When I have doubt about the future of humanity, and my own professional relevance in a digital-world-on-steroids, I remind myself of the deep satisfaction of stirring up the untapped human potential for goodwill and collaboration. Nobody is indispensable, but my work is.
Am I desperate to justify my value and protect my turf as an executive coach and leadership facilitator? There are days I feel insecure and threatened – like holding on to a tiny blade of grass in the face of an AI tornado. But other days — especially when I’ve completed working with a team and witnessed people’s yearning for connection, or the sparks of magic that come from going through their frictions — I feel confident that, for now, AI won’t replace me.
With JP, my husband and business partner, we recently led a process to help two leaders – let’s call them Philip and Paul – clear the air before presenting a restructuring to the rest of their organization and engaging the team in adopting new ways of working. We started with one-on-one conversations, then moved to joint sessions. Philip was able to name a specific breakdown in communication that had occurred when he first arrived — one that had left him feeling alone and more indecisive than usual. It was vulnerable and emotional to finally say it out loud, but Paul received him. He truly listened. He acknowledged his own lack of reliability and conflict-avoidance in that moment and was sincerely shaken by the impact. Philip, in turn, recognized how his desire to appear self-sufficient and resist vulnerability kept them stuck. He made clear requests — and Paul heard them. He realized it was time to fully cede control and authority, which had been the original plan all along. During the retreat, he passed the baton through a playful ritual inspired by cartoons. It was touching and unambiguous. Both leaders shared openly about their communication struggles, and the shift that followed when they became more transparent with each other.
With the team, we talked a lot about accountability and giving grace — the benefit of the doubt — and the fleeting nature of trust. Trust is always at the heart of team conversations – as it is at the heart of our social fabric. Often, we experience trust as a fixed and solid state, when it is a moving relational field, made of bonds that form and unravel, and frictions that are inevitable and addressable.
AI can provide the recipe for trust, but to apply it and build team glue, we need to be in the mud together — wrestling with issues, massaging communication, sweating our fears, needs, hopes, intentions, requests and commitments. And dancing together over our shared goals.
I’m not naïve — we are in an era of AI revolution — but all I hear now is that it’s out of control, in the hands of people and systems driven by competition and profit, the law of the strongest. Not in service of social fabric and all living beings on earth. That worries me even as resistance is emerging. I’m for international regulation because I believe in what’s possible when people of goodwill put their wisdom together and set boundaries to our worst human inclinations.
So, I’m advocating for my job and for respecting, cherishing, enhancing, and protecting the fabric of human connection — in our families, communities, and organizations. Being sticky, icky, petty, cheesy, lousy, noisy, spicy… and irreplaceable.
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