In a world of AI, the smartest leaders lead with heart

At the Exceptional Women Alliance, we enable high-level women to mentor each other to achieve personal and professional happiness through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organization’s founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring.

This month, I introduce you to Malika Begin, the CEO and founder of Begin Development, an organization development firm based in Malibu, California. Known for her signature approach to building heart-centered, high-performing cultures, Malika partners with leading organizations to strengthen executive teams, design transformational leadership programs, build cross-functional trust, and create systems where people and performance thrive together.

Malika believes the most effective leaders of the future will not only embrace technology but will also deepen their humanity. In her words, “Self-awareness isn’t soft—it’s strategic.”

Q: Everyone’s talking about AI, productivity, and innovation. Why talk about self-awareness right now?

Malika Begin: Because the more the world automates, the more human leadership matters. AI can replicate skills, but it can’t replicate self. When everything is shifting around you, knowing who you are—your values, your patterns, and your impact—becomes your anchor. You have to be clear on your motivators, how you engage with others, and how you distinctly move through the world.

AI can replicate skills, but it can’t replicate self.

Brené Brown often says that leadership used to be about muscle, then brains, and now it’s about heart. I couldn’t agree more. The heart of leadership is self-awareness. It’s empathy. It’s the courage to show up as you are. The leaders who know themselves and are committed to continued growth and development make better decisions, build stronger teams, and create workplaces where people actually want to stay and invest.

Q: You’ve said that professional assessments are “mirrors, not boxes.” How does that fit into this idea of human and heart-centered leadership?

Malika: Tools like CliftonStrengths, DiSC, Strengths Deployment Inventory, or Enneagram don’t define you; they describe you. They give you language for what you already sense about yourself. The point isn’t to label people but to understand patterns: how you lead, how you communicate, how you react under stress.

That insight is gold right now. When you can name your wiring, you can also recognize it in others. That’s what builds trust, belonging, and compassion, everything that makes a team feel human and valued again. The value isn’t in the label, it’s in the insight.

Q: So, self-awareness is also about connection?

Malika: Completely. Self-awareness is the gateway to empathy, and empathy is the gateway to performance. Gallup found that teams that focus on their strengths every day are six times more engaged and 12% more productive. But that’s only part of the story. Leaders who understand their own style and the styles around them create psychological safety, clearer communication, and faster trust, which directly translates to lower turnover, higher collaboration, and stronger results.

People don’t just work better; they work together better. In a business environment where retention, engagement, and innovation drive profit, that kind of relational intelligence has real ROI. You can’t automate trust. You have to build it—and self-awareness is where it starts.

If AI is scaling data, then self-awareness is how we scale connection.

We talk a lot about psychological safety, but it starts with emotional honesty. You can’t create a sense of belonging if you’re disconnected from yourself.

Q: You tell leaders, “Stop auditioning for roles that were never meant for you.” What do you mean by that?

Malika: It’s freedom. When you know who you are, you stop wasting energy trying to be everything to everyone. You make decisions that align with your values. You build relationships that align with your strengths.

In a world that’s constantly shifting, self-awareness is your competitive edge. Author Tasha Eurich told the Harvard Business Review in a podcast that self-awareness is the “meta-skill of the 21st century.” The best leaders aren’t defined by certainty; they’re defined by clarity.

Q: What’s one practical way to start developing this skill?

Malika: Write your superpower statement. It’s one or two sentences that capture you at your best—how you show up and the value you bring. Something like: “I’m at my best when I’m focused on possibilities and relationships. My positivity helps others feel seen and confident in their own strengths.”

It’s not bragging. It’s clarity. And clarity builds confidence. Clarity is contagious in your organization, and it’s the thing organizations need now more than ever.

Q: If you had to summarize your philosophy of leadership in one line?

Malika: When you know yourself, you stop performing and start connecting. The future belongs to leaders who lead with heart, who pair self-awareness with empathy, courage, and authenticity. Machines might build efficiency, but humans build meaning and connection. The meaning and connection are everything.

Larraine Segil is founder, chair, and CEO of the Exceptional Women Alliance.