at 27 years – Memories of Leadership, Leadership for the Future

Tag: technology

  • AI won’t replace leaders, but it will expose them

    Yesterday during my board meeting, the topic of AI came up. Let’s be honest, the topic of AI is always coming up. One of my board members asked how are we using AI at the cooperative during my IT guys report about how our primary vendor is folding in AI along with how we are setting up a think tank with employees.

    As I came into the the conversation to share how I have been using AI, one of the statements I made is I have cautioned the staff not to let AI replace their voices. I don’t want AI to write our articles, our social media posts, our emails, etc. We use AI to be an editor to help polish, but the rhythms of writing we all use needs to be maintained; the human soul in the machine must remain.

    The other story I shared was how I use AI as an executive coach or thought multiplier. I believe I have shared my thoughts of a need for us to have a network of people to bounce ideas, share frustrations, and to seek outside eyes to make us better, and eye is another one of those resources. When I know I am headed into a conversation that might be difficult, in addition to talking to my external network, I do check in with AI to get its thoughts on how to enter, be in, and exit that conversation.

    This is just another place where it can be easy to lose the human because of AI, because it is easy to do a prompt, hear what I want and at times what I need; without talking to other humans.

    As leaders, we need to know how to use AI; but not let it replace our human in the way we interact with each other. There will be and are leaders I know today that have already lost the balance and it is easy to spot those leaders. They have lost what I believe is the most powerful thing that good to great leaders bring to the table, their own voice. It has been replaced with the machine.

  • The boss or not

    Recently I had a conversation with an upcoming CEO. We were discussing another employee’s reactions to decisions being made. The employee is taking issue with the fact that in my world we do have employees that can work remotely, or from home. It is preferred that employees work at the office, but if a position in the company allows an employee to work remotely, we allow it occasionally. I am not a fan of the idea of a permanent remote employee for my company. I think there is a lot of collaboration, a sense of community, and general well-being from being in the office. After all, humans are social animals. I am about to digress from the intent of this musing.

    Coming back to the employee who does not like this flexibility of remote work, it is interesting to explore that employee’s “why”. To fill in some of the color, the employee is a 25+ year employee and has a strong opinion on how work should be done. This employee leads with a boss attitude. If I can’t see an employee working, how do I know the employee is actually doing work? 

    This employee is not the only one in my company. One of the decisions I was asked to make was the hiring of a new manager who reports directly to me. Before my arrival, there was a decision that an internal long-term employee would get the promotion when the position became available. The heir apparent was even training to be the next manager. If you haven’t sensed where this story is going, that employee did not get the promotion. I went with someone from outside the company. Why? Well, that employee believed that it would be their role to tell people how, what, and when to do their jobs. I don’t need bosses, I want leaders who share a vision and look to provide the tools for others to make that vision happen. I want leaders who create an environment that helps others produce outcomes that serve the company and ultimately our customers.

    It is an interesting cultural shift that I have brought to my company. It is challenging for some, especially those who believe it is best to be a boss….

    at27