Soft Skills as a Superpower: Leadership in an AI World

Yesterday I took the CliftonStrengths assessment for the first time in several years, and just like before, three out of my top five strengths landed squarely in the relationship domain.

If I’m honest, the first time I took this assessment, I was a little embarrassed by the results, especially because we were sharing our top five strengths in a meeting with senior leadership. Back then, I thought relational strengths sounded “soft.”

But the older I get, and especially as I watch how fast our workplaces are changing with AI and automation, the more convinced I am that these “people strengths” are anything but weak. They’re powerful. I’ve learned to see them as my superpower, especially when it comes to leadership and creating cultures where teams can actually thrive.

Both the Harvard Business School’s blog and the Center for Creative Leadership’s research on psychological safety point to the same, simple truth: teams do their best work when people feel safe enough to share ideas, ask questions, and make mistakes without fear.

That kind of culture doesn’t appear because of a slick new system or a brilliant strategy. It happens when leaders intentionally build trust and connection. Strengths like empathy, harmony, and individualization create the soil where psychological safety grows.

Where I once saw my relational strengths as something to downplay, I now see them as my edge. As the world becomes more digital, those distinctly human skills like listening, understanding, and creating belonging are becoming more valuable than ever.

The best leaders I know don’t lead with titles or tools; they lead with humanity. And in a world powered by AI, that might just be our most essential skill.

I’m curious, have you ever rediscovered a strength you used to overlook? Sometimes what we see as “soft” turns out to be the thing that makes the biggest impact.