The AI era will make some forms of performance easier to display. People can produce polished reports, persuasive presentations, and rapid analysis with intelligent assistance. These capabilities matter — but visible output does not reveal everything an organisation needs from its future leaders.
I have learned to look beyond what a person can produce toward what happens around them. Do people share difficult information in their presence? Do they give credit fairly? Can they admit a mistake without transferring blame? Do they protect the organisation when personal incentives point elsewhere?
A person may be highly capable and still weaken the trust required for others to perform well. Promotion decisions therefore shape more than individual careers — they teach the organisation which kind of behaviour leads to authority.
In an age when competence can be increasingly augmented by machines, character may become more — not less — important in deciding who should lead people.
Promote for capability, but never ignore whether other people become more truthful, responsible and trustworthy around that person.