In a digital business environment, great leaders are those who understand the importance of technology and analytics. But that alone is not enough. Mastering personal relationships that build trust and create a collaborative work environment is key to leadership effectiveness in the digital economy. I read this article, written by Douglas A. Ready. I wanted to share this, because it really aligns with my vision on personal relationships and building trust.
Yetunde Olowe
The original article is published on MIT Sloan Management Review
Why Great Leaders Focus On Mastering Relationships
Mastering personal relationships that build trust and create a collaborative work environment is centralto leadership effectiveness in the digital economy.
This skill set distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones, based on my interviews with C-suite executives in companies around the world.
In a digital business environment, great leaders are those who appreciate and understand the power of
technology and analytics. But that alone is insufficient. They must also have the skills and mindsets to
bring together people from diverse businesses and functions to deliver superior customer outcomes.
As Lori Beer, CIO at JPMorgan Chase, says:
“We don’t need everybody to know how to write the perfect API, but we do need people with a
passion for working together to create an understanding of how those APIs, a blockchain, the cloud,
AI, and machine learning can change the way you think about delivering services to our customers.”
Why Mastering Relationships Matters
Great leaders have always done three things exceptionally well:
- Inspire teams that continuously produce innovative, cost-effective products and services that
generate superior outcomes for customers and shareholders. - Create inclusive working environments that foster collaboration and employee growth and
continuous development. - Conduct business responsibly to benefit communities and society.
In an increasingly digital economy, today’s leaders need to address each of these leadership challenges with a renewed focus on relationship building.
Read the whole article here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Douglas A. Ready is a senior lecturer in organizational effectiveness at the MIT Sloan School of
Management, founder and CEO of the International Consortium for Executive Development Research
(ICEDR), and MIT SMR guest editor. He tweets @doug_ready.
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