Michael McFall is the co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE as well as author of the Inc. Original books GRIND and GROW.
Unless you live entirely offline, you’ve undoubtedly heard about, and even become obsessed with, the sudden emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
If you listen to the hype, there is nothing this relatively nascent technology can’t do. It can produce flattering portraits, craft convincing prose, crunch innumerable numbers at scale and synthesize information across disparate data sets. It’s even causing an existential crisis for white-collar workers worried that this evidently creative software will soon automate their jobs.
Excitement For AI Tools
ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot released by Open AI in November 2022, set the record for the fastest app to reach 100 million monthly active users, fascinating users with cogent prose on various topics.
Unsurprisingly, its developers are very excited. OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, tweeted that AI is “the most amazing tool yet created,” while Microsoft Founder Bill Gates called it “the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface (GUI).”
At Google’s recent Developer Conference, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai used the word “AI” 27 times in his 15-minute presentation, practically becoming a meme overnight.
In the midst of a hype cycle, it can be especially difficult to differentiate hype from reality, and what impact this technology will have on our personal and professional lives is still an open question.
Implications For Leaders
As leaders, we have a particular responsibility to think about this technology’s implications for our work. Thought leaders are already positing the technology as a breakthrough, noting “the benefits of AI-informed leadership.”
While AI is very good at analyzing data and leveraging existing information to discover new insights, I find its impact on your leadership potential is decidedly limited. In other words, AI might make you a better manager, but it won’t make you a better leader.
Managers excel in operational responsibilities, often planning, organizing, coordinating and maintaining control over processes and systems. In contrast, leaders inspire and motivate their teams toward a vision and purpose.
AI won’t make you a better leader. However, here are four non-AI qualities that can improve your leadership trajectory.
1. Adaptability
Inadequate managers believe they are the smartest person in the room, and they behave accordingly. They know the outcome they want, and they think they know the best way to achieve it. As a result, meetings are often used to get people on the same page, understanding the manager’s perspective and embracing it unquestionably.
This is both flawed and foolish.
As a leader, your job is to remain fluid and adaptable, allowing your team to bring their experience to the table to solve the problem, not to simply get on board and figure out how to execute your solution.
Managers often end up manipulating the group into conforming to their viewpoint. Instead, show up with the problem and allow the group to work together to devise a solution. At the end of the day, let the process work and be open to any outcome.
2. Emotional Stability
Managers can be unpredictable, but leaders prioritize emotional stability. Leaders can’t be jovial one day and angry the next. They need to be predictable, something that becomes easier to achieve when they are others-oriented and outwardly focused.
When teams invest significant energy trying to decipher the manager’s mood, they lose opportunities to collaborate, innovate and problem-solve, making emotional stability a cornerstone of effective leadership.
3. Optimism
If you are not optimistic, your team won’t be either. If you don’t believe, they won’t believe. Everyone on the team needs to believe that tomorrow is going to be better than today.
More specifically, effective leaders are optimistic about:
• Their team’s ability to perform.
• Their key financial and personnel investments.
• The strategies the group has rallied around.
Notably, optimism is a choice. It requires believing that everything we are working on today will make us better tomorrow.
4. Integrity
Integrity is the backbone of everything leaders do.
Remember, your team starts from a baseline of distrust. You have to earn the right to lead them—they are constantly looking for lapses in integrity. If they see them or feel them, this can create a dysfunctional environment.
The bottom line is simple but challenging: If you’re not a person of integrity, you will never earn the right to lead.
Leadership Is A Human Endeavor
AI, despite its astounding advances, cannot imbue a person with the qualities that truly define a leader. While it may enhance your capabilities as a manager by streamlining tasks and offering insightful data, it doesn’t make you a better leader.
Leadership transcends the scope of AI because it hinges on uniquely human traits. Simply put, AI won’t make you a better leader. Only you can do that.
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