Metastudy 2019: Leadership competencies in the digital age

"What competencies do leaders need to be successful in the age of digitalization?" To find out, the Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age (IFIDZ), Frankfurt, prepared a meta-study for which 61 studies and surveys on the topic of "Leadership & Management" published between 2012 and 2018 were evaluated. The aim of the meta-study was to determine, among other things:

• According to the studies analyzed, what competencies do managers need in the digital age?
• What new competencies are expected of them? And:
• Which competencies have the highest relevance for leadership success?

For this purpose, 61 studies and surveys on the topic of leadership of various types were examined, in which a total of more than 100,000 people participated - mostly managers, but also employees and scientists in some cases. The content of these primary studies was evaluated for the meta-study primarily in a formal-descriptive manner. In other words, the analysis focused on how many studies mention certain competencies as relevant leadership competencies. These competencies were then ranked according to the frequency with which they were mentioned in the meta-study.

Analog and digital leadership skills

In total, the ranking lists 86 leadership competencies that, according to the primary studies, have relevance for leadership success. The competencies mentioned most frequently in absolute terms are:

• Communication skills (57 percent),
• Ability to change (39 percent) and
• Appreciation/employee orientation (33 percent).

However, the study and the competence ranking distinguish between three types of competence.

• "Analog" competencies: They include competencies that were already known and relevant in the "pre-digital age" (e.g., the 1980s) and that have not changed or have changed only marginally in their nature and content.
• "'Analogital' competencies: They include competencies that were already known and relevant in the "pre-digital age", but which have changed significantly in their nature and content as a result of digitization.
• "Digital" skills: They include competencies that either did not exist in the "pre-digital age" or had little significance and only became relevant in the context of digitization.

 The most frequently cited "analogous" competencies in the primary studies are:

• Ability to change (39 percent),
• appreciation (33 percent) and
• Innovation capability (30 percent).

The most commonly cited "analogital" competencies are:

• Communication skills (57 percent)
• Network capability (26 percent) and
• Decision-making ability (25 percent).

The most commonly cited "digital" skills are:

• Transparency orientation (31 percent),
• Digital/IT expertise (28 percent) and
• Heterarchy capability (26 percent).

The perfect manager: A "Master of the Universe"?

According to the IFIDZ, one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the evaluation of the primary studies on which the meta-study is based is as follows: The requirements profile for executives in the digital age appears to be so multi-layered and complex - in view of the 86 competencies named in the primary studies - that the perfect executive appears to be a "master of the universe".

However, this should not be ignored: In the primary studies, the term "competence" is not defined unambiguously. In addition, the competencies (or skills, abilities and personality traits) mentioned are often interrelated and the terminology varies and changes. For example, in the studies published up to 2015, the terms "speed" and "flexibility" are mentioned quite frequently as competencies, whereas in the studies published later, the term "agility" tends to dominate. In addition, the studies sometimes speak of "motivational ability," sometimes of "inspirational ability," and sometimes of associated characteristics such as "being a role model" or "being a visionary" or "being optimistic." Therefore, the conclusion is permissible: Leadership in the digital age is demanding, but not a task that only people with superpowers can master.

People lead people

Another interesting finding, according to IFIDZ, is that the requirements for leadership in the digital age appear to be more "analog" than the digitization of the economy or the business of companies would suggest. Indeed, if one categorizes the 86 competencies in terms of their relationship to digitization, the following picture emerges: Of the 86 competencies, the following can be

• 72 percent as analog,
• 15 percent as analog and
• 13 percent as digital

be classified.

This means that the leadership process is largely analog, even in the digital age, because: People lead people. While digitization has a major impact on work and communication processes, it does not replace the human relationship. Under no circumstances, however, warns IFIDZ, should the importance of "digital and analog skills" be underestimated in light of this fact, because: Of the top 15 competencies, eight, or more than half, have a corresponding character.

For more information about the "Metastudy 2019: Leadership Competencies in the Digital Age", interested parties can visit the IFIDZ website (www.ifidz.de). There, in the "Studies" section, they can also request a management summary of the metastudy free of charge, if desired.