Hi there and welcome!
So…I think it needs to be said that AI isn't coming. It's here.
And if you're not thinking about what that means for you, your leadership, and your team, you're already behind.
But, listen, this episode isn't about how to use AI or even the importance of learning it. I’ve already done an episode and have written articles on the importance of getting with the AI program. This is about something more important to me: knowing what AI is capable of, so you can get serious about honing the skills it can't touch. Skills like connection, community, and emotional intelligence, to name a few.
Yes…AI can think faster, write better, and analyze more than you. So the question isn't how do you keep up with it, because let’s be honest, you can’t; and it’s getting faster every day.
The question you need to be asking yourself is how do I level up what I bring to the table that AI simply cannot replicate.
Because those skills…..They're going to be needed more than ever.
And that’s the human skills you need to hone, like emotional intelligence, and other key skills, like our critical thinking skills.
AI’s not just challenging us to think differently. It’s literally challenging us to THINK. With the speed and depth of AI's functionality, we’re at real risk of letting AI think for us without critically challenging its outputs or editing them to ensure they’re human, not just AI-generated.
We’ve been experiencing a knowledge decay in our educational system over the past decades, and we’re becoming more acutely aware of it today. I'm not suggesting people aren't capable of deep thought; we absolutely are. But many of us were educated and trained in systems that rewarded memorization, speed, and getting to the right answer. Far less attention was given to questioning, testing, interpreting, and discerning what's actually valid and relevant, and as a result, it can be very easy to defer to the ease and speed of AI.
And listen, I spent ten years in academia, so I’ve seen how often people are trained to be performative and perform knowledge rather than really challenge and wrestle with it.
So, now that AI can retrieve, synthesize, and reason at an increasingly sophisticated level, it is asking us to reach for something higher. Not just recall. Not just polished responses. But discernment. Interpretation. The ability to say, yes, I see what this tool is giving me, but what does it mean? What does it miss? What is true in practice, not just on paper?
That is a different kind of leadership muscle. And many leaders are being asked to strengthen it in real time. AI can not and SHOULD NOT think for you or replace the benefit of what your lived experiences have taught you.
So now let’s talk about what’s not getting automated. What will and should remain completely and uniquely yours as a leader?
Three things. Judgment. Presence. And courage.
Let’s start with judgment.
Judgment is more than analysis. We already know that AI can analyze, compare, and suggest. Judgment, however, is discernment. It’s the ability to hold context, values, relationships, timing, your lived experiences, and human impact all at once and instantly decide what matters most.
Judgment is what says:
Yes, this recommendation may be logical and efficient, but it’s not wise.
Yes, the data is accurate, but it’s missing something.
Yes, we can do this, but that doesn't mean we should do so.
Or something as simple as my instinct is telling me that, that’s not the right move right now.
That kind of judgment can’t be outsourced without a cost.
So be extremely careful about allowing AI’s ideas to be THE ideas without the benefit of your well-honed and well-earned judgment. Get in the habit of examining, challenging, pushing back, and flat-out rejecting what AI gives you so you don’t lose the incredibly valuable skill of judgment.
The next invaluable skill is presence. And I don't mean charisma. I mean the quality of the attention you pay to people. Your availability and steadiness. The space you create for your people to show up, be real, roll up their sleeves, take risks, and make things happen.
It’s whether people feel safer telling you the truth or safer hiding from it. Whether they bring you the real issue or the polished version. Whether your presence invites honesty and contribution, or whether people go into protection mode around you.
That matters. And I think it matters more now because, as AI increases the speed and scale of work, and the fear and resistance to AI increases as well, it’s going to be the way people are experiencing you and your leadership that will become what makes or breaks a culture of success or failure.
When I talk about presence, I mean your listening and communication skills, your ability to manage and regulate your emotions, and, most importantly, your ability to hone these skills in others. AI may be able to give you what you want to say, but you’re the one who has to deliver it. You’re the one who has to stay calm in the delivery. You’re the one who has to manage your emotions when people don’t react to the script AI gave you in the manner you expected. You’re the one who’s in the room and will be able to tell that someone’s body language and non-verbals aren’t matching what’s coming out of their mouth. That’s presence, and that’s ALL YOU, not AI.
And then there's courage.
Courage may actually become more visible because of AI. I mean, when technology makes it easier to hide behind data, easier to let the algorithm decide, easier to produce more while revealing less of yourself, the willingness to lead from conviction becomes rarer.
In fact, studies show that employees actually believe what AI is telling them MORE than what their co-workers or leaders are telling them. Now, this goes back to what I said earlier about critical thinking, but it’s also because people are losing the courage to speak up, say the hard things, challenge what’s in front of them, particularly when it’s easier to stay quiet.
We’ve already seen people hide behind social media…AI will exacerbate that, especially if we lose the courage to use our voice. When we no longer make the principled call when the metrics alone can't make it for you. Admitting uncertainty. Owning a mistake. Inviting dissent. Changing your mind publicly when new information demands it. Protecting your people when it costs you something.
That is still what leadership calls for, what’s needed. And it’s still entirely human.
Now, where do critical thinking, judgment, presence, and courage show up in the day-to-day work of leadership? It’s in your emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence affects how you give feedback, how you handle stress, tension, sudden change, and how you regulate yourself under pressure, how you build trust, and how you hold people accountable without shutting them down.
As AI becomes more embedded in how we work, the more critical it will be to embed emotional intelligence alongside it.
Practically speaking, let’s talk about what high emotional intelligence actually looks like in an AI-driven workplace.
First, it looks like pausing before you react. When something goes wrong, when there's tension, when someone disappoints you, when the pressure is high, do you react from impulse, or do you create space to choose your response? That pause between trigger and response is EQ. It's learning to use what I call the professional pause. The 3-5 seconds of quiet where you’re breathing, lowering your cortisol, and giving your prefrontal cortex a chance to do its job…to allow you to think and lead with your brain instead of your emotions.
Next, it looks like listening without rushing to fix. AI is built to generate answers instantly, and many leaders have been trained to think they have to show up the same way. But leaders with strong EQ know when not to rush. They ask questions and are constantly thinking, "How can I ask even better questions?" like "help me understand what's behind that" or "what do you need from me right now — advice, or just someone to listen?" Asking questions changes the entire quality of a conversation because they invite the other party into the conversation. Giving the answer is a one-way communication and can often serve to shut people down, and most importantly, shut down their ability to question, wonder, get curious, and think critically.
It also looks like handling tension, chaos, stress, conflict, and uncertainty without avoiding it or escalating it. And let's be honest, in today's workplace, there is no shortage of any of those things. Change is constant, pressure is high, and the pace isn't slowing down.
Most leaders do one of two things when things get hard: they sidestep the tension, or they intensify it. But emotionally intelligent leaders do neither. They stay steady. They address what needs to be addressed directly and clearly, without letting their own anxiety or frustration drive the conversation. They move toward resolution without damaging the relationship in the process.
They’re also steady, but that steadiness does NOT mean they’re unaffected. They don’t pretend things aren't hard or that they have all the answers. Resilience isn't the absence of stress. It's the ability to absorb it, adapt, and keep moving forward with clarity, transparency, and intention even when the ground is shifting beneath you. And you do that because your team is watching you. How you show up in the storm sets the tone for how they show up. When you model calm in the middle of chaos, you give your people permission to breathe. You become the stabilizing force that helps them think clearly, stay focused, and keep going when everything feels uncertain. That's not a small thing. That is one of the most powerful things a leader can do.
And no AI can do that for you.
And I want to be clear that these are not personality traits you either have or you don't. They are skills. And like any skill worth having, they can be built through consistent practice, honest self-reflection, and a genuine commitment to your own growth as a leader.
So where do you start? Have a SOD (start of day) and EOD (end of day) ritual. Start with “How will I lead well today?” “Where will I get out of my own way?” “What ways will I use and allow my EQ to grow?” Then at the end of each day, check in and ask, “Where did I lead well today? Where did I get in my own way, and where didn’t I lean into my EQ, including my critical thinking, my judgment, my presence, and my courage?
Other things you can do are, before your next difficult conversation, decide in advance how you want to show up, not just what you want to say. Ask someone you trust: when do you see me at my best as a leader, and when do you notice me at my worst? Then just listen.
Don't underestimate this work. Don’t let the simplicity fool you. Done consistently, they will change how you lead and how your people experience being led.
Don’t let AI replace this uniquely human aspect of you. Use AI to help you schedule time to do the work, or to give you additional questions to challenge your thinking. That’s a great use of AI as long as you get honest with the responses. But don’t ever let it replace what you bring to the table…don’t let it replace what’s truly you.
That’s it for this episode and for season 4.
Thank you for being with me this season. It has been a gift. I hope this episode leaves you with something worth sitting with — not just how to use the tools, but how to lead in a way that keeps your humanity, your clarity, and your substance intact.
And maybe even strengthens them.
Until next time….keep leading with YOU and keep leading people-forward.
