Soft Skills for Responsible Leadership in the Digital Age: A Framework for Future Leaders

The increasing focus on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility has led to a growing demand for responsible leaders and companies that can effectively address environmental and social challenges. The digital age has further complicated this landscape, reshaping the dynamics between organisations, society, and individuals through the intensification of digitalisation processes. As a result, non-cognitive competencies have emerged as a crucial differentiating factor for professionals operating within this context. The research question that guides this study is “What competencies are needed to develop responsible leaders’ soft skills to face the socio-environmental issues and the challenges of digitalisation? Drawing on a Systematic Literature Review to identify primary soft skills indicated by the literature and the Delphi method seeking validation with specialists, this paper proposes a soft skills framework to help develop responsible leaders capable of dealing with socio-environmental issues and the challenges of digitalisation.