As AI continues to change how we work, many of us are leading transformations while we are still trying to understand what those transformations will mean.

We may be responsible for implementing an AI initiative, encouraging our teams to adopt it, and explaining why it matters while we are also navigating the uncertainty that comes with changing roles, responsibilities, and ways of working.

My guest, Dawn Stallwood, has spent nearly three decades advising leaders through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), negotiations, growth, crisis, and organizational change. Based in England, Dawn is a chief integrity officer, corporate leadership counsel, notary public, and creator of the Beautiful Leadership framework and book. Her extensive M&A experience gives us a useful lens for looking at AI transformation because both can create significant disruption for organizations and their teams.

“Where do I sit? Where do I fit?” Those are the questions Dawn has seen team members wrestle with during times of disruption. We may see the efficiencies, innovation, and possibilities AI can create while our teams are trying to understand how their work, roles, and future may change.

As you read on, we’ll explore what decades of M&A experience can teach us about moving from AI implementation and adoption to actual value creation, how to protect the experiences that develop the leaders our organizations will need in the future, and what we can do now to keep our teams engaged through the transformation.

Getting the Deal Over the Line vs. Making the Deal Work

There is a massive difference between getting a deal over the line and making the deal work. In M&A, organizations can invest tremendous energy in valuation, strategy, due diligence, negotiation, documentation, and closing. And then the organization has to deliver the value and opportunity that justified the deal in the first place.

AI transformations are similar. We can choose the technology, build the business case, redesign workflows, train our teams, and successfully implement the solution, and we still have work to do. Technology enables something in the same way a transaction enables something, while moving from implementation to actual value creation isn’t always straightforward.

“If you don’t pay attention to the human side, it will certainly make itself known to you.” — Dawn Stallwood

We may see fear, resistance, uncertainty, or team members pulling back because they do not understand what the change means for them. At the same time, we may be so focused on delivering the transformation that we miss some of the concerns and implications that could affect whether it ultimately succeeds.

My PhD research examined what happens to the technology when companies merge, including how organizations determine which technology survives. With M&A, we have decades of experience to draw from, while with AI we are being asked to lead transformations as the technology itself continues to evolve. Our teams do not have every answer, and neither do we, which requires an extra level of self-awareness from us as leaders.

McKinsey’s 2026 global survey of 750 employees and leaders who were already incorporating AI into their work found that 70% felt personally prepared to adopt and use AI, while only 27% of leaders believed their organizations were ready to make the shifts required. The research reinforces the distinction between adopting AI and preparing an organization to capture value from it.

Sometimes the decision has already been made by the powers that be. The M&A is happening, the AI adoption is happening, and we may even have been “voluntold” that we are responsible for implementing a piece of it. We still have to understand what our teams are experiencing, what could get in the way of adoption, and what they need from us to shift from simply implementing the change to making it effective and meeting our goals.

“Protect the Formation”

The first five years of Dawn’s career were formative. She made mistakes, learned from others, received mentoring, listened, and absorbed knowledge through what she calls “osmosis.” Those experiences helped shape the judgment, discernment, confidence, relationships, and professional instincts she would need later in her career.

As AI takes on some of the foundational work traditionally done earlier in our careers, we need to understand what we were learning through that work. The goal isn’t to preserve outdated ways of working. It’s to make sure we continue developing the judgment, discernment, and professional expertise our team members will need as they grow. This is what Dawn calls “protecting the formation.”

“If AI takes away some of that foundational work, you don’t grow the person that you will ultimately need years later as a trusted advisor or as a senior manager or a leader.” — Dawn Stallwood

Using AI does not eliminate the need for subject matter expertise. I suggest that it must be amplified. AI can help us analyze, summarize, generate, and work faster, while we still bring the subject matter expertise, context, judgment, and discernment required to determine whether what it gives us is accurate, relevant, appropriate, and useful.

That makes developing those human capabilities even more important, not less. As we use AI to generate capacity so we can focus on human-value-based activities, we have an opportunity to apply our expertise at a higher level. Let’s ensure the team members following in our footsteps have the experiences and development they need to build theirs.

Listen to Learn and Practice Humanity

Dawn shares three practices we can start using right now: listen to learn, protect the formation, and practice humanity. Listening to learn translates to understanding what the transformation is doing to the teams’ work, their development, their relationships, and their ability to build judgment, discernment, and confidence.

Spend time with the team members whose work will change and ask what they are learning, where they are gaining capacity, and what they need to continue developing as their work evolves. We may discover implications of the transformation that we cannot see from our vantage point.

Practicing humanity requires us to put ourselves in the shoes of the team members who will live with these changes every day. Efficiency and speed are important, and they cannot be our only measures of a successful transformation. Dawn has walked away from deals on the day of closing when it became clear that the fit was wrong, even after everything that had already been invested.

Listening, empathy, judgment, discernment, courage, and accountability may sometimes be labeled as “soft skills.” However, they are foundational and critical in today’s environment. AI may change what our teams do, and these human capabilities will continue to shape how well we lead through that change.

What’s Next?

Consider an AI transformation you are leading or influencing right now. Where are you focused on getting the implementation over the line, and what will help you make it work once it gets there?

We encourage you to spend time with the team members whose work will change and listen to learn. Ask what is changing in their work and what they need from you to continue developing. As you or they identify work that AI can automate, consider what that work has been teaching your teams and how you will protect the formation as their roles evolve.

AI gives us an opportunity to rethink how work gets done while also asking us to be intentional about how we continue developing the human capabilities our organizations will need. This is part of Continuous Elevation™ because as the work changes, we have to continue elevating how we lead.

Recently, I’ve been delivering keynotes and leadership development programs focused specifically on how we lead through change in the age of AI. A significant part of that work is helping leaders identify the leadership skills and mindset shifts required to navigate the disruption, engage their teams, and ultimately deliver the value their organizations are looking for from their AI transformations.

If your organization is navigating AI transformation and you want to explore how we can help your leaders lead through this change, I invite you to schedule a complimentary Strategy Conversation at https://introanddiscoverydrginny.youcanbook.me/ or connect with us at info@executivebound.com.

I also invite you to watch or listen to the full episode of The Dr. Ginny Show to hear more of our conversation about leading through AI transformation, the human capabilities we need to continue developing, and why Dawn encourages us to “dial up our human.”

Lead with purpose, live with joy!

Dr. Ginny

About Our Distinguished Guest

Dawn Stallwood, based in England, is a chief integrity officer, corporate leadership counsel, notary public, and creator of the Beautiful Leadership framework and book. With nearly three decades of international experience, Dawn advises boards, investors, founders, and senior leaders through deals, growth, crisis, and succession. She also works with professional service firms to protect how professionalism is forged and, as she puts it, cheerleads businesses to “dial up their human.”

To Connect with Dawn:
📩 Email: dawn.stallwood@floodlightbusiness.com
🌐 Website: https://floodlightbusiness.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/impactwithintegrity