Rector of IPB University Talks about Digital Leaders at the Graduate School of Semarang State University
In the current digital era, a leader is required to do more than just have good management skills. However, he also needs to understand adequate digital literacy. Regarding this, the Rector of IPB University, Prof Arif Satria, shared about digital leadership with postgraduate students at Semarang State University (Unnes).
“In this digital era, it’s interesting. In the digital leadership matrix, leaders are divided into digital leaders, expert leaders, change leaders and conservative leaders,” said Prof Arif in a public lecture at the Unnes Postgraduate School, Wednesday (1/11).
“If we are only able to transform people, but our digitalization skills are low, we will only be change leaders. Or if we are smart in the digital world, but cannot transform other people, we are only expert leaders,” he explained.
The Rector further added that there are also those who are not digitally smart and cannot transform. So it is called a conservative leader. On the other hand, someone who has high digital capabilities, plus good management transformation capabilities, is what is called a digital leader.
Apart from that, Prof Arif also revealed four leadership skills including cognitive, business, negotiation and strategy abilities. “A leader must have cognitive abilities, namely good communication. He must also know how a management process works. Apart from that, he must also master interpersonal skills in the form of negotiation and strategic skills in the form of vision,” he explained.
The Professor at the Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University, explained that vision is a new strength. Indonesian and Japanese people are physically not much different. However, why is Japan more advanced? The differentiating factor between the two is vision.
“Japanese people are able to project what they aim for. “Three things that differentiate it from the others are vision, strategy and execution,” said Prof. Arif.
Prof Fathur Rakhman, Director of the Unnes Postgraduate School, said that the public lecture with the theme “Leadership Strategies Towards World Class Universities” was held to provide direct inspiration and motivation to students. This is done through direct experiences and stories from resource persons who are leading figures in the field of leadership in various sectors.
“Welcome Prof Arif Satria to this series of public lectures. This event is specifically dedicated to postgraduate students so they can gain knowledge from the figures. The current theme is very relevant to the development of higher education,” he said. (dh/Rz) (IAAS/MFR)
