Writing for Learning Solutions, Pamela Hole explores the rising digital divide in the C-Suite. In fact, fewer than a third of digital leaders rate themselves as “effective in digital acumen” according to the DDI Global Leadership Forecast.

This gap is bad for business. “The world’s most digitally mature companies lead all other companies in value creation. They also have proved much more resilient during the crisis,” research by the Boston Consulting Group found.

Forbes underscores the need for leaders to become digitally savvy: “Executives are not above or insulated from personal digital transformation. And they can’t lead digital value creation in the new world unless they are versed and competent in doing so. More so, they can’t lead or expect managers to lead teams in a hybrid world if they’re inexperienced. Empathetic leadership starts with understanding what it takes to engage employees and inspire them to excel in this new world and adapting how someone leads accordingly,” Best-Selling Author and Salesforce Global Innovation Evangelist Brian Solis wrote.

Despite the urgent need for digital skills among leaders, Solis cites research from MIT’s Sloan School of Management that found that “only 23% of CEOs are considered digitally savvy. And just 7% of large companies currently employ digitally savvy executive teams.”

It’s time for executives to learn and unlearn…