Lead In 30 Podcast

What AI is Teaching Us About Leadership

• Russ Hill

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If you're using AI apps then maybe you've already learned this lesson. Maybe you're discovering that what you get back from ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude is largely determined by the prompt you type in. In this episode Lone Rock Leadership's Russ Hill dig into the lessons that teaches us for leaders. 

• Leadership communication is like a prompt for AI - quality in, quality out
• Frustration with team performance often stems from unclear expectations
• When disappointed with output, examine the clarity of your instructions first
• Strengthening your "prompts" as a leader leads to better team results
• Fine-tune questions, expectations, and communication rather than blaming the team
• This concept applies to client relationships, sales interactions, and all leadership contexts
• High-performing teams need clear direction more than constant correction

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About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!



Speaker 1:

Leadership lessons from AI. No, I'm not talking about how to use an AI app like ChatGPT or whatever, and I'm not talking about what we learned searching for something. I'm talking about just things that apply to leadership on a team that are becoming pretty apparent as a frequent user of AI. I'll dig into it. I'll explain in this episode.

Speaker 2:

This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.

Speaker 1:

You cannot be serious.

Speaker 2:

Strengthen your ability to lead in less than 30 minutes.

Speaker 1:

Can you guess where I'm at? If you're a regular listener to this podcast, you know, because of the audio quality and all that, that I'm in a vehicle headed to the airport. That's the safe bet. So forgive the lack of the studio audio, but I wanted to make sure that we're getting out episodes. You all, I am so deep, so buried in just our day-to-day activity, obviously running an executive consulting firm and a leadership training company that's got incredibly aggressive growth targets, and as I'm recording this, we're halfway through the year, so just making sure we're perfectly positioned, or at least as well positioned as possible, to maximize the second half of the year and crush the targets that we have the key results. And then there's this book, and if you've never written a book before, this is our fourth, and each one just takes on a life of its own. This one is double the length of anything we've written before. We spent way more money on access to the best ghostwriters that exist in the world of business books. We've just spent gobs of time. This one has been in the works for four years, which is just crazy to think about. That I mean, we've thrown out entire manuscripts, we've hired and fired ghostwriters, we've debated and debated, and and just, we want it to be really, really good and uh, this one's tied to our, our fundamental, or our foundational course of lead in 30. And so now I'm buried in that and so, um, hence the uh little bit less frequency on the podcast episodes and why I'm recording one. It's actually a Saturday, you all, and I don't usually work or try. Well, I define work. I don't go into the office, I don't meet with clients on the weekends, but I'm speaking tomorrow morning, sunday morning, at a gathering of chief learning officers in the Midwest, and so I've got to fly out there and then I speak on stage for an hour. I literally then go to the airport and fly back home Sunday night. Anyway, if you saw my travel schedule for this week, let me just think real quick. Okay, sky Harbor, right in Phoenix, you know our airport. I'm going to be there today, saturday. I'm going to be there tomorrow, sunday. I'm going to be there Monday. I'm going to be there Wednesday. I'm going to be there Friday. I'm going to be there, uh, a Thursday. So what day does that leave? Tuesday? Tuesday is the only day of the next seven days that I'm not actually in and out of the airport. That is now. Can you have a little empathy for why I'm doing a little bit less frequency on on the podcast anyway, okay, so, uh, I got to bang this out in 10, 15 minutes Cause that's when I arrive at the at the airport and got to get through security. So, uh, we're talking AI.

Speaker 1:

Oh, by the way, welcome in If you're new to the podcast. I don't usually rant like that. Um, now, that's a lie. Yeah, I do.

Speaker 1:

This is just a raw audio journal of somebody who spends their living coaching, consulting senior executive teams at some of the world's most amazing biggest companies. Through unforeseen events, lone Rock leadership gained access 20 years ago to the C-suite of companies like Amazon, general Motors, ford, cigna, lockheed Martin. The list goes on and on and on and on across all different industries. And I'm not flexing, I'm just giving you context. And so you don't get access like that and then keep what you see learn to yourself. That would just be stupid. And so this is one of the places that we share what we're learning. So it's the Lead in 30 podcast. In less than 30 minutes, you get some value to help you lead the team that you lead.

Speaker 1:

And I'm Russ Hill. Okay, there's a lonerockio. Okay, I'm Russ Hill. Okay, there's a loan rockio. Okay, I'm checking all the boxes Loan rockio, if you want more loan. Rock leadership is the name of our firm. Okay, ai.

Speaker 1:

So I was having a conversation. Our youngest son's the only one left at home. He's in high school. Sophomore year just began. Yeah, I know it's weird, but Arizona they start school in mid July and long story about, but anyway, he's way into AI and I think there are some, really, because I am, and so I've just advocated it. I use it so much, and I'm talking about it to our family so much, that I've created all of these AI users. And some of you may think that's bad and there probably are some repercussions or effects of that that aren't aren't positive, but I think they're outweighed by the ones that are positive the and those of you again that this isn't a podcast about AI, um, that there's lots of other shows about that, but if you're not utilizing it in every aspect of your life, I'm talking about how to fix the leaky faucet. I'm talking about, um, the user guide for your blender. I'm talking about, uh, um, how, whether or not you can cook what you're pulling out of the freezer in an air fryer.

Speaker 1:

I'm talking about reviews. I'm talking about business strategy. I'm talking about review this document help me think about it. I'm talking about book manuscripts. I'm talking about a client that you're meeting with and you want like a background on somebody or something. I'm talking about everything comparative competitive analysis, like if you're not using, I'm paying like $200, $300, $400 a month for like five or six per LLM they call it that right.

Speaker 1:

Large language manual, large, large language memory, large language what's the M? I forget. Large language memory, I think. Anyway, for all of them, because there's just access. That's unbelievable. Why would you like that? That to me is like how much is it worth to you to pay for access to the brightest mind, the fastest computer in the world? Like at least $20 a month. I mean like that's like how would you not? And then 200 is like insanely cheap, 2000,. I'd pay it Anyway. Okay, so I'm having this conversation with our youngest son and I'm talking about props.

Speaker 1:

Those of you that use AI a lot, you know this. Those of you that don't. I need to give 30 seconds, 60 seconds of background for you. The prompt is what you type in. So I open up ChatGPT, grok, claude, gemini, whichever one it is that you're using, these are the most popular and they're the the the most popular and they're all different and they all have strengths that I so I use all of them, because I use this one for helping me write articles or books. I use this one to give me quick searches of the internet. I use this one for what, anyway?

Speaker 1:

Um, when you, when you type in the prompt so, for instance, I want to know, um, something about a target, so there's chapter, let's see if I can remember, there's 22 chapters in our upcoming book that comes out in the next several weeks and, gosh, chapter. See if I can guess this. I've got to. I got to make sure I got it from memory. It's not. Yeah, Chapter five.

Speaker 1:

Chapter five starts with Target and the CEO of Target and a story that 99% of you don't know. It's remarkable, and so we take you behind the scenes anyway. So I want to, like, I'm thinking something about Target. Maybe we're having a meeting with somebody or whatever, and maybe we're headed there, and so I need a little bit of info. So whether or not the AI tool app whatever gives me back the information I'm seeking is largely dependent, not on the quality of the AI. Well, that's true, it does depend on the quality of the AI app or whatever, but it also equally potentially depends on the prop, what you type in.

Speaker 1:

So if you are vague, I'll give you a. For instance, like I've put in our the manuscript of our book it's over 300 pages and I've given it, uploaded it to different AI tools and if I say, hey, compare this manuscript to the bestseller business books, it will give me a certain evaluation. Then, if I change the prompt to say, now, compare this to the best-selling business books aimed at senior executives of these type of companies, it gives me a completely different assessment because the prompt changed, the output changes, and so when I'm frustrated by the response, I realize or it's not giving me what I need, or I want more detail, or I want whatever. I change the prompt. I actually think this is one of the most valuable courses anyone could take, not that I have one for you or that I've taken one or the most valuable skill for certain people in position and I think this is going to be a thing in corporations like communication staffs, researchers, quality control, all that. These folks are going to go to school, they're going to get educated on prompts and they're going to bring tons of value by understanding how to work the nuance of that and so the takeaway, the punchline for you real quick, is the value.

Speaker 1:

Here's the crossover for me why I'm talking about this in a leadership podcast episode. The value of the output of your team has a lot to do with the quality of the prompt you give them. See why I wanted to talk about this. So you're looking at the output like, oh my gosh, why is that team not giving us what we want? Or why are my direct reports not doing this? Or why are we not getting this from that person? You got to look at the prompt. What are you asking? A lot of this comes down to expectations, clarity around roles, clarity around the target that you're trying to get right and which is, you know, we just talk about that all the time. It's the foundation of our work with organizations and executives and leaders is when you really boil it down. If you want to put it in its simplest terms, it's increasing the quality of the prompt.

Speaker 1:

I just want you to let that sink in. I want you to think about that. I want it to be on your mind in meetings that you hold this week, in texts that you send, in messages that you post in Slack, or Teams, in emails that you put out in Teams, in emails that you put out in one-on-ones you're having, in market visits that you have this week or next. Think of what you're saying to the team member, to the leadership group, as a prompt, and the output that you get is going to have a lot to do. Got to make sure I'm going to the right place. I haven't been to this particular terminal in forever. Am I going to the right place? Yeah, okay, flying a different airline than I usually go, because I'm going to a place I don't usually go to speak tomorrow. So, yeah, think of it as a prompt and then just work on it Like I just want. I'm not going to give you any more specific direction than that, I just wanted to float that idea past you.

Speaker 1:

It could be with a client those of you that maybe you don't lead a team but you work in sales what's the quality? The output has a lot to do with the prompt and I spend a significant amount of time on questions, like I've coached you on this before in other episodes, but when I'm sitting there working with an executive team. I'm observing them, or on the back of the room, or whatever it is. What I'm writing down in my notepad are you could think of it as prompts? What's the question that I'm going to ask this executive team when I make a comment or ask a question here in 20 minutes? What's the observation I'm going to provide? Those are all prompts and you all, a lot of us, all of us could benefit from fine tuning, strengthening the prompts we put out and maybe putting a little bit less energy into blaming the team or the individual for the output. I mean, both matter right. All right, I got to go. I'm at the airport. I'll talk to you in the next episode of the Lead in 30 podcast.

Speaker 2:

Share this episode with a colleague, your team or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link. Thanks for listening to the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.