Digital Leadership: Cultivating Genuine Human Connections in the Digital Age

Ebba Heselius

I am a PhD researcher at Stockholm University, specializing in digital leadership and organizational communication. My research examines how digitalization impacts leadership and corporate relationships. Through interviews with Swedish corporate leaders, I explore the emotional, relational, and existential challenges that arise when communication takes place via screens instead of face-to-face.

My dissertation, Corporate Leaders' Experiences of Digital Meetings, is grounded in phenomenological philosophy and leadership theory. It investigates how authenticity can be maintained in a digital environment. By drawing from a multidisciplinary approach—including classical and contemporary philosophy, leadership and organizational theories, and social psychology—I aim to deepen the understanding of how we can preserve human connection and empathy in an increasingly digitalized work setting.