Vision and strategy matter, but without a sense of shared purpose, employees aren’t willing to do the hard work required to build a digitally mature organization. Employees not only want to know where they are going but also why they are going there.

Too often, leaders only communicate how digital transformation will improve the company’s performance. Instead, they must develop a narrative—a human-centric story—for how digital transformation will improve the lives or livelihoods of their customers and other stakeholders.

As they become more senior, executives often have less contact with those at the front lines of their organizations and, as a consequence, their customers. Leaders need to be aware of these blind spots and empower their employees—including those closest to the customer experience—to take owne...