Actionable companion · Leadership practice and organizational learning

From leadership research to district action: AI is Here to Stay: A Scenario‐Based Exploration of Leadership, Followership, and the Impact on Skill Development

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

ABSTRACT Emerging AI technologies are transforming work and redefining how leading and following unfold when humans collaborate with AI as tool, agent, teammate, and autonomous partner. This article uses an action‐based organizational learning scenario technique to develop four future workplace constellations: (1) AI as collaborative tool, (2) AI as delegated agent, (3) AI as team member, and (4) AI as autonomous partner. For each, it examines implications for reversing the lens and co‐creation leadership and followership, specifying the competence profiles and AI literacy needed for responsible human–AI interaction. Comparing these scenario‐specific requirements with current AI literacy levels reveals substantial gaps in leadership and followership education, motivating a stronger emphasis on critical thinking and prompt literacy in development programs.

A 90-day district inquiry

1. Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
2. Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one recurring leadership practice described in the source. Map its participants, incentives and constraints to a district setting, then design a small reversible staff pilot with an accountable owner. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
3. Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
4. Days 61–90 · Decide. Record implementation fidelity, staff review time, task quality and unintended burdens against a baseline. Use a comparison team where feasible and document alternative explanations before expanding. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Maike Kugler; Laura S Aichroth. AI is Here to Stay: A Scenario‐Based Exploration of Leadership, Followership, and the Impact on Skill Development. New Directions for Student Leadership (2026-08-22). https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.70067

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.