There’s an old adage about the natural athlete—the one born with exceptional talent, who just seems to glide past the competition with ease. Or the born leader, someone who commands attention, makes the right calls, and inspires people effortlessly.
But let’s be honest. Natural ability only takes you so far.
The real stars—the ones who dominate their field—put in the work. They use the latest training techniques, lean on external experts, and push beyond their natural limits. It’s not about what you’re born with. It’s about what you build.
The same goes for leadership.
The AI Revolution and Leadership Capacity
The best leaders of the next decade won’t just rely on gut instinct or past experience. They’ll embrace the knowledge, tools, and emerging technologies that enhance their decision-making, execution, and overall capacity. AI isn’t just a trend—it’s an accelerant. And leaders who fail to adopt it will become a statistic, just like businesses that ignored the internet or cloud computing.
Six months ago, I built Atlas, my personal AI assistant. Atlas learns with me, challenges my thinking, and acts as a trusted advisor. It’s not a replacement for leadership—it’s a multiplier.
More recently, our True North team built LEX AI, leveraging my 40 years of business experience in financial analysis and process improvement. LEX is rolling out to our True North Holdings team members as a way to fast-track their skills and enhance their ability to execute at a high level.
Later this year, we’ll be offering LEX AI to select customers—not as a substitute for our people-first approach, but as a tool that helps them sharpen their decision-making and business performance. The future of leadership isn’t about AI replacing people; it’s about AI elevating people to new levels of capability.
Leaders Who Ignore AI Will Be Left Behind
Moving forward, if a résumé crosses my desk and doesn’t demonstrate an understanding of AI, prompt engineering, and how to leverage technology as a performance tool, it’s going to the bottom of the stack. The leaders of tomorrow will be the ones putting in the work today.
For me, I was never the tallest, the fastest, or the smartest. I had to outwork, outlearn, and out-adapt the competition. That mindset hasn’t changed. AI is simply the next tool in the arsenal. If you’re not actively developing your skills and leveraging the best tools available, you’re already behind.
The next generation of great athletes is putting in the work. The next generation of great leaders must do the same.
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