Speaker Dr. Jamie Williams says leadership is needed to help guide the digital transformation
Photo credit: Sower Staff
By Josiah Horvath
Concordia students are part of the generation that will lead the digital transformation, encompassing artificial intelligence, globalization, the supply chain and the internet, especially social media, Dr. Jamie Williams, a former University of Nebraska Cornhusker tight end who spent 12 years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl, said during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech on campus.
Williams, who later served as the university’s associate athletic director of leadership, student athlete recruitment and diversity initiatives, talked about leadership in the digital area, drawing from his life stories and lessons as he discussed communication, emotional intelligence, curiosity, creativity, ethics, mindset, competition, grit and storytelling, his favorite bit.
“The next age is going to be digital transformation,” he said. “We’re not putting that technology back in the tube. It’s not happening.”
Williams, the CEO of Team81 Inc., which provides IT services for government agencies, said when it comes to AI, it will be important to “get your arms around this beast” as the future directors, managers, leaders and politicians in the next age.
“Humanities is so very, very important to what our future is,” he said. “Somebody’s got to program the robot.”
He said that humanities are things that separate you from a machine and provide universal truth. It includes philosophy, English and history.
Leadership is generally associated with charismatic or visionary individuals, but Williams said anyone can lead and leadership comes in many styles, including servant-leadership.
“You can all be servant leaders,” he said. “You can all serve the community, serve the young. Upperclassmen, serve the young.”
Willims said leadership comes in many styles and different ways, unique to a person’s circumstances.
“Most leaders want to leave from the back,” Williams said. He pointed to Alexander the Great, who unlike many from his time, was a true leader and led from the front.
