The Future of Leadership in a Digital and Networked World

With the help of innovations, leading through change and complexity promises to meet the opportunities and challenges of today’s and future world. At the same time, leadership can also be exposed to the influences of a digital and interconnected world.

Based on a solid theoretical foundation, a Delphi-based real-time scenario study was conducted with more than 100 experts worldwide to further investigate what future leadership in a digital and connected world might look like and what a leadership education curriculum could entail. Based on the large amount of generated quantitative and qualitative data, four different scenarios as well as likely and desirable futures were developed. Within the framework of the scenario transfer, potential development potentials for a future leadership education curriculum were derived.

The study provides a concise overview of the essential connections between leadership, innovation, networking, multi-level learning, and education. It provides impulses for the possible future development of leadership and leadership education in a digital and interconnected world. In doing so, it offers a cross-disciplinary perspective that integrates pedagogical intentions and approaches.