Beyond technology: how to lead a company into the digital age
One of the great obstacles that executive leaders and managers of multiple organizations around the world have encountered has been how to efficiently implement technology and the digital resources available.
Although digital transformation is based on the implementation of technological resources, these are nothing more than that: resources.
For this investment to work, the main thing is that it be able to attract new clients and allow us to better connect with the ones we already have; but this will not happen if we do not have a team of committed and motivated collaborators.
For this reason, as I said in my previous article, managerial leaders must be able to strategically manage the incorporation of technology and digital tools and use them to facilitate the work of their collaborators. It is also important to get involved with the team and project a promising future for everyone.
Let us remember that the digital transformation will have no effect if all the components of the company are not aligned with the objectives.
Howard Tiersky, the author of the book Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irreverence, compares companies’ efforts toward digital transformation to icebergs in the ocean, noting, “Although our customers are at the top and visible, below the water our entire work team is here”, and this is a reality from which we must never deviate from our vision.
For Tiersky, the first thing we must do — once the areas that require transformation have been identified — is to present this vision in an inspiring way, so that the entire team wants to be part of the change process.
It is also essential to identify our allies and agents of change within the team, that is, those people who are “committed to making a difference” and to be part of the digital transformation process in their respective areas.
Clearly defining the objectives and celebrating the first success stories helps our team to be clear on the course we are setting and to quickly detect the improvements that the implementation of digital tools has brought in that sector.
Finally, Tiersky reminds us that it is not about digitizing or founding IT departments because it is fashionable or just because, but because these changes are aimed at optimizing our operational functions, which translates into a greater (and better) ability to attract customers and build confidence in your investments.
So the best way to bring our companies into the digital age is not just about buying state-of-the-art equipment and technology, but about demonstrating the human, operational, and business benefits that these resources bring to all of us.
