Critical competencies of leaders in the digital transformation of banking in South Africa

Abstract

Leaders in the banking sector are facing an array of bewildering new digital challenges and opportunities, yet despite the many frameworks that exist on leadership competencies, they are still in search of the critical competencies required for leading digital transformation. The purpose of this research is to report data showing competencies that are effective for leading digital transformation in the banking sector. The research approach took the form of a qualitative, exploratory research design, which involved 15 face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with banking leaders such as CEOs, CIOs, Managing Executives, Heads of Departments and Digital Consultants. The literature on traditional leadership competency models indicated three critical skills that enable effective leadership, namely business, cognitive and influencing skills. The study confirmed that all three skills are key and equally important in leading digital transformation. However, an effective leader must integrate and adapt these competencies in each context. Furthermore, four additional competencies that are critical for leading digital transformation emerged through the study, i.e. an entrepreneurial mindset, experiential learning, futuristic thinking and integrator competencies. These are represented in the Digital Leadership Competencies Model. The findings from this study contribute to the extant literature in the field of leadership.