We Are Still Warm Decent Human Beings in the Age of AI

Everyone is asking what AI will be able to do. But for me, an equally important question has become: Who are we becoming as leaders in a world increasingly shaped by AI?

This feels particularly relevant to the work we do at WDHB, where our name stands for something I’ve always appreciated: Warm Decent Human Beings.

And the more I think about the future of leadership, the more I believe those four words matter.

The Human Side of Leadership Isn’t Going Away

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with organizations across different industries, helping them think through the challenges their leaders are facing and the capabilities they’ll need for the future.

While the business challenges vary, so many of the underlying leadership challenges come back to the same things: How do we build trust? How do we make difficult decisions when there isn’t a clear answer? How do we bring people along through change? How do we get teams with different perspectives and priorities working toward something together?

AI is quickly changing the environment in which leaders have to navigate these challenges.

When anyone can generate a strategy in seconds, what becomes more valuable is the leader who can challenge that strategy, bring people together around it, and take responsibility for the decisions that follow.

And while AI is becoming increasingly capable of simulating empathy, analyzing complex situations, and supporting decision-making, there are important aspects of leadership that still depend on human connection, relationships, and accountability.

But I think there’s another question we need to be asking, particularly those of us working in learning and development: If human capabilities are becoming more important, how are we actually helping people develop them?

That’s where I believe the conversation about AI and leadership needs to go deeper.

The goal shouldn’t just be to make people more productive. It should also be to help people become more capable of contributing their unique human value.

Is AI Changing How Leaders Learn?

For those of us working in HR, talent, and leadership development, I think this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. 

No one has ever become a leader by reading about leadership.

After a decade working in this space, I’ve come to appreciate that judgment, resilience, and empathy aren’t developed overnight. They’re built through years of experience, wrestling with complex challenges, navigating uncertainty, thinking critically, and learning through trial and error, often without the luxury of an ever-present assistant.

Of course, formal training, coaching, and new technologies can all support that development. But there’s something fundamentally different about having to navigate a difficult situation yourself, make a decision without knowing the outcome, or work through a challenge with people who see the world differently than you do.

Some of our most important leadership capabilities develop through experiences that challenge us, not simply through the knowledge we acquire by sitting in a classroom or watching a presentation, and AI can’t teach it either.

And that’s what makes this moment so interesting.

As AI takes on more of the analysis, problem-solving, and everyday tasks that once required us to work through uncertainty ourselves, we need to consider what we might be losing along the way.

If some of the experiences that have traditionally helped people grow no longer happen as naturally in the workplace, we can’t simply assume those capabilities will continue to develop on their own.

We need to become more intentional about creating opportunities for people to experience challenges, learn from others, reflect, and grow.

Experience Has to Be Designed on Purpose

I’ve long believed that some of the most meaningful leadership development happens when people step outside their everyday environments. It’s also a belief that has been central to WDHB’s approach long before AI became part of nearly every leadership conversation.

Our Threaded Learning™ methodology is built around five interconnected elements that help make experiences meaningful.

Authenticity grounds learning in real-world contexts, including the complexity and uncertainty that come with them. Otherness introduces leaders to people and perspectives different from their own. Reflection creates space to make sense of what they’ve experienced. Conversation encourages learning through dialogue and shared perspectives. And intentional space creates the environment for people to be present, build trust, and connect more deeply.

I’ve seen firsthand how powerful it can be when leaders step away from their day-to-day responsibilities and immerse themselves in new environments, perspectives, and experiences they might not otherwise encounter. 

Often, the most meaningful learning comes from an unexpected conversation, a thought-provoking question, or an experience that challenges them to see something familiar in an entirely new way.

These moments are uniquely human, and in a world where AI is increasingly shaping how we work, I believe creating space for them is more important than ever. 

That’s what I find so meaningful about experiential leadership development. It’s not just about introducing leaders to new ideas or perspectives. It’s about intentionally creating opportunities for them to reflect, challenge their assumptions, and ultimately change how they think, lead, and engage with others.

The Leaders We Remember

Think about the best leader you’ve ever worked with.

Chances are, you don’t remember them because they were the fastest at analyzing data or the most efficient person in the room.

You remember how they made you feel.

One of my favorite quotes by Maya Angelou is:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

And I think there’s a reason it resonates with so many of us.

Maybe it was a leader who believed in you before you believed in yourself. Someone who took the time to listen when things weren’t going well, challenged you to see things differently, or gave you an opportunity you weren’t quite sure you were ready for. Maybe it was someone who stood by you when things got difficult.

What stays with us isn’t necessarily what those leaders knew or accomplished. It’s the impact they had on us and the way they helped us grow.

AI isn’t diminishing the importance of this kind of leadership. If anything, it’s reinforcing just how valuable it has always been and how much we’ve relied on leaders developing these capabilities, often without realizing it.

While AI may change almost everything about how we work, I don’t believe it changes our fundamental need as humans to feel valued, understood, challenged, and connected to others.

As AI continues to reshape how we work, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to ensure that progress doesn’t come at the expense of the human qualities that make leadership truly meaningful.

So, back to the question we began with: Who are we becoming as leaders in a world increasingly shaped by AI?”

At WDHB, that means helping leaders embrace new technologies while creating meaningful experiences that strengthen the human capabilities that matter most.

We’ve never had access to more intelligent technology. But I believe we’ve also never had a greater need to intentionally develop more Warm, Decent Human Beings.