CEOs are Embracing More Forms of Technology, But How?
In a recent blog, I explored the ways in which CEO leadership is changing — sometimes rapidly. While these changes are vast, in that they cover a wide variety of corporate facets and internal ideologies, there is one that is arguably the most relevant: today’s CEO have become much more tech savvy; this spans from their increased presence on the internet — including social media — to an embracing of more modern concepts like big data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices.
Here are a few ways CEOs are currently using prevailing technology to lead their companies.
Social media branding – both personal and corporate
An increasing amount of top CEOs are realizing and leveraging the impact of social media branding, a concept previously relegated to corporate taboo territory. However, this practice has only recently spread to the growing use of personal CEO pages to aid company branding (an even more taboo concept in modern business). By branding themselves online as thought leaders in their respective fields, these CEOs highlight their expertise and outshine their less present competition, reflecting a bold and progressive acceptance of new technology while simply adding to their target audience or customer base.
A social media following has become a powerful asset in a corporate sense, and CEOs with multiple followings — both for their business and their personal accounts — know that it can help put a face to a potentially large entity, which in turn humanizes company/customer relations and motivates consumers via widespread communication.
IoT Connectivity and Mobility
As I previously noted, mobility has become a key part of CEO leadership — as it now makes up a considerable portion of business in general — and IoT-enabled devices have only streamlined this process in recent years. From online workplace suites to mobile apps, IoT devices reflect a jarring, but true aspect of modern business: “physical interaction is not always necessary.”
What’s more, IoT connectivity has been linked to increased efficiency, as it makes for a potentially never-ending flow of work-related communication; this makes it easier for companies to implement remote working in tandem with cloud-based data sharing — all while keeping CEOs and other leadership figures in direct contact with their employees.
Big data
It is no secret that big data analytics have redefined the average workplace, from behavior-based customer analytics to those associated with internal employee rosters and KPIs. As this evolution continues, we are now seeing its impact on the framework of CEO, CFO, and COO roles — to the point where data has become both a consistent source of investment and a major focal point in hiring for new, analytics-based departments.
For those making the jump, the benefits are usually quick to materialize; these may include:
- Stronger, more thorough analysis of company KPIs and ROI
- More efficient risk analysis
- Potentially reduced costs stemming from internal process optimization
- Clearer analytical pictures of multiple departments
- Quicker, more efficient streams of work
All of this in mind, the move to data analytics remains a gradual one, at least in broad terms, as many CEOs continue to fall back on intuition over their data-driven insights. However, as predictive analysis and similar processes become progressively fine-tuned, there is now a growing number of CEOs bent on accepting big data while finding ways to balance it where intuition is still applicable.
