12 Ways AI Can Help Leaders
Hone Their Skills and Improve
Leadership Abilities

See also: Top Leadership Skills You Need

The workforce dynamic is rapidly changing thanks to AI (artificial intelligence). It is revolutionizing operations and accelerating a shift in how companies approach leadership development — a critical element for those aiming to maintain a market edge. While automation is not a replacement for human intelligence, AI leadership guidance offers a mirror to reflect on decision makers’ strengths and weaknesses, guiding areas for enhancement.

It is important to explore how this technology supports and transforms the essence of leadership. That way, you can implement it in your organization and seize all the opportunities AI presents in improving leadership abilities.

1. Making Better Decisions with Data

AI can act like a highly intelligent assistant that helps leaders make better decisions by taking a large amount of data and sorting through it to find important answers immediately. For example, if a business wants to sell more clothing styles, AI can analyze which ones were the biggest hits and why. This means leaders can make decisions that are smart and based on solid facts, not solely intuition. By using AI to understand data better, leaders can guide their teams to success more often.

This is good news for leaders since 85% of them say they are stressed by their decisions, not knowing if it is the right choice. Additionally, 72% have stated the amount of data and their lack of trust in it have prevented them from making decisions. Therefore, decision makers can feel more confident with AI leadership assistance by their side.

2. Emotional Intelligence Enhancement

Those in charge must understand people’s feelings. Empathy in the workplace is essential for boosting team morale and managing different personalities. AI allows leaders to improve this crucial skill.

If a team member sends an email, AI can suggest the person may be feeling stressed or happy based on their wording. Or, management can confide in AI and ask for feedback on how they can enhance their skills in emotional intelligence. Thus, they increase self-awareness in how they come across to others and ensure they communicate in a caring and understanding way.

3. Idea Development

Generative AI like ChatGPT is one technology that always keeps on brainstorming. It can develop many new ideas by mixing and matching information. Those generations give leaders ideas to create new products or services, and inspire the staff to do the same. This leads to exciting new projects, and ways to solve problems that can help a business grow or make a team work better together.

4. Virtual Coaching and Mentorship

AI leadership guidance can act like a personal coach for leaders, but one that is available 24/7. This “coach” can advise on tough situations, whether a manager is dealing with conflict or a workplace dilemma. AI can listen and give tips, or act like a mentor that helps you practice challenging conversations with an employee.

Such a program could run through different scenarios, showing how your words may make the person feel. This way, you can try varying approaches to find the best one before the real conversation. Overall, AI gives a safe space for decision makers to practice and learn, making them more prepared for the real challenges of leading.

5. Leverage Analytics to Predict Future Outcomes

AI is also great at telling you what could happen in the future. When it analyses, it can examine information to make forecasts. As a leader, you could use it to determine the right training methods to enhance your team’s performance, for instance.

While AI may not guarantee what will happen in the future, it can give leaders a sneak peek into what could happen. This helps you prepare better for what is coming and make plans to improve conditions before they occur.



6. Better Decision Making and Problem Solving

Making tough decisions and solving problems are large parts of being in charge. Luckily, AI can look at issues from every angle and give leaders information that helps them choose wisely.

With the right data, it brings numerous smart suggestions. In turn, you can make decisions faster and more confidently, knowing you have looked at all the options.

7. Real-Time Performance Monitoring

AI is a great way for leaders to keep track of their progress and find ways to improve. With it, you can receive instant feedback on your actions and decisions. For example, technology can analyze a manager’s communication during meetings and provide insights on improving their interaction skills. It can also help leaders measure their productivity by monitoring task completion rates and time management. As such, you can see where you excel or need to work harder.

8. Diversity and Inclusion Insights

AI brings a whole new level of insight into diversity and inclusion efforts. It can sift through vast amounts of company data to reveal how diverse the workforce is. However, it does more than count different groups of people.

It can analyze promotion rates, pay scales and employee feedback. That way, you can tell if everyone has equal opportunities. Leaders can then use these insights to identify hidden biases or barriers holding certain groups back.

It can also track the effectiveness of diversity programs over time, showing how far you have come and where you need to go. This helps ensure diversity and inclusion make a difference in the company.

9. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration

Communication is an essential skill leaders must carry. With AI-driven tools, you can optimize your communications by ensuring clear messages reach the right people at the right time. AI can do this by analyzing communication patterns, and suggesting the best times for meetings or the most effective communication channels.

For collaboration, AI leadership tools can keep projects on track by assigning tasks based on team members’ strengths and schedules. They can also provide improved cooperation by breaking language barriers between teams. It facilitates smooth communication and collaboration in numerous ways, helping leaders coordinate their teams more effectively.

10. Employee Feedback and Engagement

AI is excellent for enhancing employee feedback and engagement gathering and analysis. Automation-powered tools achieve this by collecting feedback from various sources like surveys, emails and online platforms. It then processes the information quickly, and identifies key themes and sentiments. This gives decision makers deeper insights into their team’s morale and engagement levels.

Moreover, AI can personalize the employee experience by analyzing individual feedback, and guiding leaders on addressing specific concerns or recognizing achievements. This personalized approach can lead to increased job satisfaction and loyalty.

11. Increased Agility

This technology enables managers to adapt to changes quickly. With AI, you can pivot and make informed decisions swiftly when it turns complex data into actionable information.

While it is crucial to respond to particular scenarios quickly, it is just as important to have reasoning behind those decisions. AI is great for gathering data and processing it, but do ensure the deductions it makes are viable.

12. Performance Evaluation and Talent Management

Leaders can look at employees’ performance using more than just numbers. With AI, you can see various aspects of an employee’s work life, from productivity and task completion rates to collaboration and communication styles. This multidimensional view helps leaders understand their team’s performance better.

With this technology, you also support talent management by identifying skill gaps and training opportunities. It can predict which employees may be more ready to take on more responsibility, or which may benefit from additional support and learning. This helps decision makers plan career development paths that cater to a person’s strengths and needs.



Further Reading from Skills You Need


The Skills You Need Guide to Leadership

The Skills You Need Guide to Leadership eBooks

Learn more about the skills you need to be an effective leader.

Our eBooks are ideal for new and experienced leaders and are full of easy-to-follow practical information to help you to develop your leadership skills.


The Collaborative AI Leadership Era

AI is more than another technology — it is a solution to helping managers become better leaders. As such, the opportunities are limitless when companies pair it with humans. Take the time to see all AI leadership guidance can do for your organization and create a plan for how you would like to improve leadership skills with AI.


About the Author


Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philadelphia with her husband and pup, Bear.

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