Latest / Your Dream Coach Podcast / Your Team Is Already Using AI. Are You Leading It?
Transcript
- Your Dream Coach Podcast: Here's something you may not want to hear. Whether you've rolled out AI in your business or not, your team is probably already using it. The question isn't if, it's whether anyone is leading it. And so I want to talk about that on today's episode. So welcome to today's episode of your Dream Coach Podcast. I'm your host, Shayla Way. And before we get going, a quick reminder that my book, Dream Bigger, Lead Better, launches December 1st. It's all about building a business that can grow beyond you. And today's topic is one of the biggest shifts happening. In is really is how that's done right. And so you can join the launch list in this in the notes and we'll send you those details. Well, a few episodes back, I talked about AI anxiety, the conversations that most leaders are avoiding. And today we're taking the next step because once you get past the fear, there's a much more practical question: is who's actually leading this in your business? And on the Dream Coach podcast, we take leadership, fulfillment, and growth. As one goal, not three separate goals. And I help entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders dream bigger so they can lead better and help build the vision, the sales, and systems to get there, growing the business and the person running it. And so today I want to talk about what's really happening with AI on small teams, why it's a leadership issue and not a tech issue, and the three ways leaders get it wrong, and just a simple approach to lead it well. without losing the human side of your business. So the quiet reality is, and I want to start with some numbers, because there was earlier in 2026, a small business report found that about 74% of small business owners are now using or actively testing AI. So that's most of us. But here's the part that got my attention is research reported this year found that roughly half of workers Are using AI in ways their employer hasn't approved. Not because they're doing anything sneaky, because nobody told them what's okay. So in a lot of businesses right now, AI is happening in the shadows. People are figuring it out alone with no guidance, no shared standards, and just no idea whether their leader thinks it's smart or cheating. And so that's not a technology problem. That's a leadership gap. And so why this is a leadership issue is Gallup's latest. Workplace research found something powerful. Employees whose manager actively supports their team's use of AI are dramatically more likely, about 8.7 times as likely, to say it's actually transformed how work gets done. And so think about that. Listen to that again. Is the tool is the same. The difference is the leader. And so what I found is that AI amplifies whatever's already there. So if your systems are clear, AI makes them faster. If your systems are messy, AI makes the mess faster. If your culture is built on trust, AI becomes a tool that your team experiments with. And if your culture is built on fear, people hide it. So before you ask which AI tool should we use, ask what kind of leader do I need to be for this to actually help us? And I'll be honest, I was not an early adopter. I'm a people person. My whole career has been built on relationships, training, and leading human face to face. And now I use it in my own business every week for different things like building out frameworks, organizing ideas, looking at different production goals that I have. And so it doesn't replace my voice. It just gives me more time to use it. Now, on the coaching side of things, I also see it benefit for reviews or how to do objections, maybe tightening up follow-up. And it really being a gift. So AI used to skip any sort of human-focused part. So whether that's the selling piece or it's listening, curiosity, the care part, that's what's gonna make people worse. And so the difference every single time is whether there was a leader setting the standard. So there's three ways that I've seen leaders get this wrong. Number one is ignoring it. We're not really an AI company. Meanwhile, your team is using it anyway without guardrails. And so silence is still a policy. It's just a bad one. Mistake number two is mandating it, is everyone must use this tool by Friday. No training, no context, no why. People comply on the surface and really have that resistance underneath. And the third mistake is outsourcing it, buying a license and calling it a strategy. Most of the value isn't in the software, it's in how you redesign the work around it. So here's a really simple way to lead this. And I call it the lead approach. L-E-A-D. L is going to be lead by example. Use it yourself and just talk about it openly. Share what's worked and what hasn't. And when the leader experiments out loud, people feel safe to try. E is established guardrails. Write down what's encouraged, what's okay with review, and what's off-limits. Client, client data, confidential numbers, anything that touches trust. One page is enough to start. A is for ask your team. Your people already know where the friction is. So ask, what's one task that eats your time every week that you wish you didn't have to do? That list is your AI roadmap. And D is develop the human skills. As AI handles more of the repetitive work, the human skills become your competitive edge. Judgment, empathy, communication, building trust. Invest in those even more. So, what AI cannot replace, and here's what I want you to hear: is AI can write your email, it can make your client feel seen, it can summarize your meeting, it can make your team believe in the vision. It just can't do that. And it can analyze your numbers, but it can't decide what you're building toward or why. The dream is still yours. The leadership is still yours. And so AI. Is a tool to give you and your team more time for the work only humans can do. And honestly, that's the opportunity. If AI gives every person on your team back a few hours a week, what would you want them to do with it? Grow, serve clients better, go home on time? And that's a leadership decision. So your challenge this week is to ask your team one question: How are you already using AI? And what would help you use it better? No judgment, just listening. And if you want to build a business that can grow beyond you, that's exactly what my book, Dream Bigger, Lead Better, is about. It launches December 1st. And if this episode helped, it would mean so much. If you'd support the show on Apple Podcasts, leave a rating and a review. On Spotify, hit follow and give it a rating. And on YouTube, drop a comment and tell me, is AI being led in your business or is it happening in the shadows? Remember to dream bigger so you can lead better. And I'll see you next time. On your Jim Coach podcast.