AI, Your Story, & the Professional Identity Crisis

Episode notes

Guest: Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus The real challenge for leaders facing disruption isn’t technical. It’s psychological. In this episode, Christopher Washington joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why transformation efforts fail, even when strategy, data, and logic are sound. Christopher argues that the missing lever in most change efforts is narrative. Strategy tells people what to do, but stories determine whether they actually do it. As AI, economic volatility, and policy shifts create a cascade of “disorienting dilemmas,” leaders are confronting a deeper issue: identity disruption. When professionals fear that their expertise—or even their entire role—may become obsolete, resistance is rarely about logic. It is about belonging, self-worth, and survival. In this conversation, you’ll explore: Why highly intelligent people use their intelligence to defend the status quo How culture is shaped more by repeated sentences than by strategy decks Why anxiety reduces adaptability in times of rapid change The Four Ps of transition narratives: Purpose, Picture, Plan, and Part to Play, and How leaders can honor legacy while guiding reinvention.