HelloSign and Ben Kepes have partnered to offer a free (yes, free!) twelve-course educational program to help you with digital transformation in your organization. The Digital Strength courses are described as “A comprehensive program that arms professionals with skills to expedite their digital journey.” Each includes a whitepaper and an on-demand webinar hosted by Ben. You can dive in for one, or take the whole set in order. I’ve been a HelloSign customer for many years and thank them for offering this program.

Webinar: Top Down -- Transforming in a Leader-Led Style

The first five of the twelve courses are available now and I’m honored to be the drop-in expert for the Course #6 webinar: Top Down -- Transforming in a Leader-Led Style~~(it’s greyed-out at the moment as it is still in production -- I’ll add a link when it goes live)~~. I’d met Ben Kepes while I was writing my book, The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Tune with Your People, Technology, and Organization to Thrive (his perspective is highlighted in Chapter Five). Then, as today, Ben sees the opportunity in digital capabilities but also understands the realities of both more traditional and cutting-edge organizations. It’s always a joy to talk with him and push on how we can best help organizations as they compete and innovate.

My biggest takeaway was Ben’s thought about the empathy leaders have for how people in their organizations are (or are not) engaging with digital transformations. I offered the lens of Thinking in 4T -- always keeping in mind your target, talent, technology, and technique -- but adding the umbrella of empathy brings it to life. Of the four Ts, talent is the most complex and Ben sees that over and over in his consulting and entrepreneurship. It’s telling that his company is named Diversity.

Negotiating Change for Digital Transformation Success: Start with the 4 Ts

Empathy and perspective taking are important in negotiation and I see negotiation as important to digital transformation. We need empathy to understand all the stakeholder perspectives as we consider a transformation. The 4 Ts help us to identify the stakeholders and critical issues that need to be on the table -- part of the negotiation mix. Negotiation more broadly (whether or not it’s a formal negotiation) puts us in a frame of mind where making tradeoffs as new information comes to light is natural. Negotiation is also a skill leaders have spent a career honing - so we aren’t asking people to start from scratch. Empathy and negotiation are human skills for our digital transformations.

Next Steps for #ThinkingIn4T

Here is ~~I look forward to~~ the white paper and presentation that ~~will~~ accompany the webinar. What a great introduction and opportunity for teams to kick off their own digital strength efforts. More on a possible lesson plan for that when the course goes live.