LEVERAGING AI FOR EFFECTIVE SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP

This is part two of the last article we published about artificial intelligence usage and tips for effective situational leadership. We suggested that one of the ways to develop your situational leadership skills is to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can help you analyze, monitor, and improve your team's performance.

“How can a one-size-fits-all leadership style meet the demands of a rapidly changing business environment and an increasingly diverse society?”

?The answer is “it cannot.”

As a leader, you may be tempted to stick with what you know and what has worked for you in the past. However, in a rapidly changing world where AI is becoming more prevalent and influential, you may need to adapt your leadership style to different circumstances and challenges.

?Working with AI is not just a technical skill, but also a leadership skill.

AI can provide you with data-driven insights, feedback, and recommendations that can help you make better decisions, tailor your communication, and provide effective coaching.

In today's business environment, you will encounter many situations where you need to collaborate with AI systems, leverage their capabilities, and align them with your business goals.

?Assessing AI Situation

Here are some tips on how to do that in situation leadership:

(1) Be open to learning and experimenting with AI.

This is new to everyone and is now more accessible as more people learn to understand it. The majority are at this stage. AI can offer new insights, solutions, and opportunities for your organization, but you need to be willing to learn how it works, what it can do, and how to use it effectively.

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(2) Don't be afraid to try new things and fail sometimes.

Many leaders are perfectionists, but this is not how we grow by sticking to what we do best. Allowing ourselves to fail sometimes, that's how we grow and innovate. Regardless of your position, education level or status, if you want to learn more about AI, you can take online courses, read books and articles, attend webinars and workshops, or join communities and networks of AI enthusiasts and experts.

?(3) Be flexible and agile.

AI can also create uncertainty, complexity, and disruption in your industry, market, or operations. You need to be able to adjust your plans, strategies, and goals as the situation changes. Don't get too attached to your old ways of doing things or resist change. Instead, embrace it and look for ways to leverage it to your advantage.

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(4) Be collaborative and inclusive.

AI can enhance your human capabilities, but it cannot replace them. Don't let AI create silos or divisions in your culture or communication. Instead, use it to foster collaboration and inclusion. Businesses still need their human teams and leaders still need to rely on their team, partners, and stakeholders for their expertise, creativity, and feedback. You also need to ensure that everyone is on board with the vision, values, and purpose of your organization, and ensure your teams feel valued and respected.

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(5) Be ethical and responsible.

AI can pose ethical and social dilemmas that require careful consideration and decision-making. You need to be aware of the potential impacts, risks, and consequences of using AI for your organization and society at large. You also need to ensure that you follow the principles of fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy when using AI. Don't let AI compromise your integrity or reputation. Instead, use it to enhance your trustworthiness and credibility.

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Situational Leadership Use of AI Options

Successful leaders recognise the value of continuing to learn and implement what they have learned. Developing your situational leadership skills can help your business advance, with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

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As you have seen from the provided examples, AI can be a powerful tool that can help you develop your situational leadership skills. Understandably new ways of working are daunting for some and may be rejected due to misconceptions or misunderstandings.

Consider working with AI in the same way as expanding your leadership skills to prepare yourself for a range of opportunities that you’re likely to come across in today’s business environment such as the importance of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as those of others. A crucial skill for situational leadership.

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Some examples of how emotional intelligence can enhance situational leadership skills include empathy, self-awareness, and social awareness. Afford this to yourself too. For example, do not beat yourself up for a minor setback, but rather, look at the failure as a stepping stone to something else. For example, “A” did not work out, but I can use the lesson in “C”. By cultivating your emotional intelligence, you can become a more effective and versatile situational leader.

Emotional Intelligence is not a fixed trait that you are born with or without. It is the ability to adapt your leadership style to the needs and preferences of different people and situations, hence a learnable skill that you can develop and improve through practice and feedback within situational leadership.

By using AI, in addition, you can also gain a deeper understanding of your team's performance, communication, and development needs. You can also use AI to provide them with more personalized and effective direction, support, feedback, and coaching.

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Examples of how working with AI can help you expand your leadership skills and prepare you for a range of opportunities:

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(1) Working with AI can help you develop your strategic thinking.

AI systems can provide you with insights, predictions, and recommendations based on data and algorithms. You can use these outputs to inform your decisions, plan your actions, and anticipate the consequences. You can also evaluate the strengths and limitations of AI systems and decide when to trust them and when to challenge them.

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(2) Working with AI can help you enhance your communication skills.

AI systems can communicate with you in natural language, using text, speech, or images. You can learn how to interact with them effectively, using clear and concise language, providing feedback, and asking questions. You can also learn how to communicate with other humans about AI systems, explaining their logic, value, and impact.

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(2) Working with AI can help you foster your creativity skills.

AI systems can generate new ideas, solutions, and content based on data and algorithms. You can use these outputs as inspiration, stimulation, or validation for your own creative process. You can also combine human and AI creativity, using techniques such as co-creation, augmentation, or remixing.

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Use artificial intelligence to enhance your trustworthiness and credibility.

By being ethical and responsible, you can uphold your values and principles, protect your stakeholders' interests and rights, and contribute positively to society. By doing so, you can not only improve your own leadership effectiveness but also help your business advance by increasing productivity and morale.

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This article has been written with AI as an assistant.

The Author, Cecilia Patterson is a founder and owner of MTC Consultancy, a generalist consulting firm in the UK serving clients across multiple industries, solving complex issues in business function areas of Human resources, Corporate, Operations, Marketing, and Information Technology.

MTC Consultancy is principally focused on providing services in management consulting supplying business and digital solutions, advising, and supporting business owners, entrepreneurs, & and the C-Suite, including investors.

https://mtcconsultancy.com/functions

?If you wish to book a consultation, you may?Book a Teams (office365.com)?meeting here. Alternatively, please contact the author here - on LinkedIn |?www.mtcconsultancy.com

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