Leadership

Shaping the future through a visionary leadership style, charisma and a convincing demeanor – the concept of leadership is in demand in companies. Leaders are characterized by courageous and intelligent leadership and, with their fresh ideas, are able to inspire employees to realize the company’s vision. Although leadership is also required in management, the two fields can be clearly distinguished from one another.

“The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” (Peter Drucker)

Management covers the organizational tasks that go hand in hand with the manager role in the form of administration. Leadership is characterized above all by the interaction between the leader and follower. It is about conveying character traits, situation-dependent behavior and values to followers and implementing these directional guidelines in team building and through the leader’s own actions. The key is to focus on communication and employee involvement. If the leader’s decisions enjoy the trust of his or her employees, they too will be willing to take risks and explore new avenues to advance the common goal.

Of course, the corporate culture must bring with it an awareness of this type of leadership style. Leadership can therefore take different forms and have different focal points.

Thought leadership: Influence through expertise and charisma

Thought leaders boast exceptional expert knowledge in a certain field and can thus become mentors and opinion leaders for a specific target group. This role can be played by a company, but also by an individual or brand. But it is not just a matter of responding to questions as an expert. Rather, thought leadership is about being a guide and providing support through expertise.

To give their visions a face, some companies strategically deploy people from top management, all the way up to the CEO. With active social media profiles, for example on LinkedIn and Twitter, presentations at conferences and interviews in leading industry media, these and their expert knowledge are brought to the public. This well thought-out strategy of corporate communication and the creation of a network around the thought leader are essential for his or her success. Controversial and opinionated thought leaders such as Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos get people talking and influence the entrepreneurial world, albeit with a polarizing effect.

Digital leadership – shaping the future

Digital leadership is not limited to technology and software. Rather, it also calls for a leadership style that brings about change through modern information technologies. The sustainable digital transformation also affects the attitude, perception, emotions, behavior and performance of employees to lead the company securely into a digital future. This sometimes requires a great deal of patience, as a profound change in corporate culture can only be established over years.

To successfully master the digital transformation, it is advantageous for companies to create the position of Chief Digital Officer (CDO). He or she should be able to break with traditional working methods and, as a personification of digital transformation, win over skeptics. Disruptive, innovative, courageous in leadership, socially competent and determined – these are characteristics that a CDO should possess. After all, these qualities are essential when it comes to convincing employees of the dynamics of change and familiarizing them with ever shorter digital innovation cycles.

Female leadership – diversity as an opportunity for success

Women are still a rare sight in top management. Large companies often have rigid structures characterized by tradition and a predominantly male environment. The current digital transformation is reforming old concepts and opening up the possibility of more flexible and freer working, from which women benefit. This transformation and a higher proportion of women in leadership positions can be seen in small companies and start-ups in particular. Social and communicative competence, empathy and team working skills are female strengths that are advantageous in the modern leadership role. To establish diversity in the corporate culture, a company’s female leaders must be visible to the public. Female role models encourage other women and companies to break down stereotypes in the professional world.

Numerous studies show that heterogeneous teams are also more efficient, more profitable and therefore more successful. So it is high time to make female power visible in the digital economy and to recognize diversity in leadership as a key factor for long-term economic success.