Friday, January 21, 2011

Bridging the Digital Divide, Part Three

Our leadership brains are dealing with a digital divide in organizations today: team members of different generations think differently. First, there's the digital natives; then come the digital immigrants. Bringing up the rear (literally) are the digital dinosaurs.

Author Marilee Sprenger, writing in "The Leadership Brain for Dummies," makes these observations about the digital dinosaur:

The Digital Dinosaur
Natives speak the language of their birth; immigrants are learning to translate the digital language of the natives, and then there are those individuals or organizations who are hopelessly out of date - the digital dinosaur.

You may think that Traditionalists (born before WW II) fall into this category, and many do. But anyone or any organization can be a dinosaur.

Digital media is transforming organizations everywhere. If your organization appears to be incapable of change, those who embrace digital technology won't find it appealing. If your clients are changing their minds and getting plugged into the latest technology, you don't won't to present yourself as stuck in an analog world.

Take a close look at what your competition is doing digitally. If they are still dinosaurs, make some changes so your organization can be the first to enter the global age. Rather than feeling safe because they aren't doing anything that you're not doing, get out of that reptile brain and use your thinking brain to take some risks to get updated.

Note to church leaders: if my use of the words "client" and "competition" bother you, sorry - you have a whole different set of problems! The people who come to your church are your clients, and you do have competition - but it's not the church down the street from you.

A closing thought: leadership is all in your head - literally. When your brain is at its best, you will be at your best as a leader. Understanding how your brain works is just the first step. Put your leadership brain to work today!

No comments: