Summary: Everyone is talking about AI—how fast it is, how powerful it is, and how much work it can do. Some people are excited by it, while others are terrified. Most are trying to figure out where they fit into a future that seems to be changing by the minute. But I think we may be asking the wrong question. The question isn’t, “What can AI do?” The more important question is, “What can only humans do?” That question may determine the future of leadership.
Dear Dr. Sylvia,
I have a confession. I really like my newest employee. Most people call it AI. I call mine, “Happy.”
Happy never complains, never misses a deadline, and never asks for a raise. It can summarize reports, organize information, and help me think through ideas faster than ever before. Like the automobile, the telephone, and the internet, AI appears to be here to stay.
Every major invention has brought both opportunity and unintended consequences. The automobile gave us freedom and mobility, but it also gave us traffic jams and car accidents. The telephone connected us across great distances, yet somehow many people feel more disconnected than ever before.
The internet put the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. At the same time, it reduced some of the face-to-face interactions that once built community and belonging. So now comes AI.
I’m curious. Do you use it? If so, have you given it a name? And more importantly, what do you think we gain, and what might we lose?
Signed,
Super Curious
We Are Living Through The Next Industrial Revolution
Dear Super Curious,
Like every major shift in history, AI brings both excitement and anxiety. We are witnessing technology evolve at breathtaking speed. Yet amid all the discussion about what AI can do, I believe we are overlooking something essential.
My AI companion is my favorite new hire. At times I call it “Helpful.” And yes, Helpful is very good at many things. But Helpful cannot do my thinking for me. It cannot build trust, nor repair a damaged relationship. Helpful cannot tell when someone in a meeting says “I’m fine” while meaning the exact opposite. That distinction matters.
While artificial intelligence continues to grow smarter, many leaders are becoming less connected to themselves, to their teams, and to the signals that help people make wise decisions under pressure.
Technology is Advancing Rapidly; Human Awareness is Not
That is where the real risk lives.
AI can process information faster than any human being. It can summarize meetings, analyze mountains of data, draft reports, and generate ideas in seconds. It can even imitate empathy with remarkable sophistication. But there is a profound difference between simulating a human response and experiencing a human connection.
AI cannot sense tension in a room before anyone speaks, nor hear the hesitation in someone’s voice and recognize that fear, not resistance, is driving the conversation. It can’t detect the subtle moment when trust begins to erode.
Especially, based on my leadership work, AI is not able to recognize when an old family pattern has been triggered and is about to hijack a leadership decision. Humans can. At least, humans who have learned to pay attention can.
One of the greatest misconceptions in leadership is that people fail because they lack information. Most leaders today are drowning in information. What they lack is awareness.
Under Stress, Leaders Often Stop Leading and Start Reacting
They interrupt, defend, avoid difficult conversations, blame. or withdraw. I call this JUBLA: judge, blame or attack.
They repeat behaviors that may have helped them survive decades ago but now limit their effectiveness. That is where The GLIMMERS Effect™ comes in.
A GLIMMER is a Moment of Self-Awareness
It is the instant you catch yourself becoming defensive before the words leave your mouth, and the pause before sending the email you may later regret. This is the realization that your reaction to a colleague, employee, customer, or family member may have less to do with the present moment and more to do with an old pattern suddenly activated by stress.
That moment creates choice. Without awareness, we react. With awareness, we respond. AI can provide information, offer suggestions, and even help us think. But it cannot create a GLIMMER.
GLIMMERS are Uniquely Human
As organizations continue investing billions in technology, I believe a new leadership divide is emerging.
The future will not separate people by intelligence, education, or technical expertise. It will separate those who know how to use AI from those who know how to use AI while remaining deeply human. The second group will have the advantage. They will build stronger relationships because they understand trust. and navigate conflict more effectively because they understand emotional regulation. They will make wiser decisions because they combine data with discernment.
And they will create healthier cultures because they understand that leadership is, and always will be, a profoundly human experience. This is where Head, Heart, and Gut become more important than ever. For decades, leadership development focused primarily on the head: logic, strategy, analysis, and problem-solving. AI is becoming an extraordinary partner in those areas.
As a result, the true differentiators are shifting elsewhere, to the heart and the gut.
Here is my list of human attributes:
- Trust
- Empathy
- Courage
- Intuition
- Discernment
These are not soft skills. They are leadership skills. The future is not humans versus AI. It is humans with AI. The leaders who thrive will use technology as a tool while strengthening the uniquely human capacities no technology can replace.
Only Humans Can Generate Wisdom
AI can generate answers, but wisdom is a uniquely human attribute. And wisdom often begins with a single GLIMMER, that moment of awareness that changes everything.
To your success,
Sylvia Lafair
PS: Now I’d really love to hear from you. Do you believe AI will make us more connected or disconnected? And, what is one uniquely human quality that no technology should ever replace?
