Financieele Dagblad – The Digital Leader is Often Alone

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Financieele Dagblad – The Digital Leader is Often Alone

“And another Digital Officer bites the dust,” wrote Egon Zehnder consultant Natascha van Boetzelaer in a LinkedIn post. Van Boetzelaer is bothered by this emerging trend. Many CEOs claim they want to innovate, that they want to go digital, as this is the way forward. In an attempt to prove their dedication to innovation, they start searching for a Chief Digital Officer. As the talent is rare, this search often takes months and is assisted by an executive search consultant like van Boetzelaer herself. Too often however, the chief executive does not stay committed and the CDO fails. “In one example, the CEO is highly concerned about transformation but too quickly he returns to the old path and continues with business as usual,” says van Boetzelaer. “There is a lack of urgency to change and so employees keep doing what they have always done.” When the digital leader does not have the tools and executive backing required to get anything done, they leave the organization.

Full story: “De digitale leider staat vaak alleen” (“The digital leader is often alone”) in FD.nl (9 June 2017).