The Leader's Tightrope: Balancing Flawed AI, Imperfect HI, and Achieving True Insight

From my research and work with leaders worldwide, the leadership landscape has changed at a frenetic speed, in particular, over the past two years. It is alarming and increasingly evident that today’s leaders walk a tightrope from the ever-evolving allure, speed, and promise of AI-driven insights and the labyrinth and often-messy reality of human intelligence (HI) and Emotional Intelligence (EI).

The Developing AI/HI Pressure Cooker

We have now seen several recent, very costly leadership strategic decisions, based on the skewed belief that AI will replace the need for HI and deliver final outcomes that will either drive up revenue, save costs, save time, or enhance leadership status. This week, the Australian Government have forced Deloitte to refund a significant portion of their $440,000 fee for an inaccurate report and false citations. The Commonwealth Bank's decision in August to replace 45 call-centre staff with AI Bots backfired, causing chaos and the recall and apology to staff and customers, not to mention the financial consequences. There has been increasing concern and anger at the reliance of AI to write political speeches, in particular, expressed by the security minister Tom Tugendhat in September within the House of Commons, UK, by ministers addressing the House.

Concerns over the use of AI for critical reports were raised in 2023 by KPMG when they lodged a complaint after AI-generated material was used to implicate them in non-existent scandals. This action forced a Senate inquiry into the Australian consultancy industry, and the Senate committee warned AI may have seriously undermined its integrity. The report lacked HI intervention and was not properly fact-checked for accuracy. These concerning recent examples and frequency of them, coupled with the lightning speed at which AI is evolving into leadership decision-making, have highlighted the perilous consequences of leaning too heavily on either without critical examination.

What is The Reality

The truth is, we have now added a huge layer of complexity to leadership. Artificial Intelligence has significant advantages; however, it has significant limitations, and navigating this tension between AI, HI, and EI is the new defining challenge of effective leadership.

At the surface level, AI can sift through mountains of data with unmatched speed, identify patterns invisible to the human eye, and offer projections that seem almost prophetic. But AI is only as reliable as the information it's trained on, and by the engineers who implement the systems and outputs. All three major AI platforms interact and interface differently with the users, create different contextual lenses, and provide differing narratives and interpretations. It lacks genuine substantive context, will never have the insight of actual human experience in any situation, struggles with nuance, does not have a lived experience of values, and is incapable of ethical or emotional reasoning.

At the same stage, in many countries, our ecosystems have increasingly expanded diverse cultural backgrounds in the workforce. Therefore, our HI is increasing with complexity and the need for greater EI. Every person, our staff, our colleagues, and ourselves, is filled with human experiences covering all ranges of emotions, providing intuition, and the ability to connect and interact with people around the world from all cultures on a deeply human level. Yet, based on our own ecosystems, values, and beliefs, HI is notoriously susceptible to cognitive biases, emotional reasoning, ingrained assumptions, and errors in judgment, particularly under high-tension, stress, challenge, and outcome bias that requires seasoned leadership. Leaders are expected to utilise data provided by their staff, which has been put through three complex layers: AI, HI, and EI.

These scenarios occur every day, often in high-tension situations with critical deadlines, internal/external pressure, and meeting stakeholder expectations. This creates a complex problem, as both AI and HI are flawed, and EI, under pressure and inexperience, is the tenuous tightrope to be navigated.

How can a leader cut through this tension and generate action?

Leadership Intelligence (LI) is the capacity to understand ecosystems, integrate the strengths and acknowledge the limits of both AI and HI, using emotional intelligence to filter and evaluate all insights with core values and purpose, ultimately guiding decisions and action. It is the critical ingredient for generating responsible outcomes and high-performance. It requires the vital importance of unrewarded, solitary front-end leadership work, and uncovering the secrets of emotional intelligence.

The 3P/S system provides a framework for leaders to develop and hone this Leadership Intelligence. It consists of four interconnected elements:

· Purpose: A clear understanding of your 'why'. What motivates you? What impact do you want to make? This acts as your ethical compass and guides your decisions, especially when faced with complex or conflicting information.

· Presence: Being fully engaged in the present moment, aware of your own emotions and biases, and attuned to the needs of those around you. This enables you to actively listen, ask insightful questions, and discern the unspoken dynamics at play.

· Being Present: The ability to ground yourself and reflect internally to test values and judgements when in the present, it allows considered decision making even when a moment may be highly pressured.

· Situational Specificity: The understanding that every leadership moment is unique. Applying pre-conceived notions or relying solely on past experiences can lead to missteps. Requires constant adaptability and the willingness to challenge assumptions.

By investing in the development of these four elements, leaders can create a powerful front-end foundation for navigating the complexities of today’s world and effectively weighing the inputs of both AI and HI.

· Recognising the Limits: The first step is acknowledging that neither AI nor HI are infallible or perfect. Leaders must actively seek out potential flaws in both.

· Building a Learning Culture: Encourage a mindset of constructive scepticism among your team, reflect on lessons learned, assess risk, and develop a safe space where assumptions are challenged and every piece of information is rigorously tested.

· The Art of Emotional Intelligence, where the facilitation of balanced opinions is encouraged, discussions of diverse perspectives are valued, data is probed, potential biases are surfaced, and the risk is removed.

· Values-Driven Discernment: Refer back to your core values, beliefs, and purpose to determine if AI and HI solutions truly align with ethical standards and overall organisational goals.

What are the keys to walking that tightrope successfully

· Invest in Understanding: Be proactive and understand that the sources of your AI and HI have different vulnerabilities, and the need for EI, so you create the right leadership situational influence.

· Champion Humility: We will never have all the answers. Therefore, great leadership recognises that we only have one set of ideas and is open to differing opinions and agility in decision-making.

· Embrace Fluidity: Having a mindset to listen with intent to absorb; be prepared to shift strategies based on new information and evolving context.

· Prioritise "Front-End Work:" Developing the 3P/S system comes down to solitary work that allows you to have a deeper understanding of HI and AI, and using EI to connect, align values, and establish a liminal perspective that will guide teams with congruence of situational influence for the situations at hand.

The era of incoherent passive leadership is over. Modern leadership complexity demands a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both AI and HI, coupled with EI and LI, to walk the tenuous tightrope with confidence and navigate the turbulent waters between them. The leaders who can master this delicate balancing act will be the ones who drive with strong values and purpose, deliver true insights, build resilient teams, and ultimately, establish the foundations of a more just and prosperous future.