Artificial intelligence is already all around us. It’s in our iPhones with Siri. It’s at home with Google Home. It curates what we see in our social media feeds, and it even helps us get from point A to B when using apps like Uber or Google Maps.
Inevitably, artificial intelligence is going to be integrated within our life and our business more and more over the coming decades.
So what do we need to do as leaders to prepare ourselves for the AI revolution?
Before we get into what we need to focus on, what we really encourage everybody to do is to stop fearing artificial intelligence.
Instead, see it as an opportunity to liberate yourself from rudimental tasks that you don’t actually really enjoy doing. Freeing yourself of those tasks, will not only give you more time back , but also free up space in your mind to focus on the bigger picture.
Lean in to the opportunity that AI gives you, and instead focus on the three key things to ensure you are ‘protected’ from the AI revolution.
One: Human Connection
The one thing AI will never truly be able to replace is real human connection. So ask yourself how you can increase your human connection in every single moment?
Perhaps you’re about to instant message someone at work who’s in the office at the moment – they might even be sitting opposite you. Ask yourself, would this be better said face-to-face? Stand up and talk to the person, as opposed to just taking the ‘easy’ option and shooting them a message.
The same goes for a phone call with a team member who works remotely, instead of just picking up the phone, consider doing a Zoom, FaceTime or Skype call so you can actually connect and see them face-to-face.
Or if you’re about to shoot off an email, perhaps you ask yourself: “Is it an opportunity to pick up the phone?”
While these things seem small, in our internet-obsessed world, they are becoming increasingly rare.
This doesn’t have to be the case though, and you can be the exception. AI will never be able to replace these real moments of genuine human connection.
Two: Compassion and empathy
The other thing you can do as a leader, that can’t simply be replaced by technology, is show compassion and empathy to others.
At its core, empathy is all about is about putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes and asking: How is somebody feeling in this moment? How can you go through and impact the way that someone feels?
An interesting fact is that first thing in the morning, a leader has the power to have a profound impact on someone’s overall engagement and productivity on a daily basis.
Recent reports have suggested that a leader can have a 40% impact on the overall productivity, positive or negative, depending on the emotion that they’ve set for the day.
No matter how busy you are, take 5 to 10 minutes every morning to show your team you are there for them and start the day with care.
Three: Harness Your Creativity
Artificial intelligence is going to be able to enhance human potential, but it isn’t going to replace the beautiful, intuitive mind that all of us have.
Your role as a leader will be to recognise that significance, and innate creative abilities of your team so that new ideas can come to fruition.
A great way to increase creativity and engage your team is simply to ask more questions as opposed to always ‘telling’ them things. In your next meeting ask them: “What are your ideas? What are your thoughts on this? Can we look at this a different way?”
So there you have it… our 3 core ways leaders can prepare for a future of artificial intelligence. We dive into this content in more detail in the video below, take 5 minutes now to have a watch and let us know your thoughts in the comments
