Leadership by Algorithm. David De Cremer

Yes, Descartes identified the two separate entities of body and mind, but he also noted that they are connected. We still use this assumption today when we say a healthy mind makes for a healthy body. But what makes for the connection? What is the glue that holds mind and body so closely aligned? In philosophical terms we may say it is the soul. The soul that gives us passion, emotions and a sense of intuitive interpretation with respect to the things we see, do and decide. As such, we may be able to replace the body and the mind, but do the ones replacing us also have the soul to make the total entity work? If body and mind cannot connect, then leadership without heart is the consequence.

      And, think about it, would you then simply comply and follow orders from an intelligent machine leader? Those who are big fans of the Star Trek movies will know the character Data. Data is a humanoid robot who is trying to learn how to understand human emotion. In one episode, Data has to take over the command of the Starship USS Enterprise. This experience turned out to be a useful lesson for both the robot and the human crew for how important human emotions are to leadership.

      Today, we have arrived in an era where this scenario may not be science fiction for too much longer. But with such futuristic views on leadership in sight, we also need to understand the kind of society and organizations we would like to see. How do we want to lead them? We need to come up with an answer to what leadership means to us and who should take up the leadership position, including assessing our own strengths and weaknesses.

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