Stop Using AI Like Google: Turning AI Into Your Strategic Thought Partner with Geoff Woods

Speaker A: This is Talent in the Age of AI, the podcast, helping leaders navigate what AI means for their people, their culture and their future. We talk with the thinkers and practitioners shaping how we work, learn and lead and what it takes to keep talent growing in a world that's constantly changing. We create, curate and connect the insights and the community that helps leaders build AI confidence in themselves and in their teams. Let's dive in. Hello and welcome to the Talent in the Age of AI podcast where we bring you the most current and relevant information in one of the fastest growing resources in our industry today. About who is using AI in organizations around the globe, how it's working for them, and what are kind of the secrets to the success. And I have a guest today that's going to tell you. I'm not sure it's such a big secret, but it's a discipline of action and it doesn't really involve tools. I'm going to give you a little hint about that. Our producer and partner in this Talent in the Age of AI podcast is Brianna Jovan, the owner and producer of what's Good productions. Could not do this without her, so of course I want to give her a shout out. So onto our guest today, Jeff Woods. He's the author of AI Driven Leader. Harnessing AI to make Fast, Faster, Smarter decisions. The up. What would you call it, Jeff? The enhanced version? The updated version, yes. Is out today. When you're listening to this, you can scoop it up on audible, Amazon, Kindle and in hardcover. When you're. If you're the one still traveling in airports, I'm sorry for you, but you can grab his book and, uh, make your flight go faster and in most bookstores around the nation. So great success on a book that's chock full of relevant ideas and he really falls smack into. What we aim to do is we provide you with the people with their finger on the pulse. Before I introduce you to Jeff, I want to brag a little bit about him. His company is called AI Leadership and you talk about someone who was ahead of the curve. He named his company years ago knowing this would be a thing. And he was right, and it sure is. He's previously been a chief growth officer of a now billion dollar company, so I think he knows what he's talking about in terms of growth. He offers interactive keynotes and leadership sessions that create clarity and spark action, accelerating your journey to be an AI driven organization. And he's working with big global brands, names like Air Canada, T Mobile, Herbalife, to collapse their time to market on A.I. uh, and I think that's really important. And I'm going to precede what Jeff talks to you about. This is really about saving time to get moving because we none of us have time to waste or take or toil, and a lot of us are. So without further ado, Jeff woods, welcome and thank you for being with us today.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank you for having me, Wendy. It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker A: Tell me more. Did I get your introduction? Sort of. Right?

Speaker B: You did great.

Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. Well, I discovered Jeff when he was on a podcast with, from a fellow cohort of mine and someone on the advisory board of Talent in the Age of AI. And, and I love the name of your book. I love the content and I loved briefing with you to talk about, if I'm not mistaken, Jeff, you told me there are a lot of executives that know they need to infuse AI in their organizations, but they themselves aren't really there yet. And another guest that I had said, employees want to be led. They know they should use it. They want to use it. Maybe they are using it on that thing called their phone, but it would be better if the C level folks led the way in how to use it. Toward what end? Not necessarily the tool. I, uh, read recently where you said, okay, if you introduce a new policy and procedure, that's not exactly a strategy. So I'm going to tee up that and shut up now so that you could kind of share your wisdom with our viewers who might be people on that edge going, I don't really know how to infuse this. Where to start? Where should they start?

Speaker B: Well, when I think about where the market is today, every leader knows AI is the future. Most leaders think they've started, and deep down they really feel like they're falling behind. My wording was very purposeful there, Wendy. I said, they think they've started. And the reason I say that is because they're confusing access with true adoption. They're going, oh, everybody has copilot. We gave everybody chatgpt. And the truth is they're all, they all know their organization is going to be an AI driven organization. Yet is every leader on the executive team personally leading by example, harnessing the technology every day to make themselves more impactful so then they can cast that vision for others from a place of practice rather than theory? No, they're saying, go use A.I. uh, that's their job. I, I argue the complete opposite. And I think that's because they think that they have to become an AI Expert, which is not true. But they do have to become an AI driven leader, meaning they are using the technology just enough that now they can credibly cast a vision for the future. They can define their strategy for how they're going to win and they can start to lead the change inside their organization.

Speaker A: I really love that. I think, don't you think that's rooted in intimidation and fear of being feeling stupid? Maybe? Is that, uh, some of it?

Speaker B: I think for some that's true, but I think for some they just don't know where to start.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: You know, I interviewed over 200 executives when I was writing the AI driven leader. 100% of the time said AI was the future, 100% said they would adopt it. Less than 5% had done anything at that time. And the reason why is they just didn't know how. Now they've sat in these trainings, they now they feel like they've sat in more trainings than before, but nobody has been able to make it feel relevant to them at their level or make it practical and applicable enough that it actually warranted changing. And my book fixed that. And I think that's because people are using this for the tactical things that

Speaker A: really don't matter because they're approachable. Right, right, Jeff?

Speaker B: Uh, yeah, well, writing, they're writing better emails or they're using it like Google. But the last time I checked you didn't get your last promotion because of the quality of the emails that you wrote and where.

Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker B: And then I, I experienced this myself when I was this chief growth officer for this public company out of India. I saw ChatGPT two weeks after it hit the world. I saw it as the next skill. I made a choice not to delegate it to my team or to it or to hire a consultant. I said I need to personally learn this. But Wendy, I started using it for all the things that didn't matter. I'm writing better emails, I'm using it like Google and I'm going, this is not what's going to drive value. And so I asked a different question. What are the things that I have to do as a leader that actually it's the difference that makes the difference. It's your ability to think strategically. That's the difference between growing your business or going out of business. And I realized I have this skill of asking leaders great questions to unlock new levels of growth. Why am I asking AI questions? And instead could I turn the tables and make it ask me questions not as an assistant, but as a Thought partner.

Speaker A: Oh, I love that, Jeff.

Speaker B: Ah, that was a game changer. And that's why the book has done what it has done over the last 18 months. I mean, it's number one in the world because it has helped leaders start in a way that matters.

Speaker A: I think it's such a grand vision and it's such a beautiful way to think about it. And I don't think anybody's talking about it in this way. I recently attended a conference of one of the leaders in the industry and there was no energy number one in the room and nobody was talking about AI in anywhere near where I am, let alone what you just said. It's how do you do prompts and all these job descriptions out there for young ones who could come in and be the AI manager or the prompt manager, it's. That's so implementation tactical level.

Speaker B: Correct.

Speaker A: I love it as a thought partner and asking, allowing it to ask you and challenge you, the leader, on how to do this better. That is really visionary and insightful. No wonder it's getting traction. Yeah.

Speaker B: And I can share a real world example of this. I was with a leadership team and I ask a question that I ask every group, which is, what are the biggest problems that you are facing in the company, period? If we could just solve them, it unlocks a new level of growth for you. Wendy, the question is strategic. For a guy who wrote a book about AI, I don't care about AI.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And the reason I say that is AI adoption is not the goal of any company. Every business wants to become a better business and create better lives. AI can certainly help you do that, but it can also distract you from it. The CEO looks at me and goes, okay, I got a big problem. I run a manufacturing company here in the us I leased all this capital equipment from a company in Japan. But things have really shifted in the market. The debt structure is killing us. We, we're going bankrupt if we can't get it restructured. And I asked him what he done. He goes, man, I feel like I've tried everything. I've hired all the consultants. I've deployed these five strategies. He's walked, walked me through all of them. None of it has worked because this is a public company in Japan and the board has stepped in, refusing to restructure the debt because they think they will lose face in Japanese society.

Speaker A: Okay, I understand.

Speaker B: Out of options. We are going out of business. Do you think AI can help? You wouldn't think that avoiding bankruptcy would be a great use case for ChatGPT. Just wait. Anytime I approach a conversation with AI, I have a very specific way that I talk to it to get it to be a thought partner. It's called crit, stands for context, role interview, task. If you just. This section that I'm about to show you, if you just rewind this and pay close attention to this, it'll take you to one top 1% of people in the world using this.

Speaker A: And by the way, and by the way, it's in your book and a worksheet in your book because.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Because I've downloaded your book and listened. Okay, keep talking.

Speaker B: Context. You give A.I. uh, lots of context about the situation because while it's been trained on the information of the world, it doesn't know you, your business the way you do. You got to give it lots of context.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: This is where you tell AI the kind of experts you want it to be. Who do you want it to be to advise you in this situation? But the I is interview, I don't ask AI questions. I make it ask me, uh, questions to gain deeper context. And then it can accomplish the task, which is whatever I wanted to do. So I'm about to rattle off the CRIT that I wrote and ask yourself, as you listen to this, is this how I write my prompts? Context. I'm a manufacturing CEO. I leased all this capital equipment from a company in Japan. Things have shifted in the market. Debt structure is killing us. We're going to go bankrupt if we can't get it restructured. I've tried everything. Here's the five strategies I've deployed. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. None of it has worked. Because this is a public company in Japan. The board is refusing to restructure the debt because they think they'll lose face in Japanese society. I'm, um, out of options. We are going out of business unless AI can help. Your role is to act as an investment banker with deep expertise in restructuring debt.

Speaker A: Interview your role.

Speaker B: The, uh, arm your role. Interview me. Ask me one question at a time. Up to five questions to gain deeper context. Then your task is to give me the top five non obvious high impact strategies I can deploy to get the debt restructured. Wow, that's crit. Context, role interview, task. Pop quiz. Wendy, how many books do you think you've read in your life?

Speaker A: Oh, 200.

Speaker B: Cool. I, uh, want you to think of every book you've ever picked up or downloaded, every word you've ever consumed. What percent of that collective knowledge do you think you can recall and apply right now?

Speaker A: Oh, 10% would be generous.

Speaker B: Isn't it interesting? We have been as successful as we've been, even though we can only recall the minority of what we've learned, which is the minority of the information of the world. These models have been trained on 500 million books worth of data. How long do you think it took AI, uh, to read through 500 million books to understand how an investment banker with deep expertise in restructuring debt, who also knew 2000 years of Japanese culture and history would think, act, simulate that person and ask the first question three minutes under a second, what? That is why this technology is so powerful and if you're using it like Google, why you're shortchanging yourself. The first question it asked was, do you have any relationships with any other influential executives in Japan that the board would respect? The CEO looks at me, goes, whoa, great question. I would have never asked that. Oh, my gosh, I do. AI asks two more questions like that before it turns the tables. And it goes, okay, here's your strategies. The number one recommendation, it titled the Saving Face Consortium.

Speaker A: I love that.

Speaker B: It said, you have enough relationships with all the right people in Japan. Why don't you just approach them to acquire your debt, give them really favorable terms. Your debt will get restructured. Your board will say, face. I turn and I look at him. He's actually holding back tears. And he very vulnerably looks at the people in the room and admits, I haven't slept in 90 days. I've been making peace with the fact that we are going out of business, but in less than 10 minutes, I got hope. Two weeks later, my phone rings. It's a text message from him. Um, it says, the ball is moving. I actually think this is going to get done.

Speaker A: It was knowing not just the right questions, but the right direction.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And I think the world is so focused on prompts. You're talking about something so much greater and so much more strategic than knowing a prompt. I've never heard of anything like it, Jeff. And it's obvious that it works. And, you know, we. I myself, in other podcast interviews, I'll call AI like a toddler who wants to please you. Well, that's because of how I treat it. Right. Yeah. Versus you said, let's treat it like a strategic partner in the world with us.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I've. I treat it legitimately like a board. I've actually constructed my own AI board because I founded AI Ah, Leadership. I self funded the company, have scaled it without any outside capital, so I don't have investors. Or a board. And it's also pretty lonely at the top. And I've had so many moments where I felt lost, unsure what to do next. And I'm sitting here going, I can tap into the intelligence of the world. How can I do this? And I wrote a crit where I gave it all of my strengths and weaknesses. Personality profile, past assessments I had done business planning, documents, culture documents, 10 year vision. And I had to interview me to identify what were the skills and strengths that I was missing that I would need to acquire to get to where I want to go over the next 10 years. And based on that, had it research famous people that exemplified those skills and built personality profiles for those people to be on an AI board. So Steve Jobs is on my AI board for vision, product design and strategy. But he is not allowed to give me advice on being a husband, a father or a leader. And I'm not kidding, I'm 100% serious. He is literally custom architected to not talk to me about family life because he's not my model there. Warren Buffett is on my board for long term planning and risk mitigation. My future self, 30 years in the future is on my board so that the man I want to become has a voice in advising me every day. So I mean like literally this morning I'm staring. I have a thinking chair in my office. It's this beautiful brown leather chair just for strategic thinking. Like I take it that seriously. And this morning I was sitting there with pen and paper. Yes, the AI guy uses pen and paper. Uh, first where I'm thinking about our business plan and what changes need to happen. And I'm doing deep thinking getting it onto paper first. But then I went to my AI board and shared my thinking and had it conduct an interview. And based on that, I am now going to make shifts to our business plan that will change the focus of every person in my company for the next six months.

Speaker A: And do you like what it reveals?

Speaker B: Of course, of course. Because it helps. It's tough to read the label when you're inside the box. I love that my ego is not so big to think that I have all the answers. I am increasingly aware of how inferior my own brain is.

Speaker A: Right. And okay, go back to your guy hasn't slept for 90 days. I'm the owner of three businesses. I've been there. You said it's lonely at the top. I think what you're unveiling is that it really doesn't have to be. When we build a responsible board, I Think it's really easy for people to go out there and go, hey, put Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs on my board. Well, why those guys? They might not be right for you. Correct. And to put in your profile, we've all done emergent addicts, disc, Myers, Briggs, et cetera. You know, let that profile tell you honestly who I am, because I'm probably not going to honestly tell you because I don't want you to think ill of me. I love that.

Speaker B: Uh, yeah, uh, take any personality profiles you have, put them into chat or whatever tool you're using, and ask it how you burn your conative energy. Which conative energy is the type of energy that when you burn it, it comes back in multiples, so it actually replenishes you. I fed it my COLBY and as a 3-393-3-3, the things that it said back to me in terms of how I should be structuring my week and investing my time to optimize my energy blew my freaking mind.

Speaker A: Really?

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker A: And were you doing any of it?

Speaker B: Some.

Speaker A: It informed you beyond what you thought?

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker A: I want to take a quick break so we can hear from advertisers that support this infinitely visionary knowledge. AI isn't just coming, it's here. But for HR&L and D leaders, the real challenge isn't the technology. It's translating AI into workforce capability and leadership behavior. At Talent in the Age of AI, we center, uh, everything around one question. So what, what does AI actually mean for how you develop people and prepare your organization? Don't just react to change. Lead it. Become a member. Today@talentintheageofai.com okay, we're back. My guest is Jeff Woods. He's the author of the AI Driven Leader Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions. And if you've listened to the first half of this podcast so far, you've gotten a wealth of information, including his acronym crit, which you can find in his book, which is available on Amazon, Audible bookstores everywhere, including airports. If, uh, that's your deal and you're still traveling, I feel sorry for you. Crit, if I'm right, Jeff, means context, role, interview, and task. And I'd have people rewind to listen how you describe how you actually used it. Because what the podcast seeks to do is give actual examples of how it's working, not theoretical ways to do better prompts, et cetera. And you've, uh, unearthed a way to think about prompts and, in fact, tasking your AI agents to ask you to Prompt you, challenge you with things to think about, and it blows your mind. I love that. I have the good fortune to know Warren Buffett. When you talk about him, he's on your board. And I will tell you something. His cognitive knowledge is reading all day long, every day, gets a stack of things to read, and he reads what interests him. And then he makes decisions that have, uh, you know, created billionaires galore around the world. But one thing he shared with me is that he, before he invests in a company, he asked to read the will of the CEO. And I think that's a fascinating practice because then you're, you know. So it's not just about numbers with him. It's about humans, and it's about how people think and what's important to them. And he shared one of those wells with me, and it was a fellow millionaire who left hundreds of thousands of dollars to care for his dog when he was dead. So you talk about insight into a human. So tell me about the human computer interaction part of AI. Ah, you have a board of agents, right? They're not real. Their agents are referencing what these folks on your board might say. But how do we keep the humanity here? Yeah.

Speaker B: The whole mission of my company, AI leadership, is better leaders, better businesses, better lives. Okay, I was really clear, like, there was. There's so much fear around. Is this going to replace me? I think the questions we ask ourselves are tremendously powerful. And if you ask a question like, how can AI replace me? I'm pretty confident you can find an answer to that question. But what if you asked a better one? What if you asked how my AI make me irreplaceable? I also bet you can find an answer to that question. I choose to ask the second. And by the way, I did this, you know, my former life, I, uh, was an executive coach. I got paid to ask leaders great questions to unlock new levels of growth. The moment I realized, Wendy, that AI could ask the same questions or better ones than me, I was scared because I went, it's gonna take my job. But then I paid attention to mindset and said, okay, am I asking the right questions? Am I making the right assumptions? And one of the things I know is that when you look at everything a person does, most people, the majority of their time is spent doing the 80% stuff. That only drives 20% of the results.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: And then the 20% of what they do drives 80% of their results. I've spent a career teaching companies how to focus on the 20%. So I live this deeply. What I also realize is your 80% is usually when you're acting like a machine.

Speaker A: Uh, right.

Speaker B: We were literally manufactured by our education system to think and act like machines. Because in 1900, John D. Rockefeller realized kids coming out of school didn't have the skills required to work in factories. So we invested the equivalent of $2.3 billion today to reshape the public education curriculum to teach kids the right skills for the Industrial revolution. As a result, people now show up to work on time, take direction from a boss, do something repetitively with minimal error, with maximum efficiency, so hopefully they can get promoted, make more money, and one day live a good life. That's acting like a machine. What if that goes away? What's left? It's what makes you human. It's the things machines can never do. But if the majority of your job is requires you to not act like a human, that can be a little bit scary. But might this be a great liberation rather than a great disruption? And how can you truly get in touch with what are your greatest strengths? What is it that makes you you, whether or not you're even harnessing those strengths in your job today? And how can you harness those strengths? Focus them on the 20% priorities of your role in alignment with company goals, and use your strengths, or uh, AI to turn those strengths into superpowers. Because when you do that, you realize it can never replace you. It can only enhance you.

Speaker A: I really see, Jeff, you are a master at the questions. Mhm. And because of your experience, you've been around the block, you were trained to ask examiners exit questions, poke and prod. And then you asked, how do, how could I be replaced? And like, ooh, crap, maybe I can. So, but no, who am I? What are we going to do with all this time? You have a, uh, beautiful brown leather chair for strategic thinking. And I'm guessing you don't allow any other activity to go on in that chair except strategic thinking. I think that back to your point, we're automatons and we're on a wheel. We're rats on a wheel. And we're taught you better fill in your eight hours a day, your 40 hours a week, and you better do your timesheet that proves you're productive because you wrote something down that you did. It doesn't matter if it really inured to productivity. I think a lot of people, you know, the Internet was going to save us all this time. So it was the washing machine, by the way, we backed, but we just fill the time Like Mercury with tasks. Right.

Speaker B: Correct.

Speaker A: And organizations aren't rewarding strategic time or time in a brown leather chair on the office for someone to ruminate. They'll fire them on the spot because they'll think they're being lazy and screwing off.

Speaker B: Maybe. I don't know. Probably not.

Speaker A: But how do you, uh, convince a whole machine?

Speaker B: I don't.

Speaker A: Your book.

Speaker B: I don't. I start with one. I start with one person. Because the thing is, if you're at the top, they know the value of strategic thinking time, they know the value of that. And I think with AI, it's people are more open minded to that than ever before. But here's. I think there's an assumption in here that we have to challenge. Which is, what if my org doesn't tolerate this? Or what if my boss doesn't support this? Why are you giving your power away? Here's the thing. If you are waiting for your boss or your company to develop you, you're in trouble.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: That is industrial thinking. And I'm going to tell you, with AI, you have to invert it. In my company, it's a core value. It's called leading with agency. Okay. Uh, literally. So I'll give you real world example of not only leading with agency, but also using AI to make you irreplaceable. Marianella is my former executive assistant. When she started, I gave her the job description and I said, here's the KPIs that you have to execute exceptionally well in order to own 100% of your job. Now, uh, pay attention to what I'm about to say. I want you to become an AI driven leader. We are an AI driven organization. Part of that means that it's your job to own your development, your growth plan in this company. My job as the CEO is to ensure that the company and the culture is a container that makes that possible. But I will not grow you. You need to grow yourself. So here's my ask. Every week you need to hunt me down and ask me to score you on a scale of 1 to 10 on every KPI. And if I don't give you a 10, you have to ask me what you can do differently next week. So it's a 10. And when you show up, you better have an AI note taker recording because I'm only going to say it once.

Speaker A: I love that.

Speaker B: And you need to be able to capture what I say and store this as an asset. And so week after week for four months, Wendy, every week she's finding me. I need you to score me. And she's got her note taker running and I'm giving her feedback. And I am a tough scorer because I take a stand for people's greatness when they might be fighting for their limitations. So if I give you an eight, that's like most people's twelves. By the end of four months, she's a 10 out, uh, of 10 on everything.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: Meaning it's time to create a bigger opportunity. It's time to promote. Her old way of doing that is that the boss is arrogant enough to think that they should architect the job description that's going to maximize the impact of that person. And they say, fit inside this box. That is a job description. That's the old way of doing things. I went to her and I said, it's time for more opportunity. I want you to pull those transcripts of the feedback I've given you every single week for four months. I want you to write a crit. I want you to have AI uh, interview you to help you truly discover what your greatest strengths are, the things that differentiate you from everyone else, and cast a vision for how you can harness those to deliver 10 times to 100 times more value for the company. Bring me that job description.

Speaker A: I love that.

Speaker B: She goes, okay, now, to be clear, before working with me, she knew how to spell AI. That was it.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: She had never even played with Chat GPT.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: She read the AI Driven leader. She learned crit like she has the same training that you have now.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Uh, she comes back to me the next week and she goes, I'm ready with my vision based on my strengths. For me to bring 10 times more value. Here's the 20% things I'm currently doing that I need to double down on. Here's the things I'm not doing that I really should be doing. They'll bring 10 times more value. But if I focus in these two categories, here's the long list of all the things I'm currently doing that I'm gonna have to stop now. I've segmented them into three groups. Here's the ones we should just stop. They don't matter. Here's the ones I can get AI to do for me. Here's the ones that require a person based on that. Here's the job description for my replacement. May I hire them? I'm blown away.

Speaker A: Right? I would be too.

Speaker B: And she goes, I appreciate that, but we're not done yet.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: That was my vision for ten times more value. That's not what you asked, oh, uh, my God, exactly. And I'm going, oh my God. And she, what have I done? She says, I can't bring a hundred times more value unless I make you 100 times more valuable. So here's a prompt I've architected so that I can interview you to help you cast a vision for how you can bring a hundred times more value. Wende. I go, I can't wait to do this. And she goes, good, you'll do it now. I'll wait. And she literally waits while AI, uh, interviews me for like 20 minutes. Spits out this vision, but spits out this comprehensive system with rules that we would have to embed in the company. I think this is incredible. And she goes, yeah, we have a problem. I can put all these in place, but you will wiggle out of every rule. I know you, I've studied you for four months. You love to break the rules. So don't worry, I've got you. Here's another prompt where AI is going to interview you to identify how you will wiggle out of every rule. And it will build a defense process. So if you ever want to wiggle out of a rule and you're going to have to go through AI first,

Speaker A: you got some rails put on you. Oh my gosh, this woman. Can I have her as my life coach, please?

Speaker B: Her job description used to be check my email, manage my calendar, do my 80%. Her job description now instead of executive assistant, she is now executive multiplier. She is to make me 100 times more valuable. She runs our advisory practice for Latin America and she runs our internal systems for rhythm of the business and culture.

Speaker A: Oh my gosh.

Speaker B: I. If I had tried Wendy to create her next job description.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: It wouldn't have even been a fraction of what she came up with.

Speaker A: Unbelievable. Talk about a great development story.

Speaker B: Uh, is she replaceable?

Speaker A: No. I mean, her practice might be the method that she used.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean that. And as I reflect on that, I find myself thinking, I look at every human in a company as the greatest investment that you could be making. But have you as a company set up the company and the culture so that there is an environment where they can deliver the infinite return? Or you getting a, ah, 2%, 5%, 10% return back and you know, great, I'm beating the S and P. Woohoo. I think it's time for us to raise our standards and also to empower our people to lead with agency.

Speaker A: I think it is a disruption. You said it's absolutely innovation, exciting. Inspirational. But I think all bets are off. Everything has changed. Covid changed everything. But AI and this use of it. But not enough have adopted that manner of use. She is absolutely a multiplier. And her leap to not just multiply herself and her abilities, but yours and those around her. What an amazing asset in this world.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: In your group think about things like nobody's thinking about them, Jeff.

Speaker B: And that's not a case study of one. She's not the only one that has happened with Inside my company. So this is a repeat story.

Speaker A: How do you work with organizations? Do you go in and help them build something? Like. What's her name? Marielle. What's her name?

Speaker B: Marianella.

Speaker A: Marianella, yeah.

Speaker B: So there's two things we do. One, we solve the problem that exists that every leadership team is saying we're going to be AI driven, but they're not doing it themselves.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: We are the best in the world at executive training and actually galvanizing the executive team so they become AI driven leaders. Not just a training. We shift who they become and how they personally use AI. We're world class at that. And then we focus on what is timeless when it comes to driving growth of a company which is using AI to align strategy and execution to accelerate growth. So we don't go into the what's the latest use case game because honestly, most of it doesn't matter. It's why so many companies saying we're investing so much money in use cases. The ROI is questionable. It's because you led with technology and not strategy. You had a solution and you were in search of a problem. Versus we work with the executive team and harness AI to unlock the true intelligence of a leadership group to, uh, align them on strategy and make sure that their strategy is defensible in an AI driven world. And then what is the plan that you have to execute and how do you harness AI to drive faster, smarter execution throughout the workforce?

Speaker A: Do you go all over the world and do it?

Speaker B: Mostly US based, but yeah, I mean, I'm going to Mexico and Poland next week.

Speaker A: Okay, cool. So your book is the AI Driven Leader in its latest update is out now or will be in a by the time this is published in July.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Fantastic. Congratulations on that. And it's in hard copy, which is so cool because some of us still really like to hold a book and hang on to it. And I have listened to it a couple times and done the worksheets on it and it's so helpful. But it's really helpful to hear you Talk about it too, Jeff, and give these examples with so much enthusiasm and inspiration today, what's the number one piece of advice you could give our listeners today? Their C level, their clos, their talent development folks.

Speaker B: Yeah, your job is not to become an AI expert, but it is to become an AI, uh, driven leader. Meaning you need to personally be using it every day to set the example for your organization. Not because you're going to go and build all these agents and do all that stuff. Use it to elevate how you think, use it to transform how you lead so that you can set the tone for the organization. That's what really matters. And I would encourage you to stop asking AI questions like it's Google and start having it ask you questions like a thought partner to help you solve your most complicated problems. Same piece of technology, wildly different outcome.

Speaker A: In three to five years, will we be able to know the companies that took your advice and are using it in the way you advise? Will it be evident?

Speaker B: I think so. I think there's a quote from Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. He's in paraphrasing here, but he said pretty much everything you know about how your company runs will be different within five years, not ten. Five.

Speaker A: I'm, um, sure.

Speaker B: And when he said that, I visualized this tidal wave and I'm thinking to myself, okay, I'm a founder, I'm a CEO. If I hear there's a tidal wave coming, that could literally change everything I know about how my company operates. Does that sound like something that I delegate? Does that sound like something that I say, oh, it will handle that one, or let me hire a consultant? No, I would be clearing the decks to learn as fast as possible. How am I going to ride this wave and not get crushed by it. By the way, he said that over two years ago. So you don't, you don't even have five years left. I don't even think you have three years left at this point, with the pace at which I'm seeing things move. So it's tough for me to say three to five years from now, Wendy. But I do think right now the companies that are going to win are not the companies that have built an AI task force and have identified a hundred use cases that they're building. Most of those don't think are going to pan out. The ones that will win are the ones where the leadership team took this as a personal initiative to lead by example. They focused on people first, not operations and customer product or service offering first. They focused on elevating the strategic thinking of their workforce. Because when you do that, now every person is able to look at operations through a different lens. It's like if you've been living in color your whole life or in black and white your whole life, and I ask you to describe color, you can't do it. So many leaders are still in black and white, and they're trying to say, to declare how to use AI in their product offering or in their operations, and they're wondering why it's failing. It's like trying to give a speech in Japanese. When you don't speak Japanese, you got.

Speaker A: You're plotting through with a, uh, rote memory of what may work. I agree with you, Jeff. I really think we will be able to see those companies that just plow forward. They're on that. What's the fastest train in Japan called? You know, yeah, they're on that. And it's exponentially faster when everybody else is still on the old westerns, you know, one with the car open and they're trying to decide which car to jump into and, oh, my God, wringing their hands and knowing if it's right. I mean, it will cut the wheat from the shaft, right? It will. But what you're suggesting, what you're teaching, what you're mentoring, what you're infusing can make the difference in survival in this new age. And it is a new age, and it's here upon us. So none of this. I'll wait and see. None of this, I'll get the right agent, you know, should I build my own? Is it Claude? Is it Gemini? Is it. What do I allow my people to use? You know, those aren't the questions to be asking at the sea level. Right?

Speaker B: I agree. And look, they're. They're like which agent, which. Which or which platform to use. Like, it's a tactical question to start. The answer is they're all the same. They're all different. And at the beginning, the difference doesn't make the difference. Pick one. Pick one that meets your data and security needs. And I, uh, would tell you get one that doesn't train on your data. You know, I strongly recommend Claude and chat as the go to. If you happen to be a Microsoft shop, great use copilot. All three of those, you can get to not train on your data. Gemini. You can get to not train on your data. Like, that problem wildly or mostly has now been solved. So now it's like, get out of your own way. Some companies like, but we have to Have a governance policy. My gosh, write a crit. I give you 15 minutes to have a governance policy. You get 15 minutes. Now get your people moving.

Speaker A: I love that so much, Jeff. It's just so insightful and so inspiring for me because I'm an optimist and I see it. And I'm so grateful that we found each other and that you shared this 45 minutes of your life and your time with us. And I just can't wait to hear the reaction to this. And I hope you'll come back in, I would say a year, but heck, no. That's like 10 years in this world, like three months. Let's get it. Let's catch up again and see where you are. And, you know, the success of the book just keeps getting better and better. The book is the AI Driven Leader by Jeff Woods. It's available almost everywhere. You'd download a book or buy a book. And I can't recommend it enough because when you talk about this podcast being a resource to know what to do next, what step to take, who's doing what, where, this is what's happening. And Jeff woods is the leader in making this happen. That's why his company is called AI Leadership. And you can do it, too. Just gotta get over yourself and just make the leap.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and for those of you who is listening to this, a very humble request. If this episode has brought value to you, the greatest support that you can do for me is not only to buy the book for yourself and your team. Leave a review on Amazon. Copy that review, post it on LinkedIn. Like, right now, we are going for a massive New York Times push. So, like, every sale in this world week counts. So if you do happen to leave a review on Amazon, I read everyone. If you post it on LinkedIn, tag me Jeff Woods. Jeff with the G E O F F Woods. I read, uh, and comment on every single thing. It would genuinely mean the world to me.

Speaker A: Yes, I second the motion. Please do. And, uh, of this episode, please, like, share comment. Because we're all trying to help each other in this age of AI Talent. In the age of AI. Jeff woods, thank you so much for being with us today. Really, my honor, thank you. Take good care. Thanks for listening to Talent in the Age of AI. If this conversation gave you new ways to grow in your own work and to better support your people, follow the show and share it with others in your HR and talent Network members get even more full episode, uh, transcripts, extended show notes, and companion resources to help you put these insights into action. Learn more and join us at talentintheageofai. Ah. Com. We're here to help leaders create, curate, and connect what's needed to build tomorrow's workforce today. See you next time.