different generations, with different experiences and very different levels of familiarity - and comfort - in relation to the digital environment. What do I mean by this? Clearly, Baby Boomers, generation X, Millennials (Y), and (Z) have different languages to deal with what is now a core theme in business. In this scenario, do companies and leaders have the necessary preparation to conduct a dialogue that allows consensus in relation to objectives and vision of the future (and the present)? 

The Leaders your company needs

There is a lot of literature to talk about different types of management, such as autocratic, democratic, servant, and coach leaders, also called digital leaders. In autocratic leadership, decisions are focused on one person. Initially, it can bring some good results based on solid experience. However, in such a volatile environment, this experience - or what was effective in the past - has no value in the long run. In addition, this management style ends up generating conflicts in the team-building process, as some professional profiles, like the younger generations, do not accept orders well without the possibility of questioning or dialogue. Older professionals, on the other hand, tend to become demotivated when their functions are reduced to mere execution. 
 
In the case of democratic leadership, it tends to share responsibility for problem-solving, and decisions are made with the collaboration of team members. This leadership style usually engages the team. But, if applied to a team that does not have much experience, it can result in a waste of time when it is difficult to reach consensus. And if the team is made up of very different age levels, it can also inhibit more young people from expressing their opinion.
 
Both types of leadership proved to be anachronistic to deal with the digital reality that, in addition to collaboration, needs to generate genuine exchanges of ideas and agility.
 
The profile of servant leadership is that which gained notoriety with the launch of the book “The Servant” in 2004, and which is composed of many of the behaviors that today we admire in leaders: they are present, they can listen to the needs of the team, they understand the problems, they teach, they share experiences and they have the potential to persuade. Servant leaders have the role of mentoring the team, pulling it, and directing it when the problem presents itself. Unlike autocratic leadership, it builds the solution together with the team. What sets it apart from the purely democratic, in turn, is the ability to understand differences between team members and work with them.
 
All of these characteristics seem to fit perfectly with the needs of a digital transformation, but is that profile prepared to carry it out? I would say that at certain times, such as in chaotic crisis scenarios - when a problem arises that needs an immediate solution - it fits perfectly. However, it is not enough to cover other digital requirements, such as the formation of teams ready to experiment and learn with speed, for continuous improvement. 
 
This is because, if the leadership works with a focus on mentoring, it tends to create a creative block in the team, which ends up being dependent on its direction. If the last word always belongs to the person who acts as a mentor, the team does not develop sufficient autonomy for the operation to gain the necessary agility in the digital environment.  
 
Precisely for this reason, the most complete profile to face the era of digital transformation is that of a coach leader, or as we call it here at CI&T, Lean Coach leader. 
 
But what would be a Lean coach leader? It is based on the principles of Lean management philosophy, such as continuous improvement, a clear vision of what problems are opportunities and collaboration. In addition, it has foundations in coaching, such as the search for self-knowledge and self-development of skills and competences. Exercising extreme empathy, Lean Coach leaders seek to extract the best from each person and the team as a whole, enhancing their performance. Instead of pointing out ways, or even playing a mentoring role in solving problems, he works with his team to foster discussions, generating clarity about problems, allowing the team to create possibilities for solutions independently and take action.
 
This leadership style does not provide answers, its main objective is to unlock the potential of people and foster creative minds, capable of solving problems more efficiently and autonomously. What is the result? Truly more collaborative environments, greater engagement of professionals, teams capable of enhancing their skills, innovating, and generating more positive impacts for business and customers.
 
However, as already said, in scenarios that require urgent and emergency measures, leaders will need to assume a more mentoring posture, directing the responses and the solution paths. Therefore, we have to agree that we must weigh the characteristics and limits of each model and know when it is time to activate one or the other. This will depend on the market context, the momentary reality of the company, the digital maturity of the teams, and the appetite for risk.
 
So, what's the leadership model that your company needs now?

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