Decoding Digital Heroes: Dr. Jerry Kane on Digital Leadership

Digital transformation doesn’t happen by itself. The reality is people are the driving force behind change. But how can you inspire your workforce to embrace digital leadership? In this episode, Dr. Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane discusses some of the key findings from his book, The Technology Fallacy: How People are The Real Key to Digital Transformation, and shares what it takes to be a digital hero.

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Digital Maturity and Digital Leadership 

“Over 50 percent of the most mature companies said, ‘we need more and better leaders to be successful in a digital marketplace.’ These digital maturing companies were actually doing something about it. They were far more likely to say they are developing the type of leaders that we need to work in a digital world. So it's not that these maturing companies had better leaders, but it's what they were doing to get and grow these better leaders inside.”

Training Digital Heroes

“You're going to have 30 percent of the people that will never be digital heroes that are always going to play it safe. They want to check the boxes and follow the rules. There's 40 percent in the middle that can go either way and are going to respond to the culture and respond to the signals from senior leadership. If you can convert that 40 percent to digital heroism, you're well on your way to digital maturity.”

Embracing the Soft Skills

“I've often said it's a lot easier for me to teach the average manager the technology they need, than it is for me to teach the technology leader, the management and the strategy and the business knowledge they need.”