The Leadership Wake-Up Call: What Is Shaping Us in the Age of AI?

The Leadership Wake-Up Call: What Is Shaping Us in the Age of AI?

Article 1 | Fear in the Age of AI Series

Whether I’m writing, training leaders globally, or thinking about the future of higher education, one question keeps coming back.  What is constant exposure to algorithms doing to our understanding of truth, identity, and character?

I ask this question as a leadership coach. I also ask it as a grandmother.

When my grandchildren visit the ranch, I want to be outside with them, catching frogs, building forts, and racing to the top of the hill. I love hearing their laughter as they explore God’s creation.

Yet, I also see them sitting inside, arguing over which movie to watch, each absorbed in a screen. I feel a quiet sadness.

What happens when screens begin shaping their understanding of themselves and the world around them? What kind of leaders will they become?

These questions aren’t limited to my grandchildren. I wonder how different we really are as adults. Our screens may display business news, leadership advice, and professional insights. Yet we are also being influenced by what algorithms choose to show us.

What is this environment doing to our ability to think wisely, recognize truth, and lead with conviction?

The Question We Can’t Ignore

These concerns followed me to Tanzania, where I spoke with university students at a Global Leadership Forum.

I quickly realized I was addressing more than the opportunities AI offers. These young leaders were intrigued by what artificial intelligence could do. They also expressed uneasiness about how quickly technology was changing their world.

Their questions reminded me of conversations I’ve had with experienced leaders in the United States. We recognize the opportunities AI creates. We also sense that something important is happening beneath the surface.

We aren’t simply learning to use new technology. We are living in an environment increasingly shaped by it.

That realization brings me to a more personal question: How is this age of AI influencing how I think, decide, and lead?

In my earlier Character Matters/D.A.K.O.T.A. series, I wrote about the importance of determination rooted in character rather than convenience. That conviction seems even more important today. Read: In the AI Age, Determination Is One Step Closer to Character-Based Leadership. 

When Fear Goes Unnoticed

During COVID, fear was visible. We talked about it, debated it, and recognized its influence. Today, I believe fear is quieter.

Amsterdam Int. Airport, Covid Era.

It shows up as urgency, pressure to keep up, or the assumption that faster is wiser. It can influence our decisions before we recognize what is happening.

You may feel that pressure yourself. One AI tool promises greater efficiency. Another leadership expert insists you must adapt immediately. Another headline warns that you’re falling behind.

How do you determine what deserves your attention? More importantly, what is influencing your decisions?

That’s what concerns me most. Fear rarely dismantles character all at once. It shifts our thinking slowly. Small compromises become habits. Habits shape character. Over time, character shapes the culture we create.

Fear doesn’t always stop us from leading. Sometimes it pushes us to move faster than wisdom allows. I wonder how often we mistake that pressure for progress.

The Environment Shaping Our Thinking, Our Conscience

I’ve noticed something troubling in my own thinking. I read one perspective, then another, then another. Each sounds convincing. Yet the arguments often contradict one another.

I find myself questioning everything. I’m more cynical. I start asking, “What’s the agenda? What are they trying to get me to believe?” There’s an erosion of trust. Perhaps you’ve experienced something similar.

We have access to more information than ever before. Yet having more information doesn’t necessarily make us wiser. This isn’t just an information problem. It’s a leadership problem.

When our sense of truth becomes unstable, our leadership becomes unstable. We begin second-guessing decisions, questioning motives, and struggling to know whom to trust.

I also wonder what happens to our relationships. Technology makes it possible to communicate without the demands of face-to-face interaction. Sometimes that’s helpful. Other times, it becomes easier to send another message than to have a difficult conversation.

We choose convenience over connection. We avoid conversations that require patience, courage, and understanding.

Those choices may seem small. Yet they influence the kind of leaders we are becoming.

As I reflect on these changes, I realize I need to examine more than the information coming at me. I need to examine my response to it. Am I becoming more discerning or more cynical? Am I growing in wisdom or simply reacting to the latest persuasive argument?

These are uncomfortable questions. I believe they’re necessary.

Will You Be Planted or Blown?

This tension brings me to one of my favorite Scriptures, Psalm 1. It describes two kinds of lives: a tree planted by streams of water and chaff blown by the wind.

What a picture of leadership in the age of AI! Acceleration doesn’t create character. It reveals it. When our roots are shallow, pressure exposes our instability.

I keep returning to this question: Am I firmly planted in truth, or am I being carried along by the latest persuasive idea?

I believe this question deserves our attention before we make another decision about technology, strategy, or the future of our organizations. We need to recognize what is influencing us before we can lead others wisely.

We’ll return to this picture of rootedness as we conclude the FEAR series.

Introducing the FEAR Series: Four Leadership Disciplines

Over the years, especially during COVID, I’ve written about how fear influences our leadership. I’m bringing those articles together to examine how fear may be quietly shaping us in the age of AI.

The FEAR series focuses on four leadership disciplines:

1. F — Face Reality Honestly. Name what is real, not simply what is comfortable.
2. E — Examine the Impact. Recognize how fear and our environment influence our thinking, decisions, and leadership.
3. A — Act with Courage and Clarity. Choose conviction, even when we don’t have all the answers.
4. R — Remain Rooted. Stand firm under pressure, anchored in truth rather than carried along by the latest trend.

These disciplines aren’t simply about managing fear. They’re about developing the character needed to lead wisely when the world around us is changing.

The first step is recognizing what’s happening.

As I work with university students in Tanzania, I carry their future in mind. I also carry something closer to home: the faces of my grandchildren.

I cannot control the speed of change. I cannot control every message algorithms place before me. I can, however, examine what is shaping my thinking, my convictions, and my leadership.

So can you. That’s where our FEAR journey begins. Before we can lead wisely through the pressures of the AI age, we must recognize what is influencing us.

Psalm 1 presents a powerful picture of two kinds of lives: one planted by streams of water, the other blown about like chaff.

Which picture describes your leadership today?

Are you planted, or are you being blown?

© Danita Bye. Worked with AI to enhance clarity and Hemingway for readability. The featured graphic was created by ChatGPT.