Leading With Authenticity In The AI Era

In a world where generative AI can craft an email in seconds, some leaders are making a conscious effort to prove their communications are still human. One such leader, Erin, has started writing personalized notes to colleagues, packing them with specific details that only a person would know.

For example, in a recent LinkedIn post praising an event producer, she wrote:

“She has been with us since our very first in-person conference, though you rarely see her in photos because one of the many things she does is create the photographer shot list and is so focused on them capturing everyone else’s moments.”

This small rebellion against the flood of AI-generated messages highlights a crucial point: as AI handles more operational tasks, the uniquely human aspects of leadership—empathy, motivation, and trust—become your greatest assets. Authentic leadership involves transparency and sharing your own thoughts, but tools like ChatGPT can create a dangerous distance between you and your team if used improperly.

What Authentic Leadership Looks Like in Practice

History offers powerful examples of leaders who built connections through genuine communication. Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi often wrote personal letters to her staff, sharing her own vulnerabilities, like the anxiety she felt when her children left for college. "I want them to know me as a person, rather than just [as] an executive," she once explained. She even extended this practice by writing to the parents of her senior executives to thank them for their child's contributions.

Similarly, Steve Jobs' renowned 2005 Stanford commencement speech was deeply personal, touching on his firing from Apple and his battle with cancer. As WIRED reported, he struggled immensely to write it, a process he couldn't have outsourced to AI. The result is considered one of the best commencement speeches ever, precisely because of the human effort and vulnerability it conveys.

The Hidden Risks of AI in Leadership Communication

A recent study highlights the potential pitfalls for leaders. An AI trained on the communications of Zapier CEO Wade Foster could imitate his writing style so effectively that his own employees were correct only 59% of the time in distinguishing man from machine. However, the employees rated responses as less helpful whenever they believed the message came from the bot, regardless of who actually wrote it. Other studies confirm this aversion, showing that people perceive AI-written communication as less authentic.

How to Use AI Without Losing Your Authenticity

So, what's the right approach? The key is to use AI strategically. As Prithwiraj Choudhury, co-author of the Zapier study, told Harvard Business Review, the best use case for AI today is for less personal tasks, like “communicating with strangers or automating the drab parts of writing.”

When you do use AI for personal communication, ensure you remain at the core of the message.

• Use it as a thought partner: Draft your next talk and ask a chatbot to provide feedback from multiple personas.
• Use it for synthesis: If you're struggling to phrase difficult news, dictate your raw thoughts, have AI transcribe and synthesize them, and use that as a starting point for your own draft.
• Use it for brainstorming: If you're stuck, ask a chatbot to interview you to spark new ideas.

Leverage AI for research and structure, but always infuse your work with the personal details and insights that build trust—the things an AI would never know. And if a piece of communication is heavily AI-assisted, be transparent about it.

We are still in the early stages of generative AI, and norms will undoubtedly shift. But until then, and likely long after, the most effective leaders will be the ones who continue to communicate for themselves.