So… Who’s Leading the Humans?

AI can make work sound like it almost runs by itself.

Better tools, faster processes, smarter decisions, less waste, more productivity. It makes sense why leaders are paying such close attention to it. They need to be.

I frequently use AI myself and think about it often, particularly as it relates to how work and leadership will shift in the near and distant future.

We are fooling ourselves if we act like the hard part is only the technology.

PwC’s 2026 CEO research found that 56% of global CEOs say their companies have not yet seen revenue or cost benefits from AI, while only 12% report seeing both.

Those numbers stood out because it backs up something many leaders already know from experience. A tool can be impressive and still not change how people work. A strategy can make sense and still struggle to take hold. A new structure can be necessary and still leave people wondering what it means when they open their laptop on Monday morning.

I am seeing a version of this with a client right now.

They are in the middle of a major restructuring, and I will keep the details private. The work did not slow down so everyone could process the change. Clients still need answers. Teams still need direction. Decisions still need to be made. At the same time, people are trying to understand what changed, what did not, what it means for them, and what they are supposed to do with all of that while still getting through the week.

That is a lot to carry.

The official version of change usually has the right pieces: the rationale, the timing, the priorities, and the language people worked hard to get right. Those things matter. A careless message can create confusion that did not need to be there.

The real-life version is harder.

People hear the message and immediately start translating it into their own reality. They wonder where they fit, whether the first announcement is the whole story, what their manager knows, and whether it is better to ask the question now or stay quiet until things become clearer.

A leader may think the communication went well because the meeting happened, the update went out, and no one pushed back. Meanwhile, people may leave with five different versions of what they think they heard.

I see this all the time with leadership and organizational change. The true conversation often starts after the official one ends.

A manager asks for better language because they are trying to lead their own people with only part of the picture. A decision takes longer because people are not sure who owns what now. Someone who normally speaks up becomes harder to read. The same question comes back again because the first answer did not give people enough footing.

This is part of what I am helping my client work through.

There is no perfect script for uncertainty. I wish there were. The work is more practical than that. It is helping the leader read the room more accurately before deciding what to say or do next.

Where is the message clear, and where is it only clear to the people who created it?

What are people filling in on their own?

Where are managers being asked to lead without enough context?

Where might silence be getting misread?

Silence is tricky. It can mean people are aligned. It can also mean they are cautious, confused, tired, skeptical, or still deciding whether saying what they really think is worth the risk. Those rooms can look the same from the front, even though they call for very different leadership.

This is one of the reasons I am excited for Inspired by LIFE: Redefining the Future of Leadership to get into people’s hands.

As I work with this client, I am using a lot of the same thinking that shaped the book. The book is not about AI or restructuring. It is about helping leaders take the situation they are already in and use it to lead better.

A leader does not always need a brand-new model. Many times, they need a better way to see what is already happening. The repeated question. The person who has gone quiet. The manager asking for help. The meeting that seemed clear but somehow created more confusion afterward.

Those are signals.

When a leader learns to read them, the next move changes. The polished update may need to become a clearer conversation. The vague reassurance may need to become a more honest explanation of what is known, what is not known yet, and what the team should focus on now. The repeated question may stop feeling like an irritation and start sounding like useful information.

That is a lot of what I do in coaching, and it is a lot of what I hope the book helps more leaders do for themselves.

There are only so many leaders I can coach directly. Right now, plenty of leaders are trying to navigate change that is moving faster than people can comfortably process. AI is part of that. So are restructurings, shifting roles, tighter budgets, new expectations, and teams trying to perform while the ground keeps moving.

A book cannot make those situations easy. Nothing does. But it can help leaders approach them differently. It can help them pause long enough to understand what is really happening before they rush into the next message, meeting, or decision. It can help them see the human layer before it quietly becomes the business problem.

Because that is often where change breaks down.

Not usually because the strategy made no sense. Not usually because people refused to change. More often, it breaks down in the space between what leaders believe they communicated and what people actually understood.

That space can get expensive.

It shows up in slower decisions, guarded conversations, duplicated work, managers who do not know how to answer basic questions, and teams that look busy but are spending too much energy trying to decode what is really going on.

AI can change the work. A restructuring can change roles. A new strategy can change priorities. None of those things can sit with a team after the announcement and help people understand what comes next.

A leader still has to do that.

And the leader does not need to be perfect. They need to be present enough to notice what is happening, clear enough to reduce unnecessary confusion, and honest enough that people are not left trying to decode every sentence.

That may not sound as exciting as automation, productivity, or the future of work. But it may be the part that determines whether the change actually works.

Someone still has to lead the humans.

What change is your team trying to make sense of right now?