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Abstract: As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue to rapidly advance, they have significant implications for the nature of leadership and the skills future leaders will need to be successful. This article explores the concept of "leadership intelligence" and its importance for nurturing emerging leaders who can guide organizations navigating an AI-infused world of work. Through a review of recent research on how AI may enhance as well as challenge traditional views of leadership roles and capabilities, the article defines leadership intelligence as encompassing emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, strategic thinking, creativity/innovation, and lifelong learning abilities. It argues cultivating these broad intellectual, social-emotional, and practical capacities in developing leaders will distinguish their potential to inspire and mobilize talent amid ongoing disruption. The article then offers recommendations for how organizations can begin fostering leadership intelligence early in high potentials' careers through experiences, coaching, global exposures, leadership development programs, and emphasis on cultivating a growth mindset. By prioritizing holistic leader formation, organizations will groom pipelines of diverse, adaptable talent poised to realize AI's full benefits.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies are rapidly changing how we live and work. As an experienced management consultant and researcher in the fields of leadership development and organizational change, I’ve seen firsthand how these emerging technologies are beginning to transform leadership and shape the skills future leaders will need.
Today we will explore the intersection of AI, leadership intelligence, and building the leaders of tomorrow.
Understanding the Impact of AI on Leadership
To set the stage, it’s important to acknowledge the profound ways AI is already impacting leadership and organizations. Recent surveys show the majority of business executives believe AI will significantly alter nearly every job function over the next 10 years (Gray, 2020). Some researchers argue AI will ultimately replace many leadership roles altogether as machines surpass human intelligence (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2017). Meanwhile, other scholars contend AI will simply change what it means to lead rather than eliminate the need for human leadership entirely (Agarwal et al., 2018).
So how might AI specifically influence core aspects of leadership? Key areas of impact include:
Strategic Decision Making: AI tools like predictive analytics and cognitive assistants will augment human judgment by surfacing patterns and scenarios leaders may otherwise miss (Ransbotham et al., 2017). This could both enable bolder strategic moves and challenge traditional models of lone "heroic" leadership.
Communication & Collaboration: AI and virtual/augmented reality have the potential to transform how leaders communicate, facilitating highly immersive and globally distributed interactions (Kannan & Tyagi, 2017). However, the ability to build deep human connections may still differentiate effective leaders.
Coaching & Mentorship: AI coaches and virtual advisors could potentially replicate some functions of human development relationships at scale (Jones, 2019). Yet soft skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, and inspirational capabilities may remain uniquely human strengths.
Change Management: AI may help surface insights to guide organizational transformation initiatives but leading large-scale cultural change still likely demands a human touch given its political and interpersonal complexity (Bristow et al., 2020).
While AI will undoubtedly influence leadership work in coming years, the ability to inspire and align people through strong interpersonal skills, judgment, and wisdom may remain a distinguishing feature of the most successful leaders. Technical skills alone will not suffice. This points to the growing importance of "leadership intelligence" as a key quality for the leaders of tomorrow.
Defining Leadership Intelligence
The concept of leadership intelligence refers to a broad set of intellectual, social-emotional, and practical capacities needed to successfully lead in complex environments pervaded by emerging technologies, macro forces like globalization and climate change, and shifting social values (Sternberg, 2008). While no universal definition exists, leadership intelligence generally encompasses:
Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills like empathy, conflict resolution, and influence.
Cultural Intelligence: The ability to relate and work cross-culturally, understanding different norms, values, and ways of thinking in diverse groups and contexts.
Strategic Thinking: Systems-level perspective taking, pattern recognition, future-focused scenario planning, and the judgment to solve multifaceted problems.
Creativity & Innovation: Idea generation, risk-taking, challenges to the status quo, and championing new visions.
Lifelong Learning: Adaptability, curiosity, and commitment to continuously developing new technical and interpersonal skills through self-directed study.
As AI increasingly automates routine analytical and administrative tasks, leadership intelligence capacities centered around inspiration, collaboration, change facilitation, and wise decision-making involving moral and ethical considerations will distinguish successful leaders (Agarwal et al., 2018). Leaders high in emotional intelligence, for instance, may prove especially adept at guiding AI innovation and adoption in a way that considers human needs (Kannan & Tyagi, 2017).
Cultivating Leadership Intelligence for the Future
Given future leaders will need well-developed leadership intelligence to navigate technological disruption and complex global challenges, how can organizations begin cultivating these capacities early in high potentials’ careers? Consider the following recommendations tailored for different developmental levels:
For Emerging Talent:
Implement campus recruiting programs focused on leadership intelligence assessments and experiential learning (e.g. project-based community service).
Offer rotational roles exposing new hires to diverse functions, geographies, and ways of working.
Design high-impact stretch assignments and special projects requiring creativity, collaboration, and change leadership.
For High Potentials:
Provide executive coaching focused on enhancing self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking.
Sponsor international assignments and apprenticeships under senior global leaders.
Curate leadership labs, seminars, and forums exploring futures scenarios and paradigm-shifting innovations.
For Future C-Suite Leaders:
Cultivate a growth mindset through executive education emphasizing cultural intelligence, systems perspective-taking, and tackling "super wicked" societal problems.
Require a capstone project mobilizing cross-industry networks to collaboratively address issues like sustainability or inequality.
Establish chief learning officer roles to hardwire continuous leadership development practices organization-wide.
By emphasizing experience over simply checking competency boxes, and focusing on developing the whole leader, organizations can groom talent pipelines equipped to not just adapt to AI but guide its responsible adoption and maximize its benefits for customers, employees, and society. Ongoing evaluation and refinement will likewise be needed given the pace of technological and environmental change.
Conclusion
While AI poses disruptions, it also presents opportunities if organizations focus on cultivating the leadership intelligence capacities future conditions demand. To build leaders ready to navigate complex VUCA environments with wisdom, care, and distributed creativity will require shifting from short-term, check-the-box development to lifelong, holistic approaches emphasizing strategic business understanding, cultural agility, emotional prowess, and capacity for large-scale collaboration and change leadership. With concentrated effort, organizations can emerge from this period of immense change with pipelines of diverse, future-fit leaders primed to realize the full promise of emerging technologies for stakeholders in responsible, inclusive, and sustainable ways. The implications for business performance and social impact could be profound.
References
Agarwal, R., Brem, A., & Wach, E. (2018). From systems thinking to systemic action: Framing the roles of technology for sustainability. The Academy of Management Discoveries, 5(1), 50-74. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2017.0137
Bristow, D., Ducassi, J., & DerArslanian, L. (2020). Leadership essentials for the age of AI. MIT Sloan Management Review, 61(2), 1-7.
Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2017). The business of artificial intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 95(7-8), 3.
Gray, C. (2020). Most companies see AI drastically changing jobs in the next 5 years. ZDNet. https://www.zdnet.com/article/most-companies-see-ai-drastically-changing-jobs-in-the-next-5-years/
Jones, M. (2019). The rise of the machines: The future of work in the age of AI. Center for the Future of Work. https://www.cfr.org/report/rise-machines
Kannan, D., & Tyagi, S. (2017). Developing emotional intelligence and enhancing leadership skills of managers through tacit knowledge sharing. South Asian Journal of Management, 24(3), 7-25.
Ransbotham, S., Kiron, D., Gerbert, P., & Reeves, M. (2017). Reshaping business with artificial intelligence: Closing the gap between ambition and action. MIT Sloan Management Review, 59(1), 1–17.
Sternberg, R. J. (2008). Increasing fluid intelligence is possible after all. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(19), 6791–6792. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0803396105
Additional Reading
Westover, J. H. (2024). Optimizing Organizations: Reinvention through People, Adapted Mindsets, and the Dynamics of Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.3
Westover, J. H. (2024). Reinventing Leadership: People-Centered Strategies for Empowering Organizational Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.4
Westover, J. H. (2024). Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-Informed Decision Making. HCI Academic Prs. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.5
Westover, J. H. (2024). Energizing Innovation: Inspiring Peak Performance through Talent, Culture, and Growth. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.6
Westover, J. H. (2024). Championing Performance: Aligning Organizational and Employee Trust, Purpose, and Well-Being. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.7
Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Workforce Evolution: Strategies for Adapting to Changing Human Capital Needs. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.8
Westover, J. H. (2024). Navigating Change: Keys to Organizational Agility, Innovation, and Impact. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.11
Westover, J. H. (2024). Inspiring Purpose: Leading People and Unlocking Human Capacity in the Workplace. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.12
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). The Role of AI & Leadership Intelligence in Building Tomorrow’s Leaders. Human Capital Leadership Review, 14(3). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.14.3.14
