Leadership in a Digitalized and Crisis-ridden World: Towards a Comprehensive Overview of Relevant Competencies for Leaders

Abstract

Our environment is increasingly characterized by digitalization and crisis. Consequently, the competence requirements for executives are changing. Since they are critical to the success of companies, identifying talents and developing necessary leadership competencies is essential. To accomplish this in a targeted manner, a competency overview is needed that considers digitalization and crisis. However, current literature indicates that digital and crisis leadership are investigated separately. To address this research gap, this study develops a competence overview based on a systematic literature review considering both research streams. The analysis of 38 studies reveals 21 competence areas. For a structured analysis, these competence areas are considering the competence categories of self-, people-, and business management. The literature review shows that there is overlap in the two areas regarding competencies related to decision-making, communication, and learning. Differences occur, for example, regarding leaders' health awareness or technical literacy, which are only addressed in digital leadership.