Library Leadership for the Digital Age

To understand the demands for digital leadership, they conducted a comprehensive
study of successful digital organizations, as defined by the extent to which they met their
mission and achieved profitability. They found ten surprisingly consistent practices
among these digital leaders, and for purposes of making the case for digital leadership in
libraries; I am borrowing their ten descriptors of successful digital organizations as my
headings and adding some interpretation to connect these practices from a broader context of organizational types specifically to academic libraries. . So what are these successful digital organizations doing?
1. Building a comprehensive digital strategy that can be shared broadly and repeatedly
across the organization.
2. Embedding digital literacy across the organization.
3. Renewing focus on business fundamentals
4. Embracing the new rules of customer engagement.
5. Understanding global differences in how people access and use the Internet.
6. Developing the organization’s analytical skills.
7. Focusing on the customer experience.
8. Developing leaders with skill sets that bridge traditional and digital expertise.
9. Paying close attention to cultural fit when recruiting digital leaders.
10. Understanding the motivations of top talent.

From

To understand the demands for digital leadership, they conducted a comprehensive
study of successful digital organizations, as defined by the extent to which they met their
mission and achieved profitability. They found ten surprisingly consistent practices
among these digital leaders, and for purposes of making the case for digital leadership in
libraries; I am borrowing their ten descriptors of successful digital organizations as my
headings and adding some interpretation to connect these practices from a broader context of organizational types specifically to academic libraries. . So what are these successful digital organizations doing?
1. Building a comprehensive digital strategy that can be shared broadly and repeatedly
across the organization.
2. Embedding digital literacy across the organization.
3. Renewing focus on business fundamentals
4. Embracing the new rules of customer engagement.
5. Understanding global differences in how people access and use the Internet.
6. Developing the organization’s analytical skills.
7. Focusing on the customer experience.
8. Developing leaders with skill sets that bridge traditional and digital expertise.
9. Paying close attention to cultural fit when recruiting digital leaders.
10. Understanding the motivations of top talent.

From ithaka.org PDF