Why Technology Will Never Replace Leadership
By Paul Callan
There are people who believe that leadership in the future will be dominated by technology. Likewise, these same people question whether a classic philosophy like heroic leadership, with its focus on timeless principles and the cultivation of a rich inner life, still matters in our increasingly technology-centered world. The core reasoning of this belief seems to be this: Why take the time to gain self-mastery when technology can give us instant information and instant knowledge?
Well, I’d like to refute this line of thinking. I do not think technology can ever replace or even dominate leadership. For me to effectively support my position, it is necessary to first distinguish between leadership and management, because what I hope to show is that technology’s impact will be quite different between the former and the latter.
So let’s start with definitions, and let’s keep it simple. Here you go:
- We lead people;
- We manage things.
So, accepting this distinction between leading and managing, here’s what I believe, and why I believe it, distilled into four key points:
Point one: Technology can never replace or dominate leadership because leadership is an art, and in its execution–a “master craft.” And like any master craft, the ultimate output is an affect that must be cultivated throughout life and this affect must be felt, intuitively and personally, by the receiving audience. Consider for a moment other master crafts and craftsmen: A dancer, a concert pianist, a champion athlete, and a master chef. Technology may help them manage their training, speed up administrative details, improve processes, but once they are live and on stage, the performance is now reduced to its most raw and basic level: resonance between performer and audience. This is why a live performance, viewed in person, is always substantially more powerful as an affect than that same performance viewed on a recording. When we are there, in person, we feel and hear what is called “the word behind the words.” We experience deep meaning. We experience true resonance.
Point Two: As a master craft, excellent leadership also results in a resonance affect. As leaders, we are always live and on stage in the same way as the dancer, pianist, or athlete. Therefore, leadership will always be a deeply human interaction, achieved best in a personal, physically present, and communal setting. Human beings are ultra-social beings, responding to a complex and deeply nuanced admixture of social and group dynamics. The interpreting and processing of these dynamics occurs intuitively, and rests to a large degree on reading body language, sensing emotion, and detecting intent. Physically standing in front of the group you are leading and generating affect cannot be fully duplicated or replicated virtually. It is as simple as this: Being there matters!
Point Three: We must always remember this key fact: Leadership at its most fundamental level is resonance—human influence. And human influence rests on discernment; judgment; empathy; emotional intelligence, and wisdom. Leadership’s ultimate end state is human effectiveness, created through resonance between the leader and the led.
Point Four: Management is a different story. Here’s where technology has its role. Recall the definition I provided above: We manage things—such as processes, procedures, policies, equipment, metrics, and measures. These things can be influenced through and even somewhat replaced by, technology. So yes, technology has an expending future role in management because management deals in efficiency and enhancing production. Management is thus a means to an end, and technology can certainly improve that means.
But let me close with a cautionary note. We must always remember that no matter how greatly technology improves management, at some point, we will have to engage personally, in a physically-present manner, to create deep human influence. At some point, we will have to put down our phones, tablets, and laptops, climb on stage, and perform. As leaders, we are the master craftsmen. Our followers are our audience. The affect we seek is resonance…the ability to create the ideal tenor, tempo, pitch, and key to harmonize feelings, convictions, purpose, and passion. This deep resonance can never be replaced by technology.
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