The One Thing About AI That I Want to Know

Everyone is talking about AI: change, eliminating jobs, boosting productivity, treating AI as an employee…fear, excitement, panic, curiosity, paralysis, ChatGPT, generative AI and on and on.

Yet there continues to be an open question for me relative to AI and what to do about it. The level of uncertainty about what it means is abundantly clear, but the missing piece of the conversation for me is now obvious. Yet I still haven’t found the answer.

The roadmap, the plan, the framework. 

I want to learn more about how to build a structure, ask the right questions, and explore the process of change to best understand the impact on the people side. I’m less interested in keeping up with the latest and greatest version of a particular app.

What process have you used?

What are the skills necessary to help your organization move forward?

What happened when you implemented your plan?

We’re exploring this right now in my firm…more to come soon. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear what you’ve done.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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That One Time I...

walked past that person with my head down.

didn’t acknowledge the effort from a colleague.

decided not to be bothered with reaching out to someone who was struggling.

thought I deserved to focus on myself when others needed me.

took a friend for granted.

didn’t volunteer when I should have.

thought about my failures but didn’t change.

justified my inaction.

regretted not being who I wanted to be.

Those days are (mostly) behind me now. The push to be a better version of ourselves, at least for me, is a life long journey. Thankfully…I’m now well on my way.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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One Thing is For Certain

I need to have a certain professional look.

I need to dress in a certain style.

I need to cut my hair a certain way.

I need to use certain words.

I need to behave in a certain manner.

I need to follow a certain career path.

I need to work for certain companies.

I need to worship in a certain way.

I need to have a certain family life.

I need to have certain friends.

I need to live my entire life a certain way.

No I don’t.

I need to be certain about one thing.

I certainly need to unapologetically be my authentic self.

What about you?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Deluge

The other day I put a list together of the stressors that are hitting me lately. 

It is an extraordinarily long list. 

Some items are actually quite good, but unfortunately the negatives are all too plentiful. You might find yourself dealing with too many negatives in your life as well. I asked myself, “is this how it’s going to be now…is this my new normal?”

The answer was no, of course not…even when if feels like life doesn’t seem to be letting up.

In addition to leaning into my faith as I’ve been discussing here lately, I forced myself to zoom out from my own self-centered view of the world. It turns out the really challenging points in my life don’t last forever; nor do I have it as bad as so many other people right here in my own community, let alone around the world.

Perspective is a powerful, and fairly simple tool for coping. The trick is remembering to use it.

What do you do when it feels like the world has you down?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Faith at Work…What?

This is not a radical right (or left) wing message. This is actually quite simple and direct.

If you have a faith perspective that is important to you, don’t abandon that faith because your weekly worship time has ended.

If you truly believe the doctrine…the values…the expectations about the way you should live your life…don’t let your life outside of the physical building where you worship become an excuse to stop practicing your faith.

Your faith infused into your business means you will be successful.

Your faith infused into how you lead and treat others will mean you are an effective leader.

Your faith as an internal guide to help you navigate the complexities of our world will not fail you.

It’s that simple, really. If your faith is at the center…the rest will follow in a much more meaningful way that simple executing “good transactions.”

What do you think?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Leading with Grace

Showing grace to those we love is usually fairly straightforward. Showing grace to those that we feel are undermining us, threatening us, or come to us from a radically different point of view is an entirely different matter.

Why discuss grace here? Isn’t this sort of thing supposed to be kept out of the world of work? Well, I firmly believe the one thing the world of work needs now more than ever is for each of us to intentionally show grace: to our colleagues, our competitors, and to those who we feel are disrespectful to us (either real or imagined.)

Most of the major world religions all embrace the concept of grace as a central theme to what it means to be followers of that faith. So, I don’t think we need to get all worked up about discussing grace as an essential skill for leaders to develop.

So, what does grace look like to me? How do I (struggle to) practice extending grace in my own life? It has a few central elements that may resonate with you too.

- faith as my guide

- patience

- taking the long-view vs wanting immediate satisfaction

- understanding that how I see the world is not how others see it

- valuing each person as the individual they are

Leading with grace…practicing grace…living with grace as a core part of who I am as a person is difficult. But, I’ve found it to be one of the most empowering leadership practices both personally and professionally.

What role does grace play in your life?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Blast Furnace Learning

We’ve all been there. But what to do.

Sadly, I’ve learned far more from ineffective leaders than good ones. 

Sure, I can quickly recall the best ones, and their strongest leadership traits. But the intense learning from watching the ineffective ones and committing to doing the opposite of what they choose to do in the workplace will be a game-changer for you.

“A person or situation that produces a lot of energy, heat, or intensity,

 often in a destructive or overwhelming way.”

For those of you dealing with harsh supervisors, particularly those of you aspiring to move into new or expanded leadership roles, focus on the learning you’re experiencing right now. Their failures as leaders are real world examples of behaviors that you should commit to never repeating in your own career.

Their inability to be self-aware and understand how their words come across…how their body language alienates those around them…and how the misalignment of their public face and private attacks are not hidden, can be so destructive.

You are learning.

You are understanding the bigger picture.

You are incorporating these learnings into what will propel you forward in your own leadership journey and set you apart.

You have a wide open space in front of you to build your personal brand…to develop your own leadership style…and to separate yourself from the old school command-and-control style of leadership that has permantently fallen from grace.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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