Leading with Character: Adding Value
This week’s blog was supposed to be about wisdom, but I was led to address an altogether different topic. I’ve been meaning to check out Artificial Intelligence (AI) for fun – to see what kind of blog it would create if I gave a topic. So, when Microsoft Copilot asked me what I wanted to write about I entered three simple words: “Blog on wisdom.” Within seconds, a masterfully and creatively crafted, 1000-word essay complete with a title and section headings filled my screen. Check out the title and first paragraph for a sampling:
“Of Stones and Rivers: Reflections on the Nature of Wisdom
A Journey Into Understanding What Cannot Be Taught
In the hush before dawn, when the sky is a canvas not yet colored by the sun, wisdom sometimes visits. It settles quietly, like dew on a grassy field—imperceptible until one is willing to kneel and look closely. Wisdom, elusive and unyielding to the impatient heart, cannot be summoned by want alone. It is not simply the accumulation of facts, nor the memorization of proverbs. Rather, wisdom is the alchemy of knowledge, experience, humility, and time.”
The AI-manufactured blog is poetic, even inspiring. It’s the essence of the meaning of wisdom—from the ancient philosophers to the present—condensed to a few paragraphs. But it is sterile. It doesn’t wrap itself around a captivating personal story or a lesson learned from experience. It conveys ideas; it doesn’t teach lessons. It’s smooth and polished, not rough and uncut like many of us are as we navigate our leadership journeys. And anyone who types those three words will get the same, generic result.
The Pros and Cons of AI
We should all understand and respect the capabilities of AI. We’re using it judiciously at Modern Woodmen of America, where I serve on the board of directors, and I’ve found it does a fantastic job collating meeting minutes. But we must also know and be mindful of its limitations. AI is seductive and can lure one to think he or she can rely on it as a substitute for communicating or leading. Sure, AI could draw upon the universe of sources to give you a point paper on how to lead. But that wouldn’t necessarily make you a better leader.
Leadership is Personal and Takes Work
Leadership requires far more than a machine can provide. Good leadership takes work and personal engagement. Leaders succeed when they understand their people, when they meet people where they are and seek to help them reach the next level, and when they use emotional intelligence to motivate and inspire others. Engaged leadership like that requires a leader to get out of the office and “walk the deckplates” to connect with people and see what they’re doing. That’s how leaders add value that can’t be replicated by a machine. The further away a leader gets from the workplace, such as in a remote work environment, the harder it is to add value that can’t be replaced by some kind of AI.
The lesson I learned from experimenting with Copilot is, I’m not going to ask AI to help me write my blogs. I’m going to keep drawing upon my personal experiences to provide content that is uniquely my own and can’t be replicated by a machine. Might I use AI to help in some way, such as shortening up a piece that’s a bit too long? Maybe. But I’ll continue to rely on adding value where a machine can’t – using emotional intelligence and personal experience.
Look in the mirror: What value can you add as a leader to make your team or unit more effective that can’t be replicated by AI.
Please join me again next time for more on Leading with Character.
If you enjoyed this post, please visit my website where you can buy my book, Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters, and sign up for my mailing list: https://sandrastosz.com/book/breaking-ice-and-breaking-glass/
