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What Leaders Should Consider When Implementing AI

by Jana Wölfl | Jul 26, 2023 | Agile Leadership, eLearning, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

What Leaders Should Consider When Implementing AI

A New Step into the World of Technologies – Artificial Intelligence for Leaders

Prefer to listen to the article? Click below to access our AI speech-generated audio. However, if you want to read it as usual, keep scrolling.

Alexa, Chat-GPT, and Co – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining more and more significance. Leaders are also increasingly relying on AI systems in their companies. In this blog post, you will learn about the areas where this technology is particularly suitable and what you, as a leader, should pay special attention to.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a machine or computer to mimic human behavior and intelligence. In Austrian companies, these technologies are already being used to the extent of 38%. Let’s first take a look at the areas where Artificial Intelligence can be best applied.

Customer Service and Recruiting

A form of artificial intelligence that you are probably familiar with is chatbots that provide automated responses to customer questions. This saves your employees a lot of work, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks, thereby increasing the productivity of the company.

AI can also bring advantages in the field of recruiting. AI-powered programs can analyze applications based on keywords and qualifications and recommend the most suitable candidates for the position to employers.

Data Analysis for Success

Another useful capability of AI is to analyze key data and make decisions for the company. These technologies can identify trends and create a plan that is meaningful for the industry. Artificial Intelligence is much faster and more accurate than a human employee in this regard.

However, AI can not only determine existing trends but also predict future trends and adjust the company’s strategies accordingly. This naturally provides a competitive advantage.

Potential Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Although AI brings some advantages to our companies, there are also risks involved in its use. On the one hand, AI systems are more vulnerable to hacker attacks. Hackers can limit the capabilities of the programs, thereby infiltrating and gaining access to important information.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence is still only an imitation of human behavior and cannot replace emotions, creativity, and empathy. Chatbots can, therefore, appear impersonal, and their direct and unfiltered nature can be perceived as hurtful.

What Leaders Need to Consider When Implementing AI

As you can see, the use of Artificial Intelligence in companies is almost inevitable. Here are 5 tips on how to smoothly transition to these new technologies.

1. The Vision

First and foremost, you need to be clear about the exact purpose for which you want to use Artificial Intelligence in order to provide the best possible relief for yourself and your employees. Consider realistic goals that you can set for the company.

Share these goals and ideas in an AI roadmap with your employees. By doing so, you involve more people in the company in your decisions, and you can work out your plans together.

2. Soft Management Skills

In this age, leadership qualities such as curiosity and emotional stability become even more important as AI replaces the “hard” elements of leadership (such as processing information).

Leaders need to be more open to new things and adapt to changes. This can establish a basis of trust with your employees, making the implementation of artificial intelligence easier.

3. Test Artificial Intelligence

No one expects you to immediately master artificial intelligence in your company. You can simply try out the new technologies and test which applications of Artificial Intelligence you prefer.

Furthermore, the programs develop their own feedback loop, which allows you to simplify and improve their use.

4. Data Privacy and Transparency

Since AI systems often have access to personal data of employees, you should comply with European data protection regulations when using Artificial Intelligence.

In some cases, the applications may even need to be certified according to European standards to achieve the highest possible level of security.

Transparency is also crucial as your employees should know when and in what context artificial intelligence is used in the company. This promotes trust in the leadership and AI systems, and your employees can adapt to their use more quickly.

5. Don’t Forget About People

When implementing artificial intelligence, employees often have concerns about being completely replaced by machines. It is up to you not to forget about the human employees and continue to distribute tasks to them.

Artificial intelligence should be seen as more as a tool and less than a workforce. Data and proposed changes should still be analyzed and interpreted by humans.

As a leader, you should continuously support your employees and provide them with ongoing training to foster their work with artificial intelligence.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence brings several benefits to companies as it simplifies and automates work processes. At MDI, we have also familiarized ourselves with programs like Chat-GPT recently.

Of course, caution and careful consideration are necessary when applying AI. However, we are confident that with proper preparation and security measures, a significant step can be taken into a new world of technologies.

Sources:

Jana Wölfl

Marketing Assistant

Jana Wölfl works at MDI as a marketing assistant and writes blog posts for our site in addition to her studies at Leiden University.

She also works for SDI and supports us with writing content there as well.

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What is Sustainable Individualization in Leadership?

by Iris Burner | Jun 28, 2023 | Digital Transformation, Leadership Impact, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

Sustainable individualization in leadership – pious hope or real alternative?

In line with the last blog post on our MDI website “Inner Development Goals For a Better Leadership World“, this time we dedicate ourselves to the megatrend topic of individualization and the connection with the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) towards sustainable leadership.

Individualization instead of multi-module programs

The status quo often shows that companies rely on multi-module programs to develop and train their executives. Depending on the target group, these programs provide a broad general basis of tools and methods – a so-called “toolbox” from which the appropriate tool can be selected according to the situation.

In times of ever scarcer resources (keywords: time and knowledge, cost efficiency and environment) and living realities in climate change, however, one topic is increasingly coming to the fore in the education and training of our future shapers of tomorrow: individualization.

Individualization – one of the 12 megatrends

Individualization was presented by the Zukunftsinstitut 2023 as one of the 12 megatrends. These megatrends are the central trends of our time. They are the biggest drivers of change in business and society and shape our future – not just in the short term, but in the medium to long term. Megatrends unfold their dynamics over decades.

IDGs & SDGs 2030

This time horizon may seem long, especially considering the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), which are based on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. This deadline means that the implementation of this megatrend can no longer be delayed.

But when we think of Sustainable Development Goals, can we give individualization any room at all? Doesn’t individualization always consume considerably more resources than a collective measure?

Quelle: Zukunftsinstitut.de

Sustainability vs. Individualization – Dealbreaker or Complement?

Sustainability and individualization have an interesting interaction with IDGs. On the one hand, individualization can be seen as a potential challenge to sustainability, as it may require more resources and lead to fragmentation of actions. If individualized programs are developed for each leader or individual, this can add time and cost and may be inefficient.

On the other hand, individualization also offers opportunities for sustainability. By enabling people to consider their interests, strengths, and needs, tailored development and education can take place. When leaders are supported in their development processes and have the opportunity to leverage their strengths, they can develop more effective leadership approaches that are also aligned with sustainability goals.

Promoting Individual Strengths and Creating Sustainability for Leaders and Organizations

IDGs are leveraging the megatrend of individualization to promote personal development and inner growth. By focusing on individual needs and goals, they enable people to realize their full potential and shape their own growth. This also includes the development of leadership competencies required for the sustainable transformation of organizations and societies.

Sustainable individualization in leadership thus means reconciling individual development and sustainability goals. This requires careful planning and design of educational activities to address both individual needs and sustainability issues. It is about fostering individual strengths while creating a common foundation for sustainable leadership.

Transfer to practice – 3 concrete approaches

What concrete measures can companies now take to initiate a sustainable and individualized leadership era?

1. IDG potential analysis

As a possible tool, the IDG potential analysis, for example, can provide an initial basic assessment. The basis of this analysis is a questionnaire based on the five IDGs (Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating, and Acting). By evaluating the analysis, the leader receives a self-assessment and finds out where they stand on the company values.

The results of the analysis serve as a basis for targeted measures to promote personal and professional growth in line with the IDGs and are particularly suitable for organizational and personnel development, leadership, team development, and change processes.

2. Team workshops with team profiles

In order to validate the self-assessment, there is also the possibility to get an external assessment from a colleague. Based on this, there is the possibility to conduct team workshops with team profiles to strengthen cooperation regarding the IDGs.

3. Mentoring program

Another way to put these findings into practice is to implement a mentoring program. This program supports leaders in realizing their individual goals and needs and integrating sustainability-oriented approaches into their leadership practice.

Executives are paired individually with an experienced mentor to foster their personal development and leadership skills. Thus, individual leaders’ needs and goals are addressed by assigning them a mentor who has experience and expertise in the specific areas the leader wants to work on.

The mentoring relationship allows executives to identify their individual strengths and weaknesses and work on them specifically. At the same time, the mentor and mentee are in a two-way exchange on a variety of topics, allowing them to learn from and with each other. This helps the leaders to integrate sustainability-oriented approaches into their leadership practice and to drive positive change in their organizations.