Maintaining human-centric leadership in the age of AI

In the age of AI, we are surrounded by big promises and temptations. We’re told that we can complete tasks that would normally take two hours in just a few minutes with AI. We have the power to write things that our own brains can’t really come up with because we outsource it to ChatGPT. And a lot of that is true! Generative AI is incredible, and it has enabled myself, my employees, and many of my clients to do things that they never would have had time to do in the past.

However, AI can’t do everything. Most things in the workplace still require a human touch. And when we’re talking about leadership, everything about it requires a human touch. Great leadership is built on high trust, mutual understanding, and dignity. AI can help you build that, but it can’t do it for you. In this WOW entry, I want to dive into the world of AI in leadership, and how I believe it should and should not be used to create value for your people.

Relationships

The relationship between a leader and their direct reports determines how effectively they will be able to work together. If an employee despises their leader and thinks they have it out for them, performance will be down. If a leader and an employee have a great working relationship and support each other, performance will go up. You get it.

In order to build a great relationship, you need to have real, human interactions. Frequently. Think of a Dignify Check-In. If you’ve ever done a Check-In, you know how they go. You’re meant to sit down for about an hour or so and go through each other’s Snapshots in detail. The system guides your conversation, but you often spend a lot of time just having a free flowing conversation as you get to know the person. By the end of each Check-In, you feel like you really know the person more than you did before.

There is no AI substitute for something like this. While you might sometimes need ChatGPT to write you a basic email, or get an AI to help you delegate workload, make sure that you are always having meaningful conversations with your team members to keep the relationship strong. They want to know and be guided by you, not ChatGPT!

Decision-making

Oooh, this is a tricky one. I think those of us who have used generative AI know that they are getting real smart now, and they can give you some pretty convincing solutions if you ask them a question. With that being said, you need to be careful about how you use AI when making decisions about people.

As the human leader in physical reality – you know the people on your team. You understand who they are, what motivates them, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how best to set them up for success. You know what makes them who they are and how to get the best out of them.

To this, I want to say, trust your intuition. Generative AI might be able to make a fairly sound judgment or decision if you feed it information about the person and the situation at hand, but it will never truly know the person like you do. Don’t defer your decision-making for your people to AI. You are the expert.

Feedback and measurement

The last area I’ll touch on is feedback and performance measurement. I think that there’s room for both here. AI and technology as a whole can be a great complement to your role here. It can collect data and information about how someone is performing in their role with a level of detail and frequency that humans can’t replicate. There’s a reason why so many companies use systems like this. They work! And they can help leaders give fair, measured, and informed feedback.

However, when it comes to analyzing the data and actually delivering feedback, it’s gotta be all you. Let the technology collect the data, and let yourself own the analysis and delivery. It’s not enough to point to the numbers and say, “you’re doing great” in one place, and “you need to pick it up” in another. Knowing the person, how they are wired, and what motivates them, truly analyze the data you’re given and use it to come up with solutions that emphasize your employee’s strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.

At the end of the day, the responsibility for your team’s performance still falls on you, and not any AI or technology. Your leaders will judge your performance based on your ability to get the most out of your team – keep that in mind!

Final thoughts

AI is an amazing tool that can definitely make life easier and help you get more done. But it’s important to remember that there are still a lot of things it can’t do, especially when it comes to leadership. Building real relationships, making critical decisions, and giving valuable feedback that actually connects with your team are things only you can do. AI can support you in some areas, like gathering data or giving you a jumpstart on a task, but it can’t replace the personal touch that makes great leaders effective. At the end of the day, it’s still you who needs to lead, connect, and guide your team to success. Use AI to make your life easier, but never forget that the heart of leadership is all about human connection.

ACTION PLAN: Prioritize your own intuition, relationship, and judgment when it comes to leading your people. You are the expert in your role and you know your people better than any AI ever could.

JOE KIEDINGER