→ Missed Part 1? Managing Your Career in the Age of AI

 

Last month, we wrote about career security — the idea that even when jobs shift and industries restructure, certain things travel with you. Being genuinely great at what you do, relationships built on trust, and being able to clearly articulate what you’ve accomplished and why it mattered. If you haven’t read it yet, I’d encourage you to.

 

This month, we are addressing the other side of this topic – how to lead teams through AI disruption, which presents both tremendous possibility, and risk.

 

The question I keep hearing in coaching sessions and hallway conversations isn’t really about AI tools or adoption timelines. It’s more like: how do I lead my team well when I honestly don’t know what the work is going to look like in two years?

 

Most of the advice floating around right now doesn’t quite reach that question. So here’s what we’ve been thinking about and working through with the leaders we coach.

 

Most leaders in established organizations came up in a model that worked well for a long time. You take in complexity from above, make sense of it, and hand your team clear direction. That approach made sense when change showed up as a defined event — a reorg, a systems migration, a new regulation. You could weather the disruption, stabilize things, and eventually get back to something that felt normal.

 

What’s different now is that the disruption doesn’t resolve. In that kind of environment, the leader who personally absorbs all the complexity becomes a bottleneck. And an organization that routes every meaningful decision through three levels of approval will consistently be outpaced by one where people closer to the work are trusted to make good calls.

 

This isn’t anyone’s fault. Leaders were rewarded for being the person with the answers. But the environment has changed enough that the same instincts that served leaders well are now, in many cases, holding their teams back.

 

We've been working through five specific things with the teams we coach right now — and we're sharing all of them in the blog, “Managing Your Team in the Age of AI.”

 

AI is changing what teams can accomplish in a given week. It hasn't changed what teams need in order to work well together.

 

→ Read the full piece: Managing Your Team in the Age of AI

Three pieces shaping how we’re thinking about AI and team leadership right now.

 

📖 Team of Teams — Stanley McChrystal McChrystal's central argument has only grown more relevant in the decade since it was published: in a fast-moving, interconnected environment, command-and-control breaks down. Leaders need to shift from chess master to gardener — creating the conditions for autonomous teams to act rather than directing every move from the top. If you're leading through the AI transition, this is essential reading on why shared consciousness and decentralized decision-making matter now more than ever. → Find the book

 

🐙 AI and the Octopus Organization — Jonathan Brill Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons live in its arms, not its brain — each arm can taste, touch, and respond to its environment independently. Brill uses this as a model for how organizations need to operate: with intelligence distributed to the edges, not concentrated at the center. His framework for thinking about AI adoption is equally useful: decompose work at the task level rather than trying to predict which whole jobs will disappear. → Find the book

 

🔊 The Hidden Causes of AI Workslop — HBR IdeaCast This episode names a problem we're seeing everywhere: AI-generated output that looks like it does the job but doesn't actually advance anything — and quietly shifts the burden onto whoever receives it. Researchers found that 53% of workers admitted to sending some form of "workslop," and the single biggest predictor was mandated AI use without clear guidance. The takeaway for leaders: skip the blanket mandates, redesign work at the team level, and invest in the psychological safety that makes good AI use possible. 

→ Listen to the episode

 

This is Part 2 of our three-part Leading in the Age of AI series. Last month we focused on your career; this month we're turning to your team; in April we'll zoom out to the organization as a whole. 

→ Missed Part 1? Managing Your Career in the Age of AI

🔄 Navigating Change: Practical Tips for Leading Teams Through Uncertainty — by Melissa Thompson, PhD Change is inevitable — but it doesn't have to be chaotic. Whether your team is facing a restructure, a leadership shift, or rapid growth, the leaders who come out stronger are the ones who communicate early, stay visible, and turn uncertainty into opportunity. Melissa shares a practical before, during, and after framework for guiding your team through transition with clarity and confidence. 

→ Read the Post

 

 📝 The Power of Assessments: How Leadership Assessments Build Self-Awareness & Team Cohesion — by Juanetta White  DISC. CliftonStrengths. PACE. You've probably seen the charts, but are leadership assessments actually worth your time? The answer depends on what you do after the results come in. This post makes the case that the real value isn't in the tool itself, it's in the conversations it sparks and the self-awareness it builds when applied intentionally. 

→ Read the Post

Adrian Owen Jones, Partner served as a judge for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Annual Pitch Night – Congratulations to AbbasAid for winning first prize.

Devin Lemoine, Owner & President, spent time at Louisiana Hospital Association’s Emerging Leaders class and facilitated a leadership panel with three exceptional healthcare executives

Melissa Thompson, Partner, welcomed the following participants to her recent Accelerator Lab: Cindy Randall-Sereal (Mary Bird Perkins), Kevin Cutrer (Shintech), Brett Cook (AWC), Mario Maldonado (AWC), Kari McGinnis (Shintech), Matt Schittone (Team Services), Kristina Odum (Louisiana Key Academy), Nick Fouquier (EFCU Financial), and Zach Sanders (AWC).

Participants shared reflections on their experience:

📋 Essentials Lab
For new supervisors, team leads, and “step-up” employees preparing for future leadership roles by learning the essentials.

→ Next Sessions: July 15 & 16 and November 4 & 5

 

📣 Accelerator Lab
For leaders looking to accelerate their career by developing the people skills to inspire teams, manage relationships, and drive results.

→ Next Sessions: October 6, 13, 20, and 27

 

📈 Strategy Lab
For experienced leaders and seasoned professionals looking to elevate their strategic thinking, decision making, and ability to inspire teams in today’s fast-paced, complex environment.

→ Next Session: October 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29

 

Not sure the right lab for you? Take our quiz.

That’s it for now. If this landed, forward it to someone navigating the same questions. And if there’s a challenge you’re sitting with right now — hit reply. We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

 

— Adrian and the rest of the Success Labs team