Less management will be needed in the future

Less management will be needed in the future

Some time ago, I was astonished by a study from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, which was presented at a Future Lab that I moderated. In it a representative selection of employees were asked which they would prefer to have as a manager - a human or an artificial intelligence. 

Shockingly, almost half of the participants chose artificial intelligence. 

The primary arguments for AI included a belief that an algorithm would be reliable, comprehensible and objective, while a human could be capricious, subjects and unreliable.

Leaders face a major challenge

So, do we still need people to lead? It’s an interesting question that concerns us more than ever in times of digital transformation. The truth is, many of a manager’s typical daily tasks, vacation planning, monitoring, the creation of quantitative analyses, financial reporting and so much more can now be automated. We’ve also seen a huge uptake of digital technologies following the Covid-19 pandemic. Now many line managers are facing major challenges. They can no longer gather their employees around them in the office and are often nervous about using digital tools and virtual formats, many are also struggling to deal with the face that employees often prefer to work from home.

Given these developments, one thing is clear – many of the activities that previously required managers to keep lists, delegate tasks, consolidate numbers and ensure processes will soon be automated. Therefore, it is my opinion that less management is needed in these times of increasing digital value creation.

Virtual relationships

However, now more than ever we need leadership. We need people who are able to continue to effectively lead teams that may be spread far and wide. We need them to develop visions, provide orientation, connect people and use them according to their potential.

Many doubt whether it is possible to build a close relationship virtually. But I am convinced that it is. Just last weekend I collected Fabian Fratzscher from the trainstation. He is a colleague with whom I have moderated many virtual events over the last few months. We had never met in person, yet it felt like I was meeting an old friend.

Today, more than ever, it is important for leaders to consider what skills might be important three of even five years into the future.

What really matters in a leadership role

We asked ourselves this question at the MLI Leadership Days 2021 and came up with five central skills:

1.  1. The ability to self-reflect
2. Empathy
3. The ability to convey meaning
4. Resilience as the ability to recover quickly from supposed setbacks
5. A desire for lifelong learning

In our blog post ‘What are the leadership skills of tomorrow?’ you will discover the findings of our week-long think tank.