Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times

In Digital Leadership, Sheninger (2019) discussed the need to change the way leaders approach education. He claims that the current state of education reflects our society’s prior requirements for workers who possess the skills for operating in, and contributing to, an industrial economy (p. 22). Times have changed, and if the objective is to create critical thinkers, prepared for work in the knowledge economy of the 21st century (p. 37), then educators must rethink how they deliver information to maximize a student’s learning capacity (p. 38-39). According to Sheninger (2019), “the role of a leader isn’t to tell others what to do…it’s to show them [followers] what they can become,” (p. 32). He illustrates the need for change through stories of administrators who introduced digital learning into their schools and improved the capacity of their teachers and students to engage in deep learning. In the closing sections of the book, Sheninger (2019) discussed the need for the leader to model a life dedicated to education and learning (p. 156). The pillars of digital leadership, discussed throughout the book enable leaders to look for, create, and take advantage of opportunities (pp. 216-217), but this framework is not enough. The leader must sustain these changes by becoming a digital leader (p. 227). While his focus was on education leaders, much of what Sheninger had to say applies to modern leadership in general. Especially as it relates to project and change management. The only criticism is a comment he made about change. Sheninger (2019) states, “that change will only germinate if a coherent vision is established,” (p. 71). Sheninger is silently qualifying change, similar to how Heifetz (1994), in Leadership Without Easy Answers, assigns value to change believing that adaptive work is always positive. Change is positive for Sheninger but in reality, change can be both good and bad. Often, it is an iterative process that is worked and reworked until the desired state is achieved—a reality that he alludes to when he admonishes leaders to evaluate and re-evaluate their efforts before giving up (2019, p. 61). It is true that a vision can help institute change, but change can occur with or without the leader. What the leader can influence is how the organization will respond to that change. Sheninger makes frequent reference to how the modern school has not kept pace with the technological changes that have permeated modern society—a change that is altering the way people interact and communicate. Change is a part of doing business and while it can absolutely be initiated by a leader, often the need for internal change is driven by some kind of existential change, whether it was motivated by a vision or not. From a program manager’s perspective, the primary takeaway is that change management is a necessary skill that every leader should practice, whether one is a digital, or even an analog, leader. The beauty of Digital Leadership is that Sheninger provides guidance on how to approach and address the need for organizational change when operating in a high-tech, ever changing, environment. This is an excellent book and well worth the time to read.

This book is a must-have for anyone in education. Eric has hands-on experience as a former high school principal and has now traveled the world meeting with administrators and educators determining best practices for anyone working in education today. Digital Leadership should be required reading for every educator, K - higher ed.

I love books that improve my leadership skills and highly recommend this one.

The content is dated. The advice is nothing new if you have read other books on leadership. If you haven’t, then give this one a go. It’s decent advice, just apply it to more updated technologies.

Excellent, practical book for school leaders and teachers. Will lead and inspire you to create a school culture digitally.

I appreciate the author's point of view.

timely information

I can tell this book was slapped together quickly due to the pandemic and need for virtual teachers. I did not learn anything new. Wish my professor didn’t make us waste out money.