#12 Digital Skills (Part 2 of 2) — Make One Thing Run Without You
At 6am, a short brief was already waiting in an HR business partner's inbox.
Overnight, the machine had pulled the people numbers for their business unit — headcount and tenure, time off and overtime, the latest engagement pulse, the roles open in the pipeline — set them against the past few months, and written them a note: one team's engagement has slipped three weeks running while its overtime keeps climbing, and here are three things worth checking before it turns into a resignation. They read it over coffee. And they wouldn't dream of acting on it unread.
That gap — between work done and work approved — is the whole subject of this edition.
Last week was the big picture of Digital Skills: why the shift is real, and why no one gets to sit it out. This is the practical half — field ⑩ again, the Daily Business side of the canvas. Less about whether to engage, more about what to actually build.
(New here? Download the canvas for free: https://www.digital-leader-program.de/en/digita...
#11 Digital Skills (Part 1 of 2) — Learning to Drive the Machine
When ChatGPT arrived at the end of 2022, my calendar started to empty.
The German economy was sliding — the energy shock after Russia's invasion of Ukraine had hit hard — and the first budgets cut were always the same: coaching, training, leadership development. Mine. When companies did keep spending, the money went into software and AI, not into people in a room with someone like me.
So I let myself ask the question I'd been circling for months: in a few years, will I still be needed at all?
I'd like to say I met that calmly. I didn't. For a while I told myself AI couldn't really do what I do — less a conviction than a way of not looking at the fear underneath. So I started a podcast on AI and human skills, mostly to force myself to understand the thing I feared. Even with a business-IT background, the climb was slow. But somewhere in it the fear drained away — not because the technology got weaker, but because I finally understood what it could do, what it couldn't, and, step by s...
Recent Posts
Categories
All categories
KNOWLEDGE THAT WORKS IN PRACTICE
This is not a place for buzzwords. Or for theories that don't hold up in real life. Our blog is a space for leaders and professionals who are looking for genuine answers to genuine questions: How do I lead better in a hybrid environment? How do I communicate in a way that actually lands? How do I use AI meaningfully in my daily work? How do I build resilience in my team?
Every article in the Digital Leader Program blog is designed to be directly useful – with insights, methods and examples you can take straight into practice.
TOPICS THAT MATTER TODAY
Leadership in the digital age: How is leadership changing when teams work remotely or hybrid? What do new leaders need – and what do experienced managers need to relearn?
Human Skills under AI influence: Which human capabilities become more important as AI takes over routine tasks – and how do you develop them deliberately?
Hybrid work in practice: Concrete tips, rituals and tools for productive hybrid collaboration – what actually works, and what doesn't.
Culture Design and team dynamics: How do you build an organisational culture that attracts, retains and energises people?
Communication and feedback: The capabilities that separate average performance from real high performance.
FROM PEOPLE WHO WORK IN PRACTICE
Our articles are written by Andre Ottlik and our team – people who work in coaching sessions, workshops and training every single day. What you read here is not copy-pasted from academic studies, but knowledge drawn from lived practice.
And occasionally we feature contributions from external experts sharing insights from their own fields – such as the piece with Pascal Baumgartner on hybrid meeting optimisation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
How often are new articles published?
Regularly. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn to make sure you don't miss new content.
Are articles available in German too?
Yes. Many of our articles are also available in German – particularly on topics relevant to German-speaking leaders and organisations.
Can I suggest article topics?
Absolutely. Write to us or bring it up in a conversation – we welcome input from our community.
How can I go deeper than the blog?
Our workshops, coaching programmes and the podcast "3 minutes max." go further and support you systematically in your development. Browse our service pages or book an initial consultation.
Author
Andre Ottlik
Author
Andre and his Team are the authors of Digital Leader Programs Blog Posts
