Leveraging Technology To Amplify Leadership Development

As time progresses, the changing dynamics have made the environment more complex and volatile. The era of rapid globalization and innovation implies that the competencies associated with any kind of role within the organization are witnessing a paradigm shift; complex thinkers are being prioritized over workers who can’t function beyond their job descriptions. The ability to guide others towards the achievement of goals and targets, which is leadership, is no exception to this transition. Gone are the days when a leader was defined as the “one stressing supervisory control over employees”. The leader of modern times is meant to instill devotion within his or her subordinates for fulfilling the organization’s goals. The modern leadership style requires injecting high levels of enthusiasm into the team members coupled with the ability to think strategically in addition to managing changes efficiently. Clearly, such desideratum calls for what is known as “leadership development”. Why the need to enhance the skills of existing project managers and those in roles of similar capacity? It is no hidden fact that the ability to extract maximum benefits out of a weak business plan is what separates a great leader from a good leader. A good leader ensures that the objectives are met whereas a great one nails the opportunities beyond the stipulated goals. This pedigree of guides can be manifested only when candidates are laden with adaptive competencies such as self-awareness, the desire to learn, transcending through turbulent times with creativity while guiding others through the same, and the comfort in dealing with ambiguous situations. Development programs are necessary for imparting these competencies. Robert Graham in his article has described the failure of traditional leadership development programs; the programs of the past comprised of sending professionals off-site to attend workshops and conferences on ‘how to become better leaders’. Classroom training is not to be confused with cognitive development as explained here. The typical classroom setting where theory and information are delivered by a teacher, alone can’t nurture individuals who shall mentor and guide their subordinates in the future. This is where technology comes into the picture.

The advancement of information technology and the emergence of fields such as AI and robotics has broken down the traditional structure of conducting activities within organizations. Modernized offices, desks cluttered with smartphones, tablets, netbooks, etc. This list shall keep growing in the coming years. The implication here is that digital tech has become an indispensable component of getting the job done at the workplace, both effectively and efficiently. To keep up with rapid innovation, leaders need to master the process of digitalization. And the stepping stone for this is to incorporate digital technology within development programs. Some steps that can be taken to modernize development programs are:

• Creation of simulation environments using the concept of virtual reality wherein managers, supervisors, and others who have enrolled in the program are required to make decisions in stressful scenarios. This, in turn, helps reveal hidden weaknesses of individuals thereby prompting them to work on the same.

• A real-life example of leveraging the power of technology through the use of smartphone applications involves the hospitality giant Hampton, which rolled out a mobile app for its general managers that provides personalized leadership advice. Applications on a similar line can be designed to assist the program members during the course of the training.

• Video conferences and group chats are the perfect substitutes for creating programs that provide development mechanisms to the organizations’ global workforce. It also helps in dissolving geographical boundaries that often arise when teams dispersed across continents need to contact each other.

• An outcome expected out of a training module for managers is the ability to facilitate sound decision-making. Using appropriate statistical models and methods on quantifiable data obtained through techniques such as big data elevates the precision and accuracy that managers can achieve while making predictions in contrast to basing their decisions through the act of guessing. The precision obtained may not be huge when compared to guesstimates made on the basis of prior experiences and incidents. But then in business, a minuscule advantage can create huge impacts.

The advantages stated above simply reflect a tiny subset of the comforts that the integration of technology with leadership development program offers. The tight coupling of the two entities will strengthen even more as new inventions in the field of computer science are being formulated every other day.

While there’s no denying the fact that technology is a handy toolbox for building effective and personalized development programs, historical training methods cannot be completely overlooked. The trainers that are chosen for conducting such workshops are molded using the experience gained through years of rigorous study and practical dealings. Technology, or for that matter any discipline, cannot act as a permanent substitute for a teacher. Thus, for grooming the leaders of tomorrow and augmenting the skills of existing managers, both technology and development activities should go hand in hand, just like bread and butter.