From Algorithms to EQ: How AI Can Sharpen Your Soft Skills
From Data to Dialogue
This is
- your weekly guide and shortcut to mastering emotional intelligence through the power of empathy. I talked recently about the Art of Debugging and why it is to your advantage to do so without panicking.
You brainstormed with ChatGPT, your trusted AI Chatbot, to flush out all of the details to talk about. What could you be missing?
Your excitement and sense of pride are not shared by them. They don’t seem to care.
To your right, one colleague is looking away, probably glancing at an update on their phone.
Another colleague gives you eye contact but looks blank, like they are looking right through you.
You presented everything, every fact, every innovation, all of it! The data is not getting across.
What went wrong?
Your hard skills were A+, but your soft skills fell flat. Your dialogue did not convey the message and did not make the impact you wished for.
It’s time to sharpen your soft skills, and AI can be a partner in doing so.
Strategic Thinking - From Hot Mess Firefighting to Strategic Thinking
Think more strategically - says the leader who has given his staff 50 menial tasks chasing their tails. You know you have seen this, right?
Strategic thinking is the rational process of determining how to achieve a set of goals and how to reach the company’s vision in the context of work.
I observed a colleague of mine taking on constant tactical requests. And I mean constant—their queue of tasks was at 50+, while most of us were working with a more reasonable to-do list of under 10 items. As my boss would label it, most were “pet projects.”
These consumed their time, and it was a constant “fire drill,” so to speak. It was a hot mess that kept piling on. Strategic thinking was not frequent, as they were so consumed with the day-to-day.
If you are tied to minor “pet projects,” it is challenging to clear mental space for strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is more long-term, whereas tactical thinking is short-term and immediate.
When given tactical tasks that must be done, I have leaned on AI to help me brainstorm more efficiently how to achieve the end result. When I am debugging code, I use several AI as partners. This frees up my time for more strategic thought.
When it comes to strategic thinking, facts and figures are not enough. AI can help immensely with this and provide insights I might not have thought of on my own.
With the time savings, I can think best about the human element of the strategic proposals being thought out. For example, moving 2 people to head up a new department makes financial sense and fits their skills per my consultation with AI. But, here is where the human side kicks in with the power of empathy - does this new department role with their goals and aspirations, their work-life balance, and unique personalities?
Adaptability - Keep Up or Fall Behind: The Adaptability Equation
Change is a constant in life. You can run and hide from it, perhaps under a rock, but most people find this impossible. The planet would spin even if you stood still, and the tectonic plates below you subtly move. This is the same for life, meaning adapting to change is a core soft skill.
About four years ago, I was in a position where we would overhaul all our data dashboarding systems. I fought it. Like most humans, my knee-jerk reaction is to seek safety and reject change. But with the gradual welcome of adaptability, as I was forced to change, came a welcoming of the benefits of this new system.
AI did the heavy lifting with a built-in statistical analysis app. I could sit back and allow it to do 50+ calculations that would have taken me significantly longer. My prior data display tool did not have this built-in AI capability.
The recommendations for change that would be data-backed and presented to my leadership team were now thoroughly quantitatively supported.
I could now apply my human side to implement the necessary changes. AI freed me from the hard skills aspect, allowing me to spend more time communicating the decisions to be made to my stakeholders.
AI allowed me to adapt and pivot my time to what mattered most - getting people on board to adjust to the upcoming changes.
We are more adaptable than we think, yet only 15% of people list it as a skill on their resume!
Communication - Talk Less, Connect More: The Power of Precision Communication
Not too long ago, I observed a conversation at a meeting, and I was more of a fly on the wall. These meetings are generally more passive for me and a welcome break after 4 hours on Zoom. But this particular one necessitated my attention to what I observed.
The flow of questions was constant from the meeting organizer to the primary stakeholder. Questions are good, usually. Questions are unsuitable when disruptive and prevent the person from providing their full train of thought if they interrupt it. You cannot determine the algorithms you need to program if you do not have all of the facts.
Communication through AI is generally polite and crystal clear, with dabbling into some hallucinations (always check the facts presented)!
AI can help you determine the right questions to ask. This saves your brain power in this arena, so dedicate your mind to being inquisitive, curious, and genuinely listening.
Let the other person finish their thought. Do not fear a brief pause. With social awareness, you can get to know your audience and determine if this is part of their general talking style.
Bite your tongue. Okay, not literally, but do what you need to do to talk less. By listening more, you will get the broader picture and precisely determine what the other party needs to express. It is beyond the data here; you must have the entire dialogue.
Your questions should be for clarification and a prompt for more information if you are unsatisfied with the initial answer. With a little emotional intelligence to craft your questions to your audience (for example, do not ask a coding question to a salesperson), your questions will be communicated in a more welcomed way, allowing you to get a more precise answer.
AI is a partner
AI is here and is a great partner in many ways, but it has limitations. It can help you heavily with the logical piece of your endeavors.
But, it cannot replace your human intelligence, your emotional intelligence (EQ), when it comes to knowing when to interject your questions, how to ask them, or how to propose changes in the right to your audience. AI can brainstorm with you, but you must deliver.
Artificial Intelligence can help you sharpen your soft skills with objective advice, but it does not have the capacity to feel. Algorithms save your energy, but they do not replace your emotion-driven thought. You and your 30 trillion cells in your unique human body do.
✅ What I’ve been Analyzing this week (reading, watching, listening, etc.)
📖 I’m reading Empathy (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) by the Harvard Business Review, Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, and Adam Waytz. I’m learning about what the Dalai Lama taught about Emotional Intelligence
🤖 This week I will be attending the Dent:AI Startup Showcase Reception in San Diego, California. You can learn more about how this organization is looking “to make a dent in the universe” here
✍️ I commented on a post by
about handling performance reviews and feedback in general. I am inspired by his post, and will mostly likely do my own take on handling feedback constructively through the power of Emotional Intelligence.Want more on Empathy and Emotional Intelligence to Elevate your career? 📈
I empower💪tech people to elevate their empathy, to accelerate their careers
Interesting insight on how AI can be used to make you more effective, freeing you to zoom out and think strategically. Those mental breathing spaces are where real innovation and meaningful progress happen. Smart approach to working smarter, not just harder! 🚀
And thanks so much for the shout-out and for finding inspiration in my article about performance reviews and feedback. I'm glad my perspective resonated with you.