Digital leadership in Australia

Developing leaders for the digital age is

mission-critical for future organisational success.

Korn Ferry research indicates that leaders across

APAC are not yet digital-ready and risk derailing

digital sustainability initiatives by perpetuating

legacy ways of working. We also hear from many

leaders who understand the need for change, but

are struggling to balance performance expectations

today, while innovating for the future.

The fact is, according to Korn Ferry’s digital

sustainability research, failure to act now risks the

future success of the business and has real and

quantifiable bottom-line impact.

The research also pinpoints people as the lynchpin of

digital sustainability. The role of leaders in activating

people to support change can’t be underestimated.

But first, leaders must personally transform in order

to inspire and engage their people and create a

more open, agile and networked culture to power

performance.

Why it matters

Transformational leaders are critical in ensuring that

organisations leverage new technology by driving

business impact in 4 key ways:

1. Changing current business models

2. Impacting products and services

3. Creating new customer experiences

4. Identifying new ways of working

1

The digital leadership imperative

| Digital leadership in Australia |

As we move toward a world

where everything that

can be connected will be

connected and automated,

digital disruption is set to

accelerate. The leaders

who can make sense of this

change, encourage a culture

that embraces change, and

constantly drive to innovate,

will be the ones who will

evolve their organisations and

succeed in this environment of

uncertainty.

Brendon Riley

Group Executive

Telstra Enterprise

Great digital leaders are flexible and inclusive, responding

seamlessly to the push-and-pull priorities of the digital

environment.

Drawing on the Korn Ferry Four Dimensions of Leadership

and the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential,

we identified the traits, competencies and drivers that are

crucial to developing great digital leadership.

Together, these characteristics describe a leader who is

people-centric, not tech-centric. They’re humble leaders

who are innately comfortable in dealing with risk in

unstructured and ambiguous environments. Combined

with strong situational and emotional awareness, these

qualities allow them to step back and empower their

people to test ideas; to succeed or fail and change

direction as the conditions require. Critically, they

create a supportive and focused environment for their

people through engaging and inspiring them in a strong

future vision and keeping a continued eye on driving for

results.

2

What do great digital leaders look like?

| Digital leadership in Australia |

The unique characteristics of high-performing digital leaders

© Korn Ferry Institute 2018. All rights reserved.

| Digital leadership in Australia |

Australia performed well in Korn Ferry’s Digital

Sustainability Index (DSI) and the profile of Australian

leaders was the closest to the great digital leader

archetype in our analysis of leaders across APAC.

However, the analysis of more than 1,700 Australian

leaders shows that they still need to do more to close

some significant gaps, particularly in unleashing

creative and curious entrepreneurial thinking to

develop innovative solutions and help build a

compelling vision for the future.

As a nation we are egalitarian by nature, but the forces

of hierarchy in large organisations can become too

imposing for leaders to withstand. Australian leadership

teams need to find ways to build greater openness to

new ideas across their organisations. Leveraging ‘how I

lead’ rather than ‘what I know’ is a first step for leaders

to cultivate an innovative culture. Increasing connectivity

outside of the organisation, rather than remaining mired

in the busy-ness of delivering short-term results is an

additional ‘must do’ for leaders when building innovative

organisations.

Triggering these changes to mindset and culture will

help Australia maintain and even grow its standing in the

DSI. This is the real challenge for Australian leaders - to

engage their people not simply through the early waves

of change, but through the ongoing swell in order to

become truly digitally sustainable.

Spotlight on Australia

3

TRAITS

DRIVERS

COMPETENCIES

Most SoughtDigital Leaders

Typical Australian Leaders

C

ULT

IVA

TE

S TO

LE

REN

CE O

F

RIS

K TAKIN

G

CURIOSITY CONFIDEN

CE

ADA

PTA

BIL

ITY

S

TR

UC

TU

RE

DR

IVE

S R

ES

ULTS

ENG

AG

E A

ND

MANAGES STRATEGIC VISION

CH

ALLE

NG

E

IN

DE

PE

ND

EN

CE

INS

PIR

ES

AMBIGUITY

IN

NO

VA

TIO

N A

MB

IGU

ITY

Australian Leaders vs global digital benchmark

© Korn Ferry Institute 2018. All rights reserved.Based on Korn Ferry Assessment data.

| Digital leadership in Australia |

Understand the capability your organisation needs to

drive your success in a digital world and be forensic in

understanding how well you have the capability you need

to achieve it. Understand the organisational enablers and

inhibitors affecting their contribution.

4

1. Know what you need versus what you have

Organisations need to move

beyond seeing ‘strategy’

and ‘results’ in a binary way.

Businesses need leaders who

can look at business through

multiple business lenses and

build open and networked

teams who can innovate

and adapt to drive business

outcomes.

Anita Wingrove

Senior Client Partner

Korn Ferry Hay Group, Australia

Three ways to kickstart the shift to a digital mindset

Be clear about who are the core leaders to run your

business versus those who can digitally transform your

business. Align and build leadership capability so that they

can work in a more highly networked and agile way. Give

transformational leaders the platform to impact change,

innovate products and services, drive customer experience

and implement new ways of working.

2. Build the leadership to drive your strategy

Create a clear culture that brings technological change into

the domain of business. Value the core while creating an

all-encompassing transformational culture that drives fail-

fast innovation and collaboration with internal and external

networks. Build a results-oriented culture that is grounded

in both agility and discipline and focus.

3. Create and align symbols of change

Find out more

Download our whitepaper on

‘Digital Leadership in Asia Pacific’

http://focus.kornferry.com/digital-leadership

© Korn Ferry 2018. All rights reserved.

About Korn FerryKorn Ferry is a global organisational consulting firm. We help companies

design their organisation—the structure, the roles and responsibilities,

as well as how they compensate, develop and motivate their people.

As importantly, we help organisations select and hire the talent they

need to execute their strategy. Our approximately 7,000 colleagues

serve clients in more than 50 countries.

About The Korn Ferry InstituteThe Korn Ferry Institute, our research and analytics arm, was

established to share intelligence and expert points of view on talent

and leadership. Through studies, books, and a quarterly magazine,

Briefings, we aim to increase understanding of how strategic talent

decisions contribute to competitive advantage, growth, and success.

Visit kornferryinstitute.com for more information.