Think Like a CEO: Use AI to Clarify, Create, and Communicate with Confidence

1 BIG IDEA
AI can serve as your Chief of Staff—helping you think, plan, and lead more strategically—if you use it with intention, strategy, and voice.

4 WAYS TO APPLY THIS

• Use AI to clarify your next step.
• Brainstorm and plan without starting from scratch.
• Refine your message before sharing it.
• Let AI support—not replace—your Core Values-led voice.

3 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

• Where do I most need clarity right now—in my strategy, communication, or creative flow?
  Feeling brave? Share this episode on social and tag me with your answer. Let’s get the conversation started.
• How could I use a tool like ChatGPT to support, not replace, my voice and decisions?
  Jot your thoughts in a note—or DM me. I’d love to hear how you’re experimenting with it.
• What would it look like to think like a CEO in this next season of leadership?  This one’s big. Take five minutes with your journal… or text your biz bestie and talk it out.

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RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS
Get your Free Core Values Blueprint: https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/corevaluesexercise
Download From Vision to Voice: https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/vision-to-voice
Join the Core Values Coaching Program (Beta): https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/core-values-beta
Thrive in '25 Live2Lead – Charlottesville Registration Now Open: https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/live2lead-charlottesville-2025

LET’S CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
DM Andrea on Instagram or LinkedIn: @theintentionaloptimist
Let’s chat: andrea@theintentionaloptimist.com

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LET’S CONNECT
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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

You're listening to Stand Tall and Own It, a podcast for high-performing female leaders who are ready to make an impact by discovering the safety that comes from understanding their own value and exercising their own authority. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, and I'm here to tell you it is time to just truly be you, my strong friend. It's time to stand tall and own it. Hi there, welcome back to another episode of Stand Tall and Own It, the podcast where purpose-driven women learn to lead with clarity, authenticity, and impact. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, the Intentional Optimist. And this past month, we have been exploring how purpose-driven women can lead with discernment, presence, and confidence, even as the landscape shifts around us. And AI is one of the biggest landscape shifts we're facing. You know, the tools are powerful. The headlines are pretty loud on both sides of the issue, and the pressure to keep up, it's it's real. I was in a conversation the other day where the project leader actually said, if we're not using AI, we're behind already, right? So it's real. But here's the thing: when you know who you are, when you're rooted in your voice and your vision and your values, you can lead with both confidence and clarity, even in the age of AI. So today I'm bringing it all home. If you've ever wondered how I actually use tools like ChatGPT to run my business, shape my content, structure my thoughts, or just lead with intention, this is the episode where I'm going to share it. This is the behind the scenes, if you will, look at how I think like a CEO and still stay grounded in who I am. You see, AI is not your enemy, it's not a threat, and it doesn't mean giving up your intuition or authenticity. It's just a tool. One that can help you think, plan, and lead more effectively if you use it with intention, strategy, and your own voice. You know, Eleanor Roosevelt said, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. And for women like us, the future isn't built by accident, my friend. It is built through clarity and intention. It's built through communication and through conviction and through systems that help bring those dreams into reality. So let's talk about what it means to actually think like a CEO, especially when the tools are evolving, but your voice still has to lead the way. But before we go there, I do want to pause and acknowledge something important. AI isn't just a friendly little helper, it does come with some risks. There are ethical debates, legal questions, and potential harms that are still unfolding in real time, and we need to be aware of them. And I am not here to dismiss any of it. Just like any powerful tool, AI requires thoughtful, responsible use. You know, my son, I share examples about him all the time, is 16 in between his sophomore and junior year of high school, and he's in the process of getting his driver's learner permit right now. He's taken the driver's ed course, got an A, but he still has to pass the test, log dozens of supervised practice hours, and eventually take another exam to drive on his own. And even then, he's not going to be an experienced driver for years to come. Why? Because the stakes are pretty high. It's no different with AI. The tool itself isn't necessarily the problem, just like a car isn't the problem. It's how we use it. That's why I placed the core values episode in the middle of this series. They're your guardrails. They keep us grounded because whether we're leading a team, writing a message, or prompting a chatbot, we are still responsible for the choices that we make and the voice we bring. Alright, so let's look at what it means to have a CEO mindset. Let's start with the simple truth. The CEO mindset isn't reserved for the boardroom. You don't need a title, a corner office, or even a business to think like a CEO. What you need is vision, strategy, systems, the ability to look at a situation and ask not just what's happening right now, but what needs to happen next and why? That's the CEO lens. Clarity, communication, and decision making from a strategic altitude. It's the willingness to rise above the noise, get a wider view, and lead with purpose instead of panic. And if this message sounds familiar, it is a common refrain in my message to you, right? I see it all the time, especially with purpose-driven women. You're already doing it. You're leading strategy in your family, setting vision for your nonprofit, making high-stakes decisions in your corporate role, or even navigating a dozen moving parts as a founder or a community leader. You're doing CEO level thinking every single day. You're just not calling it that. In fact, we've been conditioned not to call it that. We call it things like juggling, right? Spinning plates, managing, or just getting it all done. But make no mistake, my friend, when you're creating order out of chaos, when you're crafting a message that moves people, when you're building systems to support your team or your business, all of that is leading. And that's where I want to shift the language. Thinking like a CEO means thinking in systems. It means holding the vision and staying rooted in the why, even when the how might get messy. It means choosing communication over assumption and strategy over scrambling. That's what keeps you out of reactive mode. It's what builds sustainable influence. And if systems is not your natural way of thinking, this episode is even more important for you. All right? Think of it as an equation. Clarity plus communication plus confidence equals influence. You ready? Clarity plus communication plus confidence equals influence. When you know what matters, when you say it well, and when you believe in your own voice, meaning who you are and how you say things and what you have to say, that's what other people start listening. That's when they follow. Thinking like a CEO doesn't mean powering up with your ego or trying to control everything. It means leading with wisdom, with strength, and with calm, with the kind of confidence that doesn't have to shout to be heard, even when the landscape changes, even when the tools change. You lead from who you are. You don't have to become someone else just to stay relevant. That's the kind of leadership I'm inviting you into. It's not about having all the answers. It's about asking the right questions, staying connected to your identity while building systems that support your vision. That's what thinking like a CEO looks like, at least for us. Now, what does it look like in practice? That's what this episode is all about. Everything I've shared up to now regarding how you think as a CEO is just part of my bigger message. It's why I do what I do. But today we're going to talk about specifics and how, especially if you're not a natural systems thinker, how AI can actually help you think more like a CEO. You've heard me say that I use Chat GPT kind of like a chief of staff, and I mean that. This tool has become one of the most versatile members of my team, not because it does everything for me, but because it helps me think more strategically, structure more clearly, and lead with more ease. My best friend and podcast producer loves to joke about me being having shiny object syndrome, because I do. I get very distracted on any tangent that I might find. If I'm out on a walk and I'm talking to her on Marco Polo, like one day she joked, she joked back. She said, the first thing I had to tell you is that you literally squirreled out on like four squirrels, right? So for those of you like me, whose brains go in 15 different directions at one time, this is why it's super, super helpful. So perhaps more importantly, it helps me to stay on task, right? It helps me stay away from the shiny object syndrome, to stay on vision and on point. It keeps me in my lane. I have gotten more business and more opportunities in 2025, just the first six months of 2025, because I have stayed focused, because I haven't wandered off the path. It's like having a built-in accountability partner that never gets tired of helping me come back to what matters most. And because I've programmed it to treat me in a certain way, it does it the way I need it to do it. Let me show you what that actually looks like in my day-to-day work. When I'm podcasting, like this episode, for instance, I often come to ChatGPT with the seed of an idea or sometimes a working title. I'll ask for potential segment breakdowns to see if the structure makes sense. I'll have it test the flow of my outline to make sure the rhythm works, or even offer alternative titles that might feel punchy, clearer, or on brand. Sometimes it offers really amazing gold, and then sometimes just a spark, and sometimes total duds, right? But it saves me the time from doing all of that myself and it keeps me moving. When I do slide presentations, either for a pitch deck or a presentation, like a keynote, especially for workshops and such, I use it to pressure test my frameworks. I'll paste in a rough concept or a messy idea that I'm playing around with, and I'll ask it to name patterns, identify gaps, or give me a story arc to give feedback from the perspective of the audience that I know I'm going to be speaking to. If it's on a podcast, it might be to my ideal audience. But if it's for a specific organization, I know a lot about that audience. I plug it all in. Then I'll ask it to write example speaker notes of my that I can use with my tone still coming through, or where I might need to adjust for nuance or depth. If I have a story I want to tell, I workshop it with prompts to help me clarify the key point and ensure that it connects, because I tend to ramble. In curriculum development, which I'm doing a lot of this summer, it is invaluable. When I've got a jumble of bullet points, learning objectives, resource ideas, or five hours worth of information we need to put in 30 minutes, I'll ask Chat GP to organize them into a draft structure, help me eliminate what I don't need. It's like dragging all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into place so that I can finally see all the edges. Then I go in and shape it with my voice, my methods, and my expertise. Chat doesn't have my expertise, right? So I put that in there. But that initial organization, it cuts my prep time dramatically. I would say there are some instances where it cuts it by 90% or by 100%. Like I could have been totally stuck. And I put that in there and it's boom, I have a structure. Now, when it comes to messaging, like emails or social media captions or invitations to work with me, calls to action, Chat GPT is a trusted assistant. I will paste in a rough idea or a half-written paragraph and say, why isn't this landing? Or what's missing here? And it will surface what I'm too close to see, right? Sometimes we're just in the muck and it needs to bring something to the top. And it there are times when it does that and I'm like, oh, that is not the message I'm trying to send. Sometimes I'll ask it to rewrite a line in three different tones just to kind of stretch my own creativity where I might have been stuck, right? Then there's what I call CEO clarity time. These are the moments when I use Chat GPT not to do work, but to help me think, to actually work through a process. I might have a new analogy I want to figure out or ask it how I can apply it to the work that I'm doing. I might ask for five questions to help me sort out a decision, right? Ask, give me five prompts I need to respond to to work through this decision-making progress, or prompts to journal through in a complex situation, or even a series of comparisons to help me see two options side by side. In something as simple as how to buy my son a Chromebook, right? What are the best options? It's not about output here. Here, it's about internal leadership. It's about clearing the fog so that I can see what I really think. But here's what I want to underscore. This is not making me do more, and I am not doing more. None of this is about doing more if this feels overwhelming. This is about thinking smarter. It's about freeing up energy, reducing cognitive load, and creating systems that support your clarity and your leadership. Not replace them. Because Chat GPT only works well for me because I bring the strategy, the structure, and the voice. If I just copy and paste what it gives me without discernment, I lose what makes my work mine. I can't tell you how many people I have seen say, please don't, your your stories are not landing in IG or your copy is not working on a website or your email is not working and it sounds wooden because you didn't write it. Clearly AI wrote this. I even was on a board of judges and somebody had put in a submission and had left in some of the, you know, when you do AI and it'll say dear so-and-so or whatever, and left in those brackets, and I thought, oh, bless their hearts, right? This is not how you use it. But when I ask better questions and when I bring my core values to the table as non-negotiable guardrails, I get outputs that sound like me, serve you, and make the whole process more sustainable. And honestly, this whole podcast series, the June podcast series about AI, is the perfect example. I started with a simple idea. I wanted to share how I've been using AI in ways that I never expected, both in my business and my personal life. But it was through working with ChatGPT that I figured out how many episodes it would take, what topics to include, and what pieces of my own content to highlight or bring forward. It helped me structure the series, refine my message, and make sure that I was staying focused on you, the leader I am here to serve. So let me be clear. Your voice, my voice in this process is irreplaceable. Your voice is irreplaceable. AI can generate content. It can echo your phrasing, it can even help articulate things that you've been struggling to name, but it cannot carry your convictions. It cannot discern what matters most in a tough decision, and it most assuredly cannot take responsibility for your leadership. That's your job. It's your privilege and it's your calling. That's why I think of ChatGPT as my chief of staff. It helps me brainstorm, it organizes the mess when I've got 14 or 14,000 ideas bouncing around. It helps me clarify structure, test my logic, or practice phrasing. But it doesn't decide anything for me. I bring the discernment, I bring the voice, I bring the values, I bring all the decisions. The tool is just that. A tool. It doesn't replace my leadership, it supports it. Now, I know the fear. Andrea, what if I end up using it too much? What if it dilutes my voice? What if I lose the sense of me in the process? Well, I've thought all of those things, but this is where intentionality makes all the difference. And it's why I always say start with your core values. Again, I just mentioned it a second ago. They're your guardrails, they are your compass. They are how you evaluate whether the tone, the phrasing, even the timing of your message actually reflects who you are and what you stand for. In one of the episodes, uh, I think it was the first episode in this series, I mentioned that there are times, maybe I don't know, it was last, it was one of the episodes in the last three where I mentioned that I tend to uh think that I'm supposed to tell people my opinion, or um if I think I've got the answer, I'm supposed to share it, even if I'm not the person to deliver that message. Well, that actually came home to me this week, and I realized I am not the person to deliver this message, and I'm gonna back off. But part of it was because of the work that I have done in here working with myself and understanding what I stand for and making sure that everything I do reflects me. But I don't just stop there. I also keep a running list of what I call my brand and leadership checkpoints, guiding markers that keep me rooted. For me, it's things like does this sound like grace, strength, rhythm, and quiet authority? Would this message build trust or break it? Does this honor the identity and voice I've spent years cultivating now? No matter what level you are in leadership, those kinds of reminders are vital. They help you stay consistent and more importantly, they help you stay yourself. This kind of clarity isn't just for business owners or online creators, it is for every leader. And that means you. Whether you're managing a team, reporting to a boss, handling client relations, or leading change in your organization, this matters, all of it. So, what might your own version of this checkpoint list look like? Well, things like who your customers are and why they matter. And to be clear, customer means anyone you serve. Your boss, your team, your board, your audience, your clients, your family. All right? So who are your customers and why do they matter? Next, who you are and how you want to show up, especially under pressure. In the very first of these episodes, um, I gave you an AI, an intentional AI toolkit, and part of what I shared in there was you need to upload into Chat GPT and tell it things like your core values, or your disk type, or your Enneagram type, or whatever you use to distinguish this is kind of the unique person that I am. So you want to keep in front of you who you are and how you want to show up. Sometimes I'll take it out of chat and put it in a document. And so I've got a document saved that I can actually look at myself if I ever get confused, right? Because chat's gonna come back with stuff very quickly. And there are times when I say, hold up or just stop, right? Okay, so first, who are your customers and why do they matter? Who you are and how you show up. Next, what are your, not just your values, but your organization's values, mission, or strategic priorities, and how do they shape the way you communicate, especially if you are in an organization that is not yours, like I run my own business, right? But I was at three education, higher education institutions, and they had very different values, they had very different strategic goals, they had very different priorities and missions. And you have to make sure that you are operating within those. So that's something else to keep in front of what you do. And finally, what do you know about the personalities in the room? And how do you adjust your approach without compromising your integrity? I've shared on numerous podcast episodes how understanding someone's disc type, someone else's disc type, and your own helps you figure out how to communicate with them. Knowing my core values helped me tell my husband how to say things to me in a way that would make the conversation happen better, right? So when you know something about the people in the room, then if you keep that in front of you, like depending on what you're talking about, that will help you. These are the these are the kinds of things you can keep in front of you that might include a checkpoint list. Because this isn't just about writing email newsletters or scripting videos. It's about things like writing an effective proposal that balances influence and precision, right? If you're in sales or if you um if you're doing something community-wide and you want to get other people involved. But it could be about delivering critical information during a tense season of change, especially if you're in HR or if you are in higher leadership where you are literally trying to get people to understand a change process. It could even be preparing talking points for a tough conversation, maybe with a team member or another stakeholder or even your spouse, right? Making sure you're coming in aligned with respect and grace and not reactive. Using AI doesn't replace any of that, but it can help you think it through. It can help you see it more clearly, it can help you step outside the emotional swirl and ask yourself, what is the most honest, values-driven way to say whatever it is I need to say? And when you know your voice and when you build systems to support and protect that voice, you don't have to fear the tool, you lead the tool. That's how you step into thought leadership without losing your authenticity. That's how you think like a CEO. Not by stepping away from support, but by anchoring yourself so deeply in identity and integrity that every tool you use only strengthens what is already true. So here's an action step for you this week. Something simple and powerful that you can do this week to practice what we've been talking about. Look at your calendar and set aside 30 minutes for what I call CEO time. You don't need a title to claim this space, for goodness sake. You just need a willingness to pause, reflect, and lead from intention. Open up ChatGPT or whatever tool you use and choose one area to focus on. Maybe it's a message you need to clarify, like an announcement or an update or a team communication. Perhaps it's a story that you want to share, maybe in a presentation or a newsletter or a board meeting. Or maybe it's a decision that you're weighing, something where clarity just feels a little out of reach. Then use a simple prompt to get started in AI, in chat or wherever you go, and ask things like, what is the core message here and why does it matter? Right? You're gonna have to put some things in there for it to be able to answer those questions for you or to help you figure them out. You could ask it, how can I structure this story so the point is clear and compelling? I cannot tell you how important that is. When you're communicating and you need to tell a story, people will remember the story for years and they will not remember anything else you said, but they'll remember your story and they will remember what the point was of your story. And that is why it is so important. So even if you're not a speaker, this is a good thing to do. Um, or you could even ask, uh, use a prompt like, What factors should I consider in this decision based on my priorities and values? Remember, this is not about perfection, it's about a practice. It's about seeing how a tool can support your thinking without replacing your voice. And to make it even easier, I have created a free downloadable. Yes, another one for this series that I'm calling from vision to voice. It's filled with templates and prompts that I use to organize podcast episodes and keynotes, and you can use that even if you're not a podcaster or a speaker, to outline pitches or strategic uh slide decks, clarify your message for teams or public communication, maintain your brand tone and values consistency, even if you don't think you have a brand, right? You're gonna find it in the link in the show notes, or just head over to theintentionaloptimist.com and download it now. And if you want support building this kind of rhythm into your own leadership, that is exactly what I help women do, whether it is through executive coaching or my core values course or even the core values coaching program. So if this episode gave you a new perspective, a nudge toward clarity, or a reminder that you are the leader you've been waiting for, would you please think about leaving me a quick review, preferably a five-star one? Scroll down in Apple Podcast or visit Pod Chaser and let me know what resonated. Your words help more women find this free resource and start leading from who they really are. Now, before I go, here are a few questions to reflect on, even if you don't do that CEO time. First, where do I most need clarity right now in my strategy, communication, or creative flow? And if you're feeling brave, share this episode on social media and tag me with your answer. Let's get that conversation started. Next, how could I use a tool like ChatGPT to support, not replace, my voice and decisions? You know, you can jot your thoughts down in a note to yourself, or you could even DM me. I'd love to hear how you're experimenting with it. You know, use it to use LinkedIn or Instagram and just DM me with them. And we'll we'll we'll kind of bounce it off each other and see how it how it goes. Or what would it look like to think like a CEO in this next season of leadership? This one's pretty big. You might take five minutes with your journal or text your best friend and talk it out. If you need help answering those or turning those into strategy, grab that free download from Vision to Voice, the resource with prompts and templates for structuring your ideas and communicating with confidence. It's linked again in the show notes, or you can find it in my free resources page in my website, theintentionaloptimist.com. Now, next week, we're stepping into a whole new quarter with a bold question. What results do you want to be known for? We are halfway through the year, my friend. So it is a perfect time to set goals, reset goals that reflect the kind of impact and influence that you want to have in the second half of 2025. Go back and look at your goals that you set in January and see if they need to be adjusted, right? I'll be sharing a framework for setting results-driven goals that keep you focused, energized, and aligned with purpose. But for now, stand tall, protect your voice, and lead like you mean it. Until next time, you can't get a lot of money.