There’s a line in a recent Fast Company article that stopped me in my tracks:
“Thinking is a premium—and yet it is also the very thing that is most at risk.”
YIKES!
We’re living through what the article calls the triple threat of modern work:
- Algorithms that reinforce our biases
- Attention theft that pulls us away from focus
- Burnout that drains our energy and engagement
In case you had to reread this paragraph five times already, you’re not alone!
We multitask, we stay “plugged in,” and we’re interrupted every 11 minutes. The cost of this attention theft isn’t just lost productivity—it’s lost connection—to each other and to each other’s ideas or “collective potential.”
But this is exactly where great human leaders can make the biggest difference. We can’t eliminate these threats—but we can respond to them.
In my keynote, How to Become A Great Human Leader in the Age of AI, I talk about how great human leaders connect people to each other, which is especially important in this hybrid world.
They create opportunities for real connection and the time and space to think and learn from each other.
Try some of these:
- A no-tech meeting (take notes on paper!)
- Walking one-on-ones
- A few minutes at the start of a call just to check in—really check in and build the trust needed to have real conversations
- IRL team meetings (at some regular cadence) that gives teams an opportunity to “reflect, reprioritize, and reset”
- Consider a regular Day (or even a few hours) of Service—it’s good for your people and the community
The author reminds us, “The future of work is human—and your capacity to create spaces and places where people can think, learn, adapt, and grow is what will allow teams and organizations to transform and endure.”
This is what great human leaders do. And this is the kind of leadership we need in our world today.
4/29/25
