Once, a Head of Marketing told me he had to report on every nuance of how his group is leveraging AI to get the work done.
To the board.
Not his direct manager. Not the CEO. The board.
When I asked if this was normal, the response was “Definitely not normal. We went from ‘Engage with AI with caution’ to ‘Use AI for everything. Why aren’t you doing more with AI? Almost overnight.”’
Where leaders have always had to worry about budget and headcount, now you can add AI to the mix – how it integrates with the existing team and workstreams, and possibly, how it can reduce headcount.
Employees see this too, so now, in addition to questioning the longevity of your job, you probably have team members who are anxious about their jobs. And they expect you to have the answers.
I am not immune to this. The future AI is creating is unclear, even for many of those at the forefront of the technology. I have my moments where I wonder whether AI will outpace me before I’m ready to retire. (I don’t think so, though I do think, like everyone, I will be called upon to look at the work differently.)
I saw a quote from Dharmesh Shah (founder of HubSpot) that gave me pause. “What bigger problem could I be solving if AI handled the parts of my job I shouldn’t be doing anyway?”
We are all being asked to lead in ways that feel new and therefore uncomfortable. And so in many ways, this is no different than Covid, the arrival of the internet, and other events that changed the way we work.
We’re all navigating this new world without a map. The question is how do you find your way personally when the old routes don’t get you where you’re going?
