Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum Computing, Quantum Artificial Intelligence,... all things that become stronger and more mature every day. It's only a matter of (a short) time until we are fully into the 'smart machine age'. And that will dramatically change the way how we work, and because of that also the role of leaders!
Read on and find out how future leadership will look.
Last week was a very important week for AI. Unfortunately it didn't get that many media attention. It was the first time ever that a piece of AI created another piece of AI in a better way then humans could program it!
It was all done in the labs of Google. A piece of AI programmed another AI program to recognize random objects in a picture. The accuracy in recognizing the objects correctly was about 20% better than the best software which was created by humans.
This is again a proof that the computing revolution is really very close. So within only months or years we will be flooded with influences of AI into our work. This will change the work environment drastically in all its aspects. And off course also in the role of being a leader.
Until now it is widely accepted that leadership has roughly 2 main reasons of existence:
- to lead the company, department, or team into a certain direction. This is the strategic aspect of leadership. To set the course.
- to lead the people of the company, department, or team to go into the desired strategic direction. This is the people side of leadership.
With AI in the house, both aspects will change completely: (a) because the computer will be much better in defining the best strategy, and (b) because many people will become obsolete after AI has taken over their jobs.
So how will your future role as a leader look like?
It will all be about those few things that make us, humans, so unique: our emotions, and our ability to connect through those emotions.
So leaders will be there to connect the people with each other, and to make them feel respected and loved.
Think about it like this: no matter how motivated someone is at work, if something seriously happens to one of his/her kids or a close family member, then that highly motivated person will always choose to drop the work and go home. The reason for it is simple: he/she loves his family members more than he/she loves the job.
(and that's pretty normal off course!)
But it all changes when it isn't about a family member but about another job or another company. If a person feels a lack of love, he/she will fall in love with something else. And that could also be another job or another company.
The thing is that those people who will still be needed in companies after AI has taken over, are people on such highly critical functions, that the last thing you want is that they just leave.
And to keep them, you will have to love them!
The funny thing is that this way of looking at leadership makes total sense when we think about highly computerized and automated environments with a few people on critical positions, but the truth is that even today it is exactly the same!
And those leaders who really go for true 'love leadership', are the leaders that are already thriving today!
People feel more respected, people feel more listened to, people feel more involved,... and all that will result in people who take more initiative, more responsibility, and that collective whole is an unstoppable wave that makes a company exceed all performance expectations.
To do so as a leader, you can ask yourself one simple question every day:
"Did the lives of my people became better today because I was a part of it?", and act accordingly to that.
And yes, I'm talking about the 'lives' of your people, not only the 'professional lives'. Because that is what will make them truly love you and the company.
That is also the reason why having a coach as a leader will become even more important. That leadership role will become a highly emotional demanding position. A position where you have to deeply connect with your people, where you have to be able to build empathic relationships with the lives of your people, where you have to be highly involved. And that takes a lot of emotional ventilation, a lot of deep inner work to be able to take your people to places where you've already been for yourself, so a lot of self reflection. Things that are all hard to do on yourself, and go much better with a coach at your side.
So if you want to prepare yourself -as a leader- for the upcoming AI revolution, then start immediately with these 3 actions:
- For all the coming days, ask yourself this question every morning: What will I do today to improve the lives of my people?
- For all the coming days, ask yourself this question every evening: Did the lives of my people improve today? (and if not, then what can I do differently tomorrow?)
Sincerely answering this question will generate input for the first question.
- And find yourself a coach right away!
Find a coach that can help you in the reflective cycle of becoming a better leader (a better person, because AI takes the rest) every day.
If you consider me as your coach, then please go to this
'Work with me' page to find out how it is to work with me, or go to this
'Contact' page to find my contact details and get into direct contact with me.
Hope to hear from you soon!
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