A new program

A quick note before we begin. We’re all beginning to spot what’s been written by AI. So, I’m confirming that the below was written by a human. One who tries to deliver something useful and interesting into your inbox once in a while. Thanks for reading.

This edition:-

• A new program: the Strategic Leader

• A medium-term take on AI risk

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Two ideas which hadn’t met before

Have you ever had two really great friends – but they have never met each other? They operate in different circles, and there’s been no overlap.

And one day, you get them in the same room. They get on like a house on fire.

This just happened to me.

All year, company leaders had been asking questions about two of my favourite topics (read: friends).

Question 1: How can we help our leaders develop?

Question 2: How can we get more progress on our strategy?

So, we started wondering...

What if we combined all the work we do on leadership development, and put it in the same ‘room’ with our work on strategy execution?

Introducing: The Strategic Leader

This June we’re celebrating the launch of a very different kind of leadership program, designed to…

1. Develop your leaders

To shape the future of your organisation, you need to empower your next level leaders. Put the strategy in their hands, and see what happens when they bring to into your customer experience, business development or operations. Put the strategy in their hands, and they’ll put it in contact with the real world.

2. Deliver your strategy

Let’s get your next level leaders working on your most important cross- functional strategic projects. You get more resources working on your strategy. Your leaders get exposed to whole-of-business thinking and cross- functional collaboration. They get the chance to lead part of the organisation’s strategy and shape its future.

Click below to explore the program and watch a video of me explaining how it works.

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Other things I’ve been learning that might be useful for leaders – and all humans

I’m busy exploring AI. And we’re considering it at 2 horizons.

The first is now: experimenting with it in running a business and what role it plays in training programs (like how we’re building it into our new program, The Strategic Leader).

The second is the medium-term future. I’ve been intrigued by the projections of AI 2027, and Yuval Noah Harari’s latest book: Nexus. They focus on the potential existential risks of AI. When I recently went to an AI conference for the first time, I found all the sessions were about short term ways to be more productive – and nothing about the potential existential risk of unaligned AI.

I reckon we need to think about both. And give money to non-profits that are funding AI-safety research like The Centre for AI Safety. Or if you want to think about what your kids might do for work, then check out 80,000 hours for advice on the most useful careers we can pick.

My AI strategy:

Get involved.

Keep your eyes open.

Fear the worst and hope for the best.