If you’re not helping employees with AI-xiety, you’re not leading

In the modern working world, employees have a lot on their minds. From stressing about high costs of living and pressing political issues, there are no shortage of worries to go around. But worries at work are stacking up, too, with many feeling uncertain about their future employment in the face of AI. 

While workplaces are seeing some benefits to automating tasks with AI, there’s another not-so-secret problem with the technology taking off: employee anxiety. In part, that’s because workers are deeply stressed about being replaced, but there are also learning curves that come with working alongside the technology. 

Also notable, one recent study found that AI is making workers’ jobs harder in another way. It messes with managers’ expectations, meaning they end up giving employees more work that they expect completed in less time. 

Holding space for AI-xiety

In the face of such significant change, some say that leaders have a new job to do: They need to hold space for all the anxiety around AI, or, AI-xiety, if you will. 

Heidi Brooks, a leadership expert and senior lecturer in organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management, tells Fast Company that because anxiety is now “a central part of the workplace experience,” leaders need to meet the moment. 

But it’s not necessarily about trying to calm or settle worries, and it’s definitely not about ignoring them altogether. Instead, it’s about being present.

“Presence isn’t just about showing up—it’s about how you show up,” Brooks explains. “It’s the groundedness, the way you stay in touch with people in the midst of ambiguity or distress, without rushing to fix or smooth things over.” 

Brooks adds that while it may feel more comfortable to avoid the worries, “choosing to stay steady in the face of uncertainty is a quiet but powerful form of leadership.”

Communication is key

As concerns around AI are booming, at the same time issues like burnout are skyrocketing. It’s no secret that many employees are feeling unsettled. That means bosses need to do more than just say they’re there for workers. 

As Brooks puts it, “Presence is in the eyes of the beholder.” Therefore, employees have to feel that from you.

“Communication, in this anxious context, becomes more than just information-sharing. It’s a form of containment,” Brooks says. “Silence can promote fear, and in the absence of communication, people can fill the gaps with worst-case scenarios.” Therefore, even if leaders aren’t necessarily sure themselves how to fix the issues employees are worried about, keeping communication open is, in itself, still an effective tool. 

Recent research supports the expert’s insight, too: A recent survey on frontline workers in the AI age found that while only 17% of said their organization is transparent about AI integration, 63% said communication about the technology is essential. 

“If you explain it, we’ll accept it,” one worker said. “If you don’t, we’ll resist.”

Brooks says employers don’t need to have all the answers to be good communicators and to calm fears.

“It’s not about false certainty,” she explains. “It’s about helping people feel less alone in the uncertainty, and perhaps even inviting them to be part of the learning process by inviting their voice.”

Leaders need check-ins, too

Undoubtedly, leaders are in a new era, too. They have big challenges ahead of them as they learn to work with automation. Brooks says leaders are also learning to “hold space for human experience . . . as we find our way forward” in the AI age. 

But not only do leaders have to worry about their teams—they also need to check in with themselves, especially around their own anxieties and struggles when it comes to new technology. 

“It’s a good time not only to be intentional about touching base with people on your teams, but for you to do the same for yourself,” Brooks says. Leaders, then, also need the space to air their own fears—in addition to being a sounding board for others.

Brooks adds, “When we can be real about naming what we are going through, we are often wiser together, because we can discuss what’s happening and learn our way forward.” 

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