What if the current uncertainty around AI in education isn’t a crisis, but the moment educational leaders have been preparing for?
MIT researchers recently stated, “No one in 2025 can say how best to manage AI in schools.” At first, this sounds alarming. But it actually reveals what leadership now requires: the capacity to lead when the answers don’t exist yet.
Traditional, command-and-control leadership models are failing in the AI era. You can’t lead the unknown with the leadership models of the known. Waiting for perfect clarity leaves students, educators, and institutions stuck in limbo, paralyzed by the idea that we must have the answer before we take action.
But a different model of leadership is emerging, one that is already here, particularly among women leaders. Instead of dominance and authority, influence is built through trust, collaboration, relational depth, and shared purpose. Power becomes less like a fortress and more like water, fluid, connected, essential.
And research is clear: when leadership becomes more distributed and collaborative, trust and performance rise together. In a world where no one has the AI roadmap, relational leadership isn’t optional, it’s the only kind that works.
Educational institutions are uniquely positioned to model this shift. Schools and universities understand dialogue, shared governance, long-term thinking, and community stewardship. While tech companies race to produce quick answers, educational leaders can design thoughtful, inclusive frameworks that guide AI implementation with wisdom, not fear.
The question isn’t “Do we know enough about AI to lead?”
The real question is “Are we willing to lead through not knowing, together?”
Because the future will reward collaboration, trust-building, participatory decision-making, and the courage to step forward without waiting for certainty.
This is the moment educational leaders have been preparing for.
