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From Struggle to Joy: the Human in a World Full of AI

Michelle van Stijn

Michelle van Stijn not only guides departments but also executive and management teams in reaching their full potential. She understands the subtle nuances between feeling good and feeling bad, and how this affects behavior and communication in today's workplace.

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About Michelle van Stijn

With over 34 years of work experience at all levels of organizations, Michelle van Stijn knows what change truly feels like. She was the employee who experienced successful times, but also phases of struggle. She was the manager who could rally teams, but also made mistakes. She was the director who celebrated successes and also faced significant failures. This makes Michelle understand all phases of work and people from the inside out, from the shop floor to the boardroom.

For more than 23 years, she has held leadership positions, most of which have been commercial and at the executive level. Additionally, she now works as a self-employed certified trainer and coach, having guided thousands of people and hundreds of groups over the past years. In her interim assignments, she combined commercial executive responsibility with HR leadership. What she consistently noticed: in practice, she heard the same challenges that she also encountered as a trainer and coach.

She started in the era of binders and typewriters, made the transition to MS-DOS, witnessed the rise of the internet, and the shift from print marketing to digital marketing. Each time, there were claims: “This will make old jobs obsolete.” But reality showed something different each time. Within those fields, more roles and more opportunities actually emerged.

The promise is enormous. The reality is painful.

78% of organizations now use AI in at least one function, and 65% are already working with generative AI. But under the hood, there are issues:
– 95% of AI projects do not deliver lasting value.
– 85% of implementations fail due to lack of adoption, engagement, or clear leadership.
– Only 32% of companies offer AI training, while 59% of employees are using “shadow AI” – often with sensitive data.

Employees are not AI-fatigued, they are development-fatigued

Employees are not AI-fatigued; they are development-fatigued and are looking for the how. This is not solely due to AI. It is because many organizations are rapidly rolling out projects and adjusted strategies or goals that continuously ask something new from employees.

According to Gartner, 74% of employees experience change fatigue: they are tired of constantly having to adapt to something new. The absenteeism rate is structurally above 5%, and in the past year, about 30% of the Dutch population applied for another job elsewhere. Why? Because people no longer feel seen, heard, or involved in their current work environment.

Fear, loss, and distrust

AI promises efficiency, but beneath the surface, something else is brewing:
– 49% of employees are afraid that AI will replace their jobs or tasks.
– Only 21% feel truly engaged in their work (Gallup, 2024).

Organizations invest in tools, licenses, and pilots, but often forget the most crucial component: the human who has to work with it and grow and develop within it.

Specialist Subjects

Discover how you can understand your own behavioural and preference styles, as well as those of others, using the DISC model. This insight helps you identify both your strengths and areas for development, and appreciate the strengths of others. This promotes better relationships and more effective interactions, with a continuous focus on organisational goals.

Learn how to tailor your communication to different DISC styles, based on your own preference style. This results in more successful communication of your own message and desires, and reduces misunderstandings. By thoroughly understanding your own DISC profile, including how you function on good and less good days, you can develop strategies to adapt your communication to the preferences and needs of others. This leads to deeper mutual understanding and more effective interactions.

For years, it was thought that technology would change work — but in reality, 85% of all implementations fail due to a lack of adoption, engagement, and leadership.

In this section, Michelle shows:

• Where more than 70% of all projects falter (below the waterline)
• What employees need to succeed themselves (and overcome obstructive resistances)
• Which intermediate step organisations must take to make projects succeed: involving people in behaviour, fear, certainty, and role change.

AI does not cause resistance — lack of clarity does. Michelle shows clearly:

• Why employees are not AI-weary, but development-weary
• How to move from fear (“does AI replace my job?”) to opportunity (“how does this become my advantage?”)
• What real approach and guidance are needed to give employees back security, control, and energy

Use knowledge of DISC behavioural styles, thinking styles, and drivers to improve leadership and management. This includes adapting your leadership style to effectively motivate and direct, and developing strategies for team development and performance management.

Many organisations have wonderful AI strategies, but they falter in execution.

• Why strategy ? conviction, thinking and behaviour level
• What missing link is in between (logical levels, leadership, meaning)
• And how organisations prevent plans from remaining “stuck” on paper or in a defined project

Organisations often push change, but forget the psychological basis of engagement.

• How to move from “top-down plans” to “co-ownership”
• Why employees only move when they feel seen, heard, and relevant
• What practical steps leaders can take tomorrow to increase trust and ownership

Use DISC analysis to optimise team dynamics and improve overall performance. This includes identifying ways to leverage individual and collective strengths, which enhances the team’s effectiveness and cohesion.

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