👩‍💼🤖The case for the AI-assisted leader (help needed!)

Leadership and people management is key to any organization's success.

We know this almost as gospel.

But what makes a good people leader? Here’s where I’ve been digging deep.

Much ink has been spilled on whether leaders are born or made, and what specific traits they should have, and how good they should be at them.

But in my experience, these have always been necessary but not sufficient.

To make things worse, we see straw-man posts like these lionizing leaders at the expense of managers:

In reality, What I’ve found in my experience is that you can’t be an effective leader without being an effective manager. (I can almost feel the stones about to fly my way)

And you can’t be an effective manager without being systematic about managing. Peter Drucker knew this. Andy Grove knew this.

And the way to be systematic is to break out two components of great leadership: human judgement and enabling processes.

Part 1: Human judgement

Human judgement is the ability of a leader to make decisions based on their experience, training, and intuition. It's what sets great leaders apart from good leaders.

But what makes human judgement so special? Training, experience, role-modeling, and coaching all play a role.

These factors help leaders understand their people, anticipate problems, and make decisions that align with the company's goals.

Human judgement is crucial in leadership, it's what makes a leader effective in creating a welcoming and psychologically safe environment for their team.

A leader with good human judgement will be able to create a sense of belonging for their team members, and foster a culture of trust and open communication.

Companies already invest big money in leadership development.

1. "Leadership Development Factbook 2016" by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) and the Brandon Hall Group reported that companies spend an average of $1,208 per employee on leadership development.

2. A study by Deloitte found that on average, companies are spending around $14,000 per employee on leadership development.

3. A survey by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) found that organizations spend an average of $1,229 per employee on leadership development.

Human judgement is the foundation of great leadership. Without it, leaders may struggle to make effective decisions and lead their teams to success. But it's not the only important piece of the puzzle.

Part 2: Enabling Process

Great leaders also need great processes to help them manage their teams. These are what we call "enabling processes."

Enabling processes are the systems and procedures that help leaders manage their people more effectively. They include things like onboarding new hires, running performance reviews, and exchanging feedback.

But here's the thing, managing these processes can be tough.

Without the right systems in place, leaders may struggle to keep track of everything. And that can make them appear disorganized or uncaring to their teams.

Enter technology and artificial intelligence. Leaders can lean on tech to keep their enabling processes organized, and make it easier for them to manage their people.

New AI tools can help leaders in ways we never thought possible. They can act as a virtual HR business partner, helping leaders keep track of their enabling processes and analyze employee data.

They can also help leaders stay on top of employee engagement, and make sure everyone is happy and productive.

But it's not just about the numbers. AI-enabled smart engagement tools can also help leaders focus on the human aspects of leadership.

By taking care of the nitty-gritty details, leaders can spend more time inspiring their teams and making them feel valued.

So there you have it, the two components of great leadership: human judgement and enabling processes.

To build truly great leaders, organizations need to invest in both.

By balancing their investments in human judgement and enabling processes, they can create a leadership development program that truly sets their leaders up for success.

So what's next? It's time for organizations to take action. Leverage the power of technology to build stronger enabling processes and create a leadership development program that will propel your leaders to greatness.

Your organization, and your employees, will thank you.