Category: Digital Leadership

Posted on

The Role Of Leadership In Digital Transformation

The emergence of digital transformation has become synonymous with the evolution of modern business strategy. In this rapidly changing business environment, leadership plays a pivotal role in guiding organizations through the complexities of this metamorphosis.

Digital transformation is not solely about adopting new technologies; it is about revolutionizing how a business operates and delivers value to its customers. It encompasses a redesign of processes, policies, and strategies, demanding an agile approach tailored to the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Leadership in digital transformation encompasses several specific roles and responsibilities. Firstly, leaders set the vision and strategy for change. They are the architects of the transformation journey, envisioning how digitalization will reshape their organization’s future. They must be forward-thinking and adept at anticipating market trends and customer needs.

Secondly, leaders are catalysts for cultural change. Digital transformation requires fundamental shifts in how employees think and work. Leaders must cultivate an environment that embraces innovation, continuous learning, cooperation across silos, and a willingness to take calculated risks. Without leadership fostering this mindset, resistance to change can stifle progress.

Moreover, leaders in digital transformation act as decision-makers on technology investments. They need to balance the allure of cutting-edge solutions with practicality and focus on tools that deliver real value to their operations and customer experiences.

Leaders must also be communicators, ensuring clear articulation of the goals and benefits of digital initiatives. They need to keep their teams informed, aligned, and motivated towards common objectives. This communication is vital both for internal teams who execute the strategy and external stakeholders such as customers, partners, and investors whom it affects.

Furthermore, leadership’s role involves being a talent attractor and developer. Digital expertise is crucial for success; thus leaders should not only recruit those with requisite skills but nurture an environment conducive to upskilling existing staff to meet new challenges head-on.

To cap it all, leadership must exemplify adaptability. In the fast-paced nature of digital change, leaders need to be quick in learning from successes and failures alike; they must champion iterative improvement rather than expect perfection from the outset.

In conclusion, leadership is at the heart of any successful digital transformation. As orchestrators of change who can inspire their organization toward a shared vision of a digitized future; without effective leadership – no matter how advanced the technology – true transformation cannot occur. Whether through visionary foresight, cultural cultivation or strategic decision-making; strong leadership is undeniably critical in crossing the chasm from traditional operations to a digitally empowered enterprise.

Posted on

Leadership Blueprint: How To Drive Digital Transformation

In an age where technology evolves at a breakneck speed, digital transformation has become a pivotal strategy for businesses to stay competitive and relevant. However, this profound change doesn’t just entail adopting new technologies; it requires robust leadership to guide the transition effectively. This article presents a blueprint for leaders aiming to drive digital transformation in their organizations.

 Visionary Approach

Leaders must start with a clear vision that outlines the digital future of the organization. This vision should align with overall business objectives and should reflect an understanding of the potential impact of digital technologies on the industry. Moreover, it should inspire innovation, setting a direction that encourages continual growth and adaptability.

 Strategic Planning

Once the vision is established, develop a comprehensive strategy that details how the organization will achieve its digital goals. This includes identifying key technologies, processes to be digitized, and metrics to measure the success of digital initiatives. The strategy must also consider budgeting for technology investments and training employees in new digital skills.

 Fostering a Digital Culture

Cultural transformation is as critical as technological change. Leaders must champion a culture that embraces innovation, agility, and informed risk-taking. Encourage collaboration across departments and promote learning opportunities to help team members become comfortable with digital tools and methodologies, like agile or design thinking.

 Leading by Example

For digital transformation to take root, leaders must walk the talk. This means not only advocating for changes but also actively using new technologies and demonstrating their benefits. Leaders should aim to be role models in adapting to new workflows and practices.

 Empowering People

Empower employees to contribute to the transformation process by giving them ownership of initiatives or projects. Providing teams with autonomy in their work encourages them to experiment with innovative solutions and makes them more invested in the success of digital efforts.

 Continuous Adaptation

Understanding that digital transformation isn’t a one-off project but an ongoing journey is essential for success. Stay alert to technological advancements and industry shifts that could affect your strategy, and be prepared to pivot when necessary.

 Leveraging Data-Driven Insights

Lastly, use data analytics to inform decision-making at every stage of the transformation journey. Data can provide insights into customer behavior, operational efficiencies, and market trends — all valuable information that supports more informed strategic adjustments. In conclusion, driving digital transformation requires strong leadership characterized by vision, strategic planning, cultural advocacy, personal commitment, empowerment of others, adaptability, and data-savviness. With these components in place, leaders are better positioned to steer their organizations towards a successful digital future.

Posted on

What Is Leadership Development? 6 Tips To Identify Emerging Leaders In Your Organization

Leadership development is a systematic approach to expanding the performance capabilities of individuals in leadership roles within an organization. This process involves cultivating a pipeline of leaders who can help drive the company forward and ensure its long-term success. By focusing on leadership development, an organization invests in its future by equipping its people with the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes to navigate complex business landscapes and inspire their teams effectively.

Identifying emerging leaders within your organization is a critical component of this process. Here are six tips to help you recognize and nurture potential leaders:

1. Look for Initiative: Pay attention to employees who consistently go above and beyond their job descriptions. These individuals show a natural inclination towards taking ownership of projects and are often self-motivated in seeking new challenges.

2. Evaluate Problem-Solving Skills: Future leaders tend to stand out through their ability to think strategically and provide solutions to complex problems. They show resilience and adaptability when faced with obstacles, turning challenges into opportunities.

3. Assess Interpersonal Skills: Strong candidates for leadership are adept at communication, relationship-building, and conflict resolution. They exhibit emotional intelligence that enables them to connect with others, gain trust, and foster collaboration.

4. Observe Learning Agility: Look for those who have a continuous learning mindset. Emerging leaders are usually quick learners who are curious about new ideas and can translate their insights into actionable strategies.

5. Recognize the Capacity to Influence: Potential leaders influence their colleagues not through authority but through their behaviour, ethics, and values. They inspire others by setting a positive example and articulating a clear vision.

6. Track Record of Success: While past performance isn’t always a predictor of future success, an individual’s achievements can indicate their potential for growth. Those who have delivered results consistently might be ready to take on more significant leadership roles.

Developing a rigorous leadership development program is vital for nurturing these talents systematically. The use of formal training sessions, mentorship programs, job rotations, and stretch assignments can provide emerging leaders with the diverse experiences they need to grow. By identifying and developing your future leaders early, you ensure that your organization is never short on the high-caliber leadership required to thrive in an ever-evolving business environment.

Posted on

Digital Leaders: Everything You Need to Know

For digital leaders, their actions encompass way more than just the consumption of information. Instead, they synthesize learning, encouraging the utilization of the process in environments that value collaboration.  Digital leaders are energetic change agents who strive to transform the status quo and generally make things better in their sphere of influence by facilitating excellent communication. In doing so, they utilize several technological advancement tools. As such, digital leaders are often able to cause progression in digital technology for themselves and, in addition, for other people.

For successful digital transformation, organizations depend on the guidance of skilled digital leaders. Today’s digital world has become a place that attracts, connects, and gives fuel to a diverse group of people who’re there of their own free will, not due to coercion. As a result, this world is often radically different from the traditional domains. Here, structure makes way for fluidity, control for influence, and certainty for ambiguity. In this changed scenario, digital leaders have to initiate organization-wide efforts to bring changes to processes and mindsets, along with choosing and implementing the most suitable technologies for business sustenance and growth.

Typically, highly effective digital leaders should have the following four traits:

1.  Adaptability: Since digital initiatives are almost “never-ending,’’ digital leaders need to be adaptable with their communication and implementation of technology shifts without disrupting other strategies. When a different approach to work is necessary, communicating the right way and motivating employees to embrace the change is crucial. Even when initiating technology shifts, it’s important to be adaptable to avoid interfering with existing strategies or initiatives.  

2.  Ability to cope with and navigate through changes: This is part of being adaptable. Digital transformation requires coping with changes and navigating through them by encouraging agility and experimentation, while ensuring a framework is ready to manage the associated risks.

3.  Adept at building relationships: As transformation is basically about relationships, contextual awareness and building better relationships with the stakeholders are crucial. Be it the business partners or the employees, digital leaders should be able to understand their needs and pain-points and collaborate with them on new technology and business processes to ensure long-term success.

4.  Superb communication and collaboration skills: Digital transformation involves new ways of working as a team. This makes it vital for digital leaders to be able to clearly communicate their goals and tactics and explain how crucial the role of every single employee or business partner (external or internal) will be, thus encouraging collaboration.

Posted on

Digital Portfolio: Everything You Need to Know

This is a teaching portfolio that is stored on the web or an external storage device. A digital portfolio helps teachers connect with other educators and reflect on their classroom experiences and provides a platform to showcase their work in an easy-to-access format. Creating and maintaining an updated digital portfolio is very important for modern teachers to market their abilities and skills in an increasingly digital society. Teachers can establish a digital portfolio by creating a website, blog, or professional presence on social media platforms, which can help them showcase their abilities and experiences in interview settings and to current employers, students, and parents.

Through resource sharing and reflections, a website can help students, parents, and employers comprehend a teacher’s professional potential. Teachers can conveniently create a website using Google Sites or a website builder. The website may include an “About the Teacher” page, individual pages for the courses the educator teaches, and a “Classroom Happenings” page that gives a glimpse into the teacher’s teaching environment. Teachers can also showcase examples of a unit or lesson plans, student work, or projects. They should include everything on the website that’ll help strengthen their digital presence and demonstrate their skills as educators.

A blog allows teachers to curate and display evidence of their abilities and classroom experiences. It’s also a wonderful way to reflect on their craft, which is very important to their growth and success. While typical resumes are brief and comprise only basic information like education, work history, etc., a digital portfolio as a blog offers a more dynamic representation of educators. Teachers can choose from several great platforms such as WordPress and Blogger to create professional-looking blogs. While a blog allows teachers to express themselves creatively, they should include some basic pages or sections. For instance, an “About” page that shares important details of the teacher or a drop-down menu containing a resume, published articles, and up-to-date contact information. Teachers may also include additional pages to showcase the skill sets that may help them stand out from the crowd.

Teachers should keep some dos and don’ts in mind when creating and maintaining a digital portfolio.

Dos:

·         Sharing information about what’s happening in the classroom

·         Mentioning relevant skills and classroom experiences

·         Reflecting on what’s and what isn’t working in the classroom

·         Sharing interviews, articles, and other projects they’ve been involved with

Don’ts:

·         Sugarcoating the classroom experiences

·         Vaguely describing the skill sets

Posted on

When a School’s IT Faces AI Automation

AI in schools has provoked plenty of speculation among educators about the implications for its use. Educators and administrators have long debated whether AI could ever automate their jobs, forcing educators to find other careers.

Could artificial intelligence automate school IT, and, if so, what happens to those jobs?

It’s already happening, and schools are preparing learners to develop more artificial intelligence automation, but that doesn’t mean you will be laid off.

Artificial Intelligence Automation Already Works Behind the Scenes

IT departments have long incorporated artificial intelligence automation in schools. Automated tech has, for example, brought about personalized learning. Learners engage in individualized lessons and artificial intelligence programs aid educators in identifying and diagnosing learning difficulties among learners. The result is more efficient instruction delivered to match the learner’s instructional pace.

For example, the department can establish a helpdesk in which every service ticket follows an organized workflow. Chatbots have streamlined the process by moving tickets up and down the queue based on seriousness. They also work 24/7, unlike a human IT department.

The result is a more efficient system that allows people to focus on other tasks.

Preparing Learners and Schools for Innovation

You may know teachers who are in denial about the acceptance of technological advances. Still, schools are embracing the potential of artificial intelligence automation by encouraging students to learn new automation technologies themselves. Lambda Schools, for example, positions their learners for hire in high-paying tech jobs after completing rigorous, hands-on classes.

Lambda School isn’t a physical place; learners access their classes online and participate in internships. Learners are ready to work by the time they graduate, and the learners learning how to make artificial intelligence today may be rebuilding your school’s IT programs tomorrow. 

Keep your IT job – for now

Ignore artificial intelligence automation advances in schools – or any other industry, for that matter — and you may find that artificial intelligence automation has indeed left you behind. 

Artificial intelligence automation will replace repetitive and tedious tasks, leaving you more time for strategic thinking. Although your job has become redefined or disappeared altogether, new opportunities will arise.

Leverage these opportunities by becoming an artificial intelligence automation advocate for school IT with savvy strategies like these:

Artificial intelligence automation will only be as good as the people designing and implementing it. That means learning how to innovate artificial intelligence automation and influence decisions. By leading with a vision, you become an indispensable member of the school’s IT squad.

Innovation is scary unless you are kept in the loop. By embracing new tech and becoming an artificial intelligence automation subject matter expert, you’ll find it less scary than you initially thought. You’ll also build your reputation and position yourself for advancement.

Artificial intelligence automation will make opportunities in new jobs, most of which have not yet been invented. Your duties and job title may change, but tech advocates are indispensable. Artificial intelligence automation is still in its infancy, but it continues to grow exponentially. By growing with it, you’ll have a stellar professional career ahead of you.

Posted on

Stretching Your School’s Education Technology Budget

Every school wants to offer its learners the best, most current, most meaningful opportunities.  In the contemporary era, this means providing its learners with appropriate and useful tech.  Unfortunately, tech can also be very expensive. With education budgets getting smaller, being fiscally responsible and taking advantage of cost-saving measures is paramount in ensuring that learners are taken care of and given the best opportunities.

Here are nine tips for stretching your dollars count in integrating tech in an educational environment.

Leverage Group Rates

One iPad is expensive, and a thousand iPads are a thousand times more expensive… or are they?  Many tech providers offer a discount for buying tech in bulk.  School districts can earn discounted rates if they are part of a consortium of schools investing in tech together. Get quotes from two or more tech suppliers.  When companies compete, you can save big.

Sustainable Tech

Be careful not to over-buy just because you think you’re getting a deal.  It’s fiscally responsible for buying just what you need. Wasted tech can end up being a drain on resources.  As tech ages, make sure you are investing in maintenance only for salvageable machines.  For instance, more than five-year-old computers are often more expensive to repair than replace with newer, more efficient, and effective computer devices. Sustainable tech also means rotating the tech.  Tech classes should receive the most advanced techs, or as much as their class necessitates, but most educators and classes would appreciate the second-hand devices.  

Purchase the Right Tools for the Job

Make sure you are purchasing machines and tech that are appropriate for your school’s wants and needs. Decking out a computer lab with iPads, for example, might not be practical if learners will be using the lab for typing papers. You may not require a high-powered machine for every class.  However, those same English classes do not need gaming laptops with high RAM and graphics cards.  It’s a great rule of thumb to purchase the least expensive tech that meets your needs and is reliable and reputable.

Purchase Tools that Can Multi-Task

Don’t box yourself into tech that can be used for one class.  One-to-one initiatives can be used for several classes and tasks. Ensure that you identify what tools can be used in all—or at least many—classes and provide learners with the opportunities they need.

Find Opportunities for Freemium Resources

Web-based software apps are becoming popular, and most apps for tablets are, if not free, available in a “lite” form that often is close to free.  This is a good way to try out programs without committing to spending large portions of your tech budget. You can pilot apps with groups of learners, study their comparative efficacy and, if the learners, educators, and admin agree that something is worthwhile, you can invest your funding in the full paid version.  This saves money that would otherwise be wasted buying apps that might end up being useless.

Standardize tech

Even though education is a personal, often artistic endeavor, something is to be said about standardizing the tech. Standardizing the kind of tech you use can increase savings through bulk purchasing options, streamlining repair, and making training simpler.

Stop Spending Money on Old/Obsolete Tech

There may always be educators who prefer overhead projectors and cassette tapes. But maintaining these items is costly. Overhead projector bulbs alone can ravage school tech budgets. Phasing these technologies out or selling these old machines can pad your tech budget, making room for the things that will benefit the learners most.

Explore Alternative Funding Options

The easiest way to stretch a budget is to make a budget larger! Explore funding options, available grants, or donations. As BYOD becomes more popular, it offers the chance for districts to invest their tech budgets in other pursuits as well.

Tech is becoming a necessity in education. Preparing learners to use tech is an important real-world skill. Following these tips will enable your district to make money to provide the learners with the tech they need.

Posted on

Make Your School Safer with Tech

Since 2002, law enforcement officers have trained communities across America in ADD (Avoid, Deny, Defend) responses to active threat situations. The training is useful and practical. People should learn how to respond safely in life-threatening conditions.

However, in the seventeen years since this program began, nearly 300 learners have lost their lives at school due to gunfire. Not all of these deaths were related to mass shootings. Some were the result of arguments, and others stemmed from gang violence.

There may be no hot-topic more controversial than gun control, but that’s something best saved for another post. We need to focus on what we can do now to keep our schools safe. We may even have the protection tools at our fingertips.

Schools need to incorporate tech that keeps learners and educators safe from any threat.

Safety Systems in Use

There are already safety-oriented technologies available for school use. Some tech systems monitor everything from your buildings to your social media presence. Others track campus visitors or allow for both anonymous reporting and mass messaging.

Are these school safety tech systems enough? The answer is yes if they work the way they were designed. Most safety apps depend on users reporting any dangerous behaviors they see. Unfortunately, most times, learners won’t call out friends or acquaintances to report suspicious behavior. They recognize the warning signs but don’t speak up.

Schools and parents have a responsibility to teach learners how to identify serious threats. Emergencies include:

·       Inflicting pain, injury, or death

·       Running away

·       Damaging property

Anyone making a threat who has a track record of deviant behavior or who exhibits signs of mental illness must be reported to the school administration. Apathy or hesitation could mean the difference between life and death.

Tech can make these reporting decisions quicker and more accurately than the best-informed learners and educators.

The Safety Tech We Need

To keep schools safe, we need more than a single safety device. We must have layers of safety tech.

Although we must teach our learners when and how to report safety threats, we must provide them with a safe and anonymous system. We can also install security cameras in all public areas of the school. Facial recognition software can improve safety. It scans faces throughout the day, and it can instantly identify someone who does not belong at the campus. The same software can also “read” emotions and report the learner or adult wearing a suspicious or out-of-place look on their face.

Additionally, schools must make use of emergency notification software. Messages can be pushed out on desktops and smartphones, giving educators time to gather learners and shelter in place. Two-way messaging systems allow educators to report which learners may have stepped away from the classroom before an alert was sent out.

No kid should be exposed to violence in school. When danger does threaten, layers of safety tech can improve the likelihood of remaining safe. 

Posted on

The Real Reason Your School Avoids Artificial intelligence

Education has not embraced artificial intelligence. Some educators find themselves reluctant to join their peers in its adoption. They understand that artificial intelligence can improve learning outcomes, but they shun artificial intelligence. They would rather do everything themselves even though artificial intelligence could increase their job satisfaction.

Artificial intelligence provides text analysis, automated grading, and tutoring systems. These benefit learners and educators. As the scope of artificial intelligence continues to improve, we’ll continue to see it included in every aspect of instruction. 

Most educators rely on artificial intelligence for testing, customized instruction, and even predicting academic achievement outcomes. Their jobs have become more streamlined, and tech helps them reach more learners.

However, not all educators have been quick to accept the inevitable inclusion of artificial intelligence in their classrooms. They analyze data on their own, rely on traditional classroom management strategies, and customize learning themselves. This adherence to past practices can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Educators’ unwillingness to embrace change has left them—and possibly their learners—behind.

Some educators aren’t interested in what artificial intelligence can do for them. 

How Artificial Intelligence Helps the Classroom 

Educators find themselves responsible for meeting more expectations with each passing year. They must accommodate various learning styles. They have to make scaffolded instruction for every learner. Educators do not have enough time in the day to do it all.

Today’s classrooms require that educators possess immense adaptability and flexibility. Academic expectations are changing all the time. To meet these changing expectations, education leaders revise learning standards and increase rigor. These revisions require new instructional methods and resources to support them. 

AI provides the extra boost educators need to educate the whole kid and meet standards. Intelligence automation helps educators in the pursuit of what’s best for every kid in their classrooms. It makes teaching easier.

Why would educators run from something that helps them do their jobs? 

Job Replacement Concern 

The real reason your school avoids artificial intelligence is fear. 

Some educators worry that that artificial intelligence will make their skills obsolete. Artificial intelligence will take over traditional educator tasks. Some educators think AI will replace educators. No educator wants to lose their job to artificial intelligence. 

It’s up to us to help our educators understand that artificial intelligence will not replace them. We need our educators more than ever, especially as artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent. Educators bring immense value to the classroom. They bring human empathy. Artificial intelligence performs the many routine instructional tasks so that educators can fulfill their roles as inspirational role models for their learners. 

No amount of AI will ever replace that.

Posted on

How to Avoid Poor Tech Training Practices

Tech training for educators usually fits into one of two categories.

Either it’s well-planned and effective because educators received thorough training before using a new tech tool, or it’s a bust. Inadequate training is either frontloaded at the start of the year or thrown at educators along the continuum.

Educators don’t remember training when it all occurs in the days before the academic year begins. They don’t appreciate training set up as afterthoughts, which usually comes after they have already failed to properly use the new tech.

There are more effective ways to provide tech professional development.

Blending Formal and Informal Training

Like most universities, New Jersey-based Stevens Institute of Tech offers online courses. Most professors find themselves unfamiliar with the best practices for remote instruction. Therefore, Stevens has created a blended professional development program that helps instructors maximize the online format.

The university takes its instructors through a simulated course. The professors who want to teach online must first learn how to take classes online. They’re required to do all the work learners do for course completion. By having the educators participate in discussion boards and submit work through digital portals, the university assures that the professors understand their learners’ experiences with learning online.

Other institutions team their faculty with technical designers. They also offer chances for professors to meet with colleagues facing the same challenges.

By combining formal and informal training, the universities are better preparing to use tech in their classes.

Engage Your educators

The only way to accomplish anything is to model the behavior you want to see. If you think learners must participate in hands-on activities involving tech, why wouldn’t you expect the same thing from your educators?

Instead of assigning additional study modules or another lunch training to catch up, get your educators involved. Let them experience and explore the simulations in VR. Invite them to maker-spaces so they can create things. Utilize gamification to engage and excite your educators about learning and teaching in new ways.

Make Professional Development a Priority

Too often, educator training takes a backseat to everything else that has to be done at school. Until education leaders make educator training for tech their priority, educator skills will lag. Your teaching staff will never feel they have mastered the tech skills they need to do their jobs.

It’s unreasonable to ask educators to use a new education technology program like an LMS without teaching them how to use it. If your school used a “figure it out on your own” approach to educator training, it’s time for a change.

Try an approach comparable to that of higher education. Encourage educators to first learn as students. Then provide opportunities to collaborate and reflect on instructional practices. Ensure that you provide both formal and informal opportunities for training.

Educators recognize that their learners don’t all learn the same way. Now we need to start applying this theory to our educators.