Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Dr. Christian Schmieder, Assistant Director in the Office of Digital Solutions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension and a MOR program alum. Christian may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.
Effective leaders deliberately build, maintain and leverage relationships with others. Relationship-work is not easy – that’s why we build this muscle as part of the MOR leadership program. The 4Is (initiate, inquire, invest, influence) are a framework that support us in building this habit of intentional connection.
There are many barriers for this habit: a full calendar, a remote work environment, organizational culture, and how we’re wired as individuals. To make things even trickier, there’s a new-ish inhibitor on the block. And it’s even got an “I” in it.
AI tools are constantly improving in answering our questions, and they are becoming ubiquitous. Why ask my father-in-law about a plumbing issue when I could ask a chat bot? Why re-connect with a former colleague to ask her about the best pre-amp for my current stereo setup? Why give my sister a call about high-protein cookie recipes?
I’d reach out to them because my question is not solely motivated by an information need. It is also an opportunity to connect. It’s an opening to check in on how things are going for them; a moment to deepen our relationship; a chance to activate and celebrate their knowledge. And maybe they’ll connect me to someone in their network, so I’ll get an opportunity to initiate a new relationship. If I were to only rely on AI instead, I’d miss out.
The same applies to my workplace. Sure, I can use AI for advice on an upcoming performance conversation. I can train an LLM to spit out feedback on my emails to the Dean. I can prompt a chat bot to generate suggestions on a set of icebreaker questions for my upcoming workshop. And AI might be great at all of this. But no matter how adept the answer provided by the algorithm: I’m paying a relationship price. I’m missing out on an opportunity to connect with the new HR specialist. I’m passing on a deep conversation with a former trusted supervisor and mentor. I’m failing to activate my relationship with colleagues who specialize in curriculum development.
I’m not saying that leaders shouldn’t use AI. I acknowledge that AI can be used to augment and enrich conversations I have with others. But the bottom line is: As a leader, I need to balance the convenience of AI with the power of relationships. This is important for two reasons: First, if I overly rely on AI, I’m not building my habit of initiating, inquiring, and investing. Second, if I overly rely on AI, I’m missing out on strengthening my professional network. Ultimately, I’m risking my effectiveness as a leader.
Come to think of it, there might be a third reason: Without people connecting to each other, AI models might become increasingly useless. Recent analysis shows a steep decline in questions asked on Stack Overflow since the rise of AI. Stack Overflow is a platform where humans ask other humans for advice; a place where humans connect to solve issues. LLMs digested this wealth of information, and people replaced the human connection (the crowd) with asking AI. And now there is less fresh information to keep the AI viable, because people aren’t asking people.
If you are an avid user of AI, consider this: To what extent is maintaining human connection (asking other humans, and answering other human’s questions) a requirement for AI to remain useful in the first place? By increasingly relying on AI, are we weakening the usefulness of AI long-term?
Again, I’m not suggesting to avoid AI. But leaders – and emerging leaders – should be mindful in spotting opportunities to activate, foster, and grow networks. The next time you decide to ask an LLM for an answer, or the next time you intend to spend time ‘training’ AI: Pause to ask yourself if you are passing on an opportunity to initiate, inquire, invest, and influence. For example:
- When exploring a new software tool, try to tap someone in your organization to track down others who may be using the tool.
- When writing a proposal or tricky email, reach out to a former colleague who’s in a new department to ask for feedback.
- Build a habit of connecting with current and former colleagues. That way you’re checking in with others on a regular basis – those meetings are a great venue for asking for ad hoc advice, feedback and perspective related to wicked problems you’re working on.
What is your level of agreement with this statement? The use of AI by those around me has diminished the strength of relationships.
Last week, we asked how you are doing on practicing the habits you need to be the leader you want to be.
- 10% said excellent
- 38% said good
- 33% said okay
- 19% said not where I’d like to be
Most of us recognize that our habits as leaders are not always where we want them to be. Last week’s reading on the Two-Minute Calendar Habit provides some concrete steps to make progress here. Additionally, reflecting on topics such as AI and relationships this week, what habits may inadvertently be getting in the way of being the leader you want to be?