Hello everyone,

I’ve been quiet for a few weeks. Longer than I meant to be.

I want to tell you why, because it isn’t the usual reason.

I stopped because I needed time to think.

There’s a lot of advice out there about how to build an audience and a business, and most of it says the same thing. Find what works and double down on it. Be consistent. Do more of what already landed.

It isn’t bad advice. But it has one problem. It only ever looks backwards. It tells you to repeat what worked, in a world that isn’t the one where it worked.

So I’ve spent the first part of this year thinking. I’ve also been talking. Talking to clients. Having conversations with leaders I don’t work with.

And there’s a pattern in nearly all the conversations I’ve had.

Every leader I have spoken with knows AI matters. They feel a responsibility to do something about it, because it is landing on them whether they like it or not. And almost in the same breath, they say some version of the same sentence: this is one more thing on a desk that was already full.

Then, if the conversation lasts long enough, something else comes out.

They’re not sure they know what they’re doing. And for a lot of them, that feeling is new and unnerving.

These are people who built their authority on knowing things. On being the one with the experience, the one with the answer. AI has unsettled that in a way I haven’t seen anything else do. It isn’t only a practical problem. It’s an identity one.

And look at what they are dealing with while they work that out. The board wants a strategy and some savings, on something almost nobody in the organisation really understands yet. Every big consultancy has a point of view. The tech companies have the loudest doom-laden PR operation I’ve come across. Meanwhile there’s still a day job, a team (many of whom understandably feel threatened by AI), and a set of targets that haven’t moved to make room for any of it.

No wonder people are spinning.

Here’s the other half of why I went quiet.

I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to teach any of this until I’d really used it. Not read about it but used it consistently, in my own work, until I knew what actually worked.

So over the past year I’ve rebuilt the way I work with AI in it. I’ve joined coaching groups, I’ve experimented. And I’ve assessed all of it through one question: if I were still a director with a large team and a full diary, would I really use this? Most of what I tried didn’t pass that test. Some of it did, and it has changed how I work.

Where I’ve come to is this.

I think leading through this AI-era will be the biggest challenge of many people’s careers. Not because AI is hard to use, but because leading people through this level of change, especially when you haven’t worked it out yourself, is hard. That is exactly where most managers are right now.

So that’s where I’m putting my focus from now on. Helping leaders succeed in an AI-enabled world.

One thing I’ll leave you with, because it’s what I got wrong at the start.

Most people I talk to about AI first talk about the tools. They ask what I use, they tell me what they are using, often looking for the perfect tool for the job, that will instantly solve all of this.

I’ve learned, and seen in others that have succeeded, that the actual starting point is your workflow, how you actually do your work. Then it is about spotting the opportunities where AI will help you, save you time or help you get a better outcome.

As a leader, there are loads of actions AI can help with. What I’ve found really interesting is that these are often the activities leaders don’t have time for, because they’re already so busy. So there is a win if AI can help those things get done.

One other important lesson I’ve found: there are also areas I would suggest consciously leaving alone, and focusing on your human skills.

This is where my thinking has taken me. I believe this is where I can help managers and leaders the most at this critical time, by sharing practical lessons and ideas around AI and leadership. And if I’m honest, I’m really excited about it.

Which brings me to you. I want to hear from you.

What do you think about AI? Is it something you’re expected to have a view on? Are you using it, avoiding it, or somewhere in between? What do you use it for? And what’s the part that worries you most?

Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.

Have a great week,

Helen

P.S. I made a video recently that shows this in practice, taking the time you’d normally spend preparing for a one-to-one and spending them completely differently. LINK: 10 Minutes Is All You Need​