Blog Innovation
10.03.21

Leadership in the age of digitalization and AI

by Gaëlle Piernikarch

We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s steps on the moon. It was a breakthrough made possible by human effort and cutting-edge technology. Inevitably, we remember the astronaut’s famous quote, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Much like the discovery of space, digitization is advancing exponentially in many areas of research and daily life. It is changing the way we think, communicate and behave in many ways.

However, it is not only the exponential rise of machine intelligence that characterizes our age, but also the rapid development of human intelligence – the two phenomena correlate with each other. While we assume that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will obviously continue to influence our working world, a new competence is proving to be even more important: Emotional Intelligence (EI).

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability of people to effectively recognize, understand, and perceive emotions in everyday life.1

Why should EI be built as a key competency in your organization?

Changing perspectives and being open to change enables greater employee satisfaction, higher productivity, and an increase in innovation.

According to a study conducted by Capgemini, overall demand for EI skills is expected to increase six-fold over the next five years compared to today as job roles change, certain tasks can no longer be automated, and routine tasks are displaced.2

One thing is certain: there is still a long way to go. Recruiting, training programs, employee rewards and talent development processes must be adapted to successfully prepare for the creation of emotionally intelligent organizations.

 

 

1 Daniel Goleman, “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ“, 1995
2 Capgemini Research Institute, „Emotional Intelligence – the essential skillset for the age of AI“,  2019

 

Gaëlle Piernikarch
Gaëlle Piernikarch
Founder & CEO
How emotionally intelligent are you?