Becoming the Leader of the Future

Why did you develop this program?

This program evolved out of the work of the HBS Leadership Initiative, which works to ensure that HBS stays at the cutting edge of research on leadership and leadership development. One priority has been to help executives learn how to lead innovation, as innovation is key to agility and growth in today's competitive environment. As it turns out, our research has helped us understand that leading innovation is different from leading change. It is hard to lead innovation these days without knowing how to build digitally mature organizations that are able to leverage digital technology and data assets.

A lot of research exists on innovation, digital transformation, and leadership, but we realized that very little research addresses these challenges in an integrated way and considers what an individual leader needs to do to build a digitally mature and innovative organization. In other words, what mindset, skills, and competencies does a leader need to have? This program explores that question.

What did you learn in your research on digital leadership that was surprising to you?

In our research, we spoke to 175+ executives around the world both in digital-first companies and in traditional companies that are incumbents in their markets. We also conducted a survey with 1,500+ Executive Education participants. Leaders told us the challenge is not so much about getting the technology or the data analytics right. Rather, it’s about getting people in their companies to embrace and leverage those capabilities to delight customers. This requires leading differently, interacting with your customers differently, and building out new ecosystems. You need to create an agile organization that can respond with speed and scale to emerging technologies. Leaders admit these are demanding times and that personal transformation—changing mindset and behavior—does not come easily.

What are some of the special leadership challenges that arise in the digital era?

The program explores a new level of collaboration—how to manage diversity and conflict constructively. We are no longer in the world of top-down hierarchies. Executives are accustomed to collaborating within their leadership teams, but new kinds of collaboration are called for in the digital era—collaborating across partnerships and ecosystems, as well as collaborating across hierarchies, functions, geographies, and generations.

In the program, we also consider the ethical dilemmas that result when a business operation relies on algorithms and data. Do you understand how your organization is applying data? Are you creating unintended biases? Just because something is possible, does that mean you should do it?

What can executives expect to learn in this program?

They will learn what it takes to lead a digital transformation and how to build a digitally mature organization. We explore two key areas. The first is personal leadership—developing the mindset, behaviors, and capabilities to be the leader of the future. The second is how to evolve the organization's culture and capabilities so that the business can compete and survive.

Digital transformation is not something you do once and don't think about again. Digital technology keeps evolving, so leaders and organizations need to evolve with it. This program creates a foundation that enables leaders to understand what they need to do differently to make sure their companies can keep learning and adapting to changes as they happen.

The program is intentionally multidisciplinary to help leaders take the enterprise-wide view as they evolve themselves and their organizations to succeed in the digital era. The teaching team includes faculty who focus on strategy, marketing, sales, leadership, and organizational behavior.

What kinds of executives will benefit most from attending?

This program is targeted at decision-makers with the power to drive change in their organizations, whether they are top executives of a company or unit, leaders of a function such as HR or marketing, or executives that run corporate accelerators or innovation labs. Executives from organizations at different stages of digital maturity will benefit. Some might be just starting the digital journey and are looking for a roadmap, while others might be well on their way but have found that progress has stalled and are looking for ways to remove roadblocks.

This program is also a good fit for leaders who are transitioning into a role with greater decision-making responsibility and want to know how to take their organization into the future.

Ideally, each program session will include a mix of executives—with different levels of experience, from different functions, different industries, and different geographies. We have observed that both digital-first companies and more traditional companies face some of the same challenges. The mix of perspectives will enhance the learning experience for all.

Should companies consider sending a team?

Most companies will send individuals, but we also welcome teams of up to five people. The ideal team will bring together people from different levels or functions—perhaps an executive in charge of digital transformation, an HR executive who has been tasked with cultural transformation, and someone on the operations side who brings knowledge of digital methods like machine learning and AI. We find that teams contribute to the learning of other participants. In addition, teams learn from each other together in ways that make the transfer of learning easier when they return to work.

What is unique about the learning approach?

We want to make sure that when executives attend one of our programs, they all can actually apply what they have learned when they get back to work. Each morning, participants will be engaged in interactive case discussions and faculty presentations, but every afternoon they will participate in application labs, where they will apply the learning in a more experiential, hands-on way through assessments, small-group work, and exercises. During the afternoon sessions, executives will also work on a problem they are currently facing in their organization. The program includes guest speakers and expert panels as well.

What can you tell us about the cases discussed during the program?

We have developed 11 new cases on digital transformation. We are including at least six of them in this program, featuring a mix of early-stage companies and established incumbents like Pfizer, Salesforce, and Delta.

We love all our cases, but two in this new batch stand out. The Pfizer Global Supply Chain case focuses on how the company's transformation of its supply chain before 2020 enabled it to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine in record time. We also have a exciting case on a new organization, avatarin, a spinoff of ANA, which is developing a global platform to allow for "teleportation without the mass."

If someone has completed other digital-related programs at HBS such as Driving Digital Strategy, is Leading in the Digital Era relevant?

Yes. There is almost no overlap between the programs. Driving Digital Strategy focuses mainly on strategy, while some other programs focus more on digital operations. Leading in the Digital Era addresses the question that participants in the other programs often ask: "So, how do I get others in my organization to actually execute our digital strategy or use data to make decisions?" In fact, we have been working with the Driving Digital Strategy faculty to develop complementary materials and experiences. Executives will benefit from both programs and can attend them in either order.