Harnessing the Power of Digital Leadership

Harnessing the Power of Digital Leadership
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We all know a lot about the digital world—we live and work in it every day. Though we all follow and support brands we like there’s also a side to this digital world that we don’t explore much: Leadership. What does it mean to be a leader in today’s digital era? How can brand owners and managers leverage their leadership position to improve their brand’s reach and influence? This week on the chat, we invited leadership coach, Nathalie Gregg, to talk about digital leadership. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Nathalie Gregg
Topic: Harnessing the power of digital leadership
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
Q1. How do you define digital leadership?
Digital leadership is about being an effective leader in the modern, highly-volatile digital age. The one thing we can all agree on about living a digital life is that no two days are the same. There’s new technology cropping up each day while older technology gets updated and constantly refreshed. There’s so much to see and learn, making it important—more than ever—to have effective leaders.
Delivering better services and products to our stakeholders while forecasting and adopting to a dynamic environment. In this new climate leadership will play a bigger role than ever to successfuly facilitate these disruptions! #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/BNs0OOwyhb
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Laura added, a digital leader is someone who can be a great example to their audience across the social channels of their choice. They showcase their expertise while offering value to their community.
A1: Digital Leadership is leading by example in online platforms. Demonstrate expertise and value in pursuit of helping others achieve their goals. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/4sRr9kcmcB
— Laura Denny (@ldcreativemedia) August 11, 2022
Q2. Why is digital leadership important to your brand?
It’s important because effective digital leaders can adapt to changing environments, overcome disruptions, and drive their brand towards greater opportunities. Every digital brand needs leaders who can bring out the best in that brand.
Leaders will have to create and show the way forward in the middle of disruptions, chaos and extreme uncertainty. That is why digital leadership aims to actualize. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/PqRJynQ7AD
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Jim emphasized, digital leaders can naturally build authority around their topics of interest. This helps the brand build an engaged community that wants to rally behind the brand.
A2: Becoming an authority people can trust on a topic is critical for building relationships with your community.
And best yet, you don't have to be an expert – you can simply share your learning journey to take the lead & gain trust! #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/1e8nVBWOPy
— JonWess.eth (@JonWesselink) August 11, 2022
Q3. Why should you develop a digital strategy for your leadership brand?
You should develop a digital strategy for your leadership brand because it’ll help you build your know, like, and trust factors. Consider it a list of things you need to do in order to become recognized, appreciated, and relied upon. Being a credible source will automatically boost your brand’s reach. Twitter, as our guest explained, is a great place to start building your digital strategy.
It is a phenomenal place for breaking news, researching competitors in your industry, and infusing your unique voice into the conversation. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/Gt8irN8hB7
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Julia from NOW Marketing Group beautifully said, having a strategy means that you’re intentional about how, when, and where you engage with your audience digitally.
A3: you want to be intentional about how, where and when you’re showing up to lead online. ???? Having a strategy is crucial because it serves as your road map and sets you up for success. – JJS #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/jOmjrmOPIn
— NOW Marketing Group #SMWL22 (@NOWMG) August 11, 2022
Q4. What roles do clarity and purpose play in digital leadership?
Having a clear understanding of your brand’s purpose helps you tackle new challenges posed by changing customer behaviors. You will also be able to use behavior and preferences data to make customer-centric decisions in the future.
It also gives us incredible insights into a more customer-centric view and greater confidence about what direction to lead new experiences. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/jTld2j9w6Y
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Madalyn reminded us, knowing your purpose and the brand’s purpose will help you become a successful digital leader. Being clear about what you’re meant to do will help you do what you need to do most effectively.
A4: Knowing your purpose is going to make it easier for you to step into that leadership role when you know who you are and what you stand for. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/pfWCibK7WX
— Madalyn Sklar  Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) August 11, 2022
Q5. How can leaders navigate the emotional side of digital transformation?
An emotionally-intelligent leader can guide a brand towards a successful digital transformation. To achieve that, however, a leader should also be aware of their emotional state—only then can they manage and channel it effectively.
Leaders must become aware of their emotional state so that they can remain grounded so that they can provide support while decreasing team agitation. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/9fTnRPVVkm
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Lance pointed out, online spaces can get too emotional too soon. Be careful not to let your emotion get in the way of clear thinking and decision-making. Sometimes, you have to step away from your emotions for the greater good. Knowing when to stop feeding spam or retorting to a troll is essential for a good leader.
#TwitterSmarter A5: Be careful about adding too much emotion to your brand and content. Know when it's right and when to step away. Do not get caught up in an online fight with a troll who's begging to draw you out and make you look bad! #Leadership pic.twitter.com/0Fd5eQKbKZ
— Lance A Schart ???????? (@LanceASchart) August 11, 2022
Q6. How can storytelling be a catalyst to enhance your digital leadership?
Digital spaces thrive on storytelling. With good storytelling tactics, not only will you attract new audiences, but you can also build a strong communication strategy. Great stories convince while also bringing positive changes to your audience.
A6. The intersection of #storytelling and #technology provides us with a unique opportunity to create strategic communication.
Storytelling inspires action & change while influencing decision making from the inside out! #TwiterSmarter https://t.co/0eco7LY8YC pic.twitter.com/RpNm1S7kzh
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
As Thiam suggested, storytelling helps establish your authenticity and build credibility for your brand. Personal and relatable stories will resonate deeply with your followers, making them like and trust you more.
A6
Storytelling helps leaders establish credibility and authenticity through telling the stories that they are living. When they believe deeply in them, their stories resonate, generating creativity, interaction and transformation. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/TkqQITPxcS
— THIAM MÉKÀ de GOGUENHEIM (@ThiamMeka2Gogue) August 11, 2022
Q7. Why must digital leaders mine data and insights to drive results?
Analyzing data and insights is important because it helps you improve your messaging and strategies continuously. It offers an opportunity to gather feedback from your audience and act on that feedback, showing them how much you value their engagement. That’s how you make your brand more customer-centric.
Therefore continue to build an environment for people who believe what we believe. #TwitterSmarter
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
Data can also serve to confirm your ideas and hypotheses, as Masooma pointed out. When you have data to back you up, you can confidently create content that will bring value to your audience.
A7. Because data helps leaders confirm their hypothesis. It tells them whether what they’ve been noticing is true or just their subjective opinion.
In turn, this helps them become more credible and provide more valuable content to their audience #twitterSmarter
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) August 11, 2022
Q8. How does digital leadership position you for strategic collaborations?
A successful digital transformation is fostered by collaboration. For example, providing customers with a good digital experience requires you to engage and collaborate with multiple stakeholders, both internally and externally.
As a result, making digital leadership  a process of empowering others to lead while creating self-organized teams that optimize their day-to-day operations and experiences. This movement creates a robust environment for collaboration because leadership is no longer hierarchical.
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
Leadership has become less hierarchical, allowing teams to self-manage and operate autonomously. So now, to achieve a common goal, all teams have to work together as one, and no one is better than the others. As our guest put it, everyone must row the boat in the same direction at the same time.
It demands involvement and contributions from everyone! All stakeholders must row the boat in the same direction at the same time. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/CzSmE2ilGR
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) August 11, 2022
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading through and for more great insights from our chat with Nathalie have a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together for us. If you like this summary, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us next Thursday at 1 pm ET for #TwitterSmarter. We also have an after-chat on Twitter Spaces at 5 pm ET. See you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—marketing stuff to pay the bills; haiku and short stories so I feel wholesome. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and am always happy to take on writing gigs.
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Hey, it's madalyn!
I help busy entrepreneurs transform their social media marketing so they can reap the rewards of a strong community and higher engagement.
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