Adaptive Military Leadership in the Digital Age

Authors

  • Abdulkadir AKTURAN Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Piri Reis University/Turkiye
  • Mustafa Taner ALBAYRAK Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Piri Reis University/Turkiye
  • Aykut ARSLAN Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Piri Reis University/Turkiye

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53477/2284-9378-25-35

Keywords:

Military Leadership, Adaptive Leadership, Digital Warfare, Cognitive Agility, Hybrid Conflict, Strategic Command, Defense Transformation.

Abstract

The digital age has dramatically transformed the face of warfare, disrupting conventional military paradigms. Leaders require cognitive agility, digital fluency, and moral resilience to successfully navigate these new military paradigms. In this paper, we examine the promising new form of adaptive military leadership in the rising convergence of artificial intelligence, cyber conflict, autonomous systems, and multi-domain operations. Using an assessment as well as the Russia–Ukraine war and NATO strategic recalibrations as a case study to generalize critical capabilities and institutional transformations necessary for effective military leadership in the 21st century, this article will explore realizable avenues. The adaptive leadership framework draws on the way leaders sense adaptive challenges, regulate distress levels in times of change, and focus attention. Based on these, the study will analyze how military organizations develop leaders who are not only technologically good but also ethically sound and make good judgments in ambiguous and changing situations. This paper will explore digital ethics, systems thinking, and cross-domain operations in professional military education. It argues that creating interdisciplinary learning, fostering experimental environments, and forming steps to build future commanders able to thrive in the chaos and help shape the future of warfare are absolutely necessary steps. Finally, this article will demonstrate that such agile, technologically literate, and ethically grounded leaders need to be developed for achieving operational effectiveness in a highly complex and uncertain modern battlespace with great levels of dynamism.

Author Biographies

Abdulkadir AKTURAN, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Piri Reis University/Turkiye

Dr. Abdülkadir Akturan is a faculty member at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Piri Reis University, Istanbul. He joined the university in 2024 as an Assistant Professor following an extensive career in the Turkish Armed Forces, where he served for 27 years and retired with the rank of Brigadier General in 2023.

Dr. Akturan graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1996 and began his professional career as a commissioned officer. His early academic background includes a master’s degree from Marmara University (2001), where he completed a thesis on the impact of technological developments on environmental management and evolving business environments. In 2015, he earned his Ph.D. in Management and Organization from Kocaeli University. His doctoral research investigated the relationships among perceived empowerment climate, organizational citizenship behavior, and creative performance.

His areas of academic interest encompass organizational behavior, strategic management, leadership, intercultural communication, and management philosophy. Drawing on his leadership experience in the military and his academic background, Dr. Akturan’s research combines practical insight with theoretical rigor, particularly in the realms of motivation, workplace behavior, and leadership effectiveness across cultural contexts.

Throughout his military career, Dr. Akturan held numerous command and staff positions, contributing significantly to leadership development, strategic planning, and inter-agency coordination. His interdisciplinary approach is informed by both operational experience and scholarly inquiry, allowing him to address complex management issues with a unique perspective.

Dr. Akturan currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in management and organizational theory at Piri Reis University, and he actively engages in academic conferences, applied research, and publication efforts in his fields of interest.

For a complete list of publications and projects, see:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=tr&user=TteE-BIAAAAJ

Aykut ARSLAN, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Piri Reis University/Turkiye

Dr. Aykut Arslan is a full-time faculty member at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Piri Reis University in Istanbul, Türkiye. His teaching and research interests center on strategic management, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance, business process management (BPM), and corporate sustainability. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in areas such as strategy, ethics, organizational behavior, and digital transformation.

Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Arslan served for 19 years in the Turkish Naval Forces, where he held academic and administrative roles at various military educational institutions. His naval career provided him with deep expertise in defense education, institutional leadership, and civil-military engagement. During this period, he was also assigned to the NATO Bureau for International Language Coordination (BILC), where he participated in international conferences, symposia, and training events across Europe, contributing to multinational dialogue on language policy, defense education, and interoperability.

Dr. Arslan’s current academic research explores ESG rating discrepancies, strategic alignment in sustainability reporting, and the integration of process-based approaches into responsible corporate governance. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. He is also actively engaged in EU-funded projects and national research initiatives, particularly focusing on the maritime sector, ESG compliance, and regional development strategies.

He has supervised numerous theses related to ESG-washing, regulatory impact analysis, sentiment analysis in sustainability disclosures, and gendered leadership in emerging markets. He has also moderated academic panels and workshops with stakeholders from academia, government, and industry—especially within the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean contexts.

Dr. Arslan earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Marmara University, a Master’s degree in Management from İstanbul University, and a B.A. in American Literature from Hacettepe University. He is currently completing a book project on strategic ESG misrepresentation in corporate sustainability reporting and serves as a reviewer for journals in the fields of corporate responsibility, governance, and management.

For a complete list of publications and projects, see:

https://share.google/0dsBCe19cr9Qf27XN

Downloads

Published

2025-10-07

How to Cite

AKTURAN, A., ALBAYRAK, M. T. ., & ARSLAN, A. . (2025). Adaptive Military Leadership in the Digital Age. BULLETIN OF "CAROL I" NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, 14(3), 29–58. https://doi.org/10.53477/2284-9378-25-35

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

The published articles are subject to copyright law. All rights are reserved to the “Carol I” National Defense University, regardless of whether all or part of the material are considered, especially the rights to translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, quotations, broadcasting through the media, reproduction on microfilms or any other way and storage in data banks. Any replicas without the associated fees are authorized provided the source is acknowledged.