TLP429: AI Mindshift: Unleash the Power, Avoid the Pitfalls with Ford Saeks

Ford Saeks, CEO of Prime Concepts, is a renowned entrepreneur, author and LinkedIn influencer with over 25 years of experience. He stresses the importance of critical thinking and adaptability in addressing organizational challenges, particularly AI disruption and data security. Ford highlights AI's growing role in tasks like appointment scheduling and outlines key business growth strategies focused on client acquisition, transaction value, and operational efficiency. He encourages leaders to address AI’s security and ethical issues through proactive training and privacy measures. Ford warns of AI’s potential risks, such as deep fakes and data misuse, likening its impact to the internet. He also emphasizes the need for high-touch customer interactions, effective onboarding, self-correcting leadership, and evolving beliefs, while cautioning about AI's influence on relationships and biases.     Key Takeaways [01:55] Ford reflected on the pivotal moment when the cassette program influenced his life, emphasizing the importance of being a critical thinker and open-minded. He noted that many organizations fail to address their true challenges, which often lie beneath superficial labels like "culture" or "leadership." [05:16] Ford discussed current challenges faced by CEOs, including AI disruption, data security, and economic changes in the workforce. He highlighted the growing need for cybersecurity and the impact of AI on job roles, noting that AI can now perform tasks like scheduling appointments with human-like precision. [09:17] Ford outlined key areas for business growth: acquiring high-value clients, increasing average transaction values, nurturing repeat and referral sales, and improving operations. He stressed the importance of focusing on high-value clients and operational efficiency to avoid pitfalls like apathy after a sale. [12:27] Ford argued that business development and sales are interconnected, with AI likely impacting both areas. While AI will handle repetitive tasks, he predicted a return to high-touch customer experiences as organizations strive to maintain authentic relationships. [15:46] Ford discussed the importance of rethinking mindset, influenced by Carol Dweck's book "Mindset." He explained that changing one's thought process can lead to different results and emphasized the need to question assumptions and seek varied perspectives to solve problems effectively. [20:10] Ford advised leaders to address security and ethical concerns with AI. He recommended treating AI as a highly capable tool, monitoring it closely, integrating AI training into onboarding, and setting clear usage policies. He suggested setting privacy settings, creating AI champions within the company, and organizing group sessions to explore AI solutions. [22:52] Ford indicated it’s too late to keep AI use internal; organizations are already using AI. He advised assessing internal AI use, setting privacy settings, and staying updated on AI developments. [24:09] Ford expressed concerns about enforcing privacy settings effectively, given AI’s potential threats like deepfakes. He stressed that while privacy settings are important, they might not fully address data misuse. Ford noted that data security is an ongoing challenge with AI. He highlighted the risk of data cloning and hacking despite privacy settings. Ford compared AI’s impact to the internet, predicting it will be transformative and significantly affect all aspects of business and society. Ford observed that many people still underestimate AI’s potential, even with its years of presence. [28:08] Ford emphasized that effective onboarding involves paperwork, socialization, and training. He also advocates for team-building activities to foster a positive culture. Ford admitted to needing self-correction to improve his company's culture, having previously dealt with high turnover and a toxic environment.  [35:54] Ford spoke on "prosperity consciousness," stressing the need to challenge and evolve one’s beliefs for personal and professional growth. Ford warned of AI's potential impact on relationships and the need for careful discernment in its use. Ford highlighted the importance of questioning personal biases and beliefs, sharing a personal example of how past experiences can distort current perceptions.  [41:30] Ford recommended taking time for self-reflection and disconnecting from daily distractions to better focus on what truly matters. [43:48] And remember,  I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything, at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities, not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them, timing is everything. - Dan Millman   Quotable Quotes "If you're asking the wrong question, the answer doesn't matter." "The scariest people to me are the ones who think they know everything but don't know what they don't know." “Learning how to be a critical thinker and be open minded and being able to be like a diamond and add facets. So when someone gives me new information, it's not that I have to change, I get to add a facet to that diamond, making that diamond more valuable.” "Top CEOs right now are challenged with a variety of things in an organization... The disruption of AI... there’s no best practices and it’s a wild west." "AI is now being used to hack sites and they can do it at scale. It’s going to be harder and harder to know what’s real and what’s not real." "Anything that can be done repetitively is going to get done with AI." "AI is going to be used for high tech, but organizations should really look at the customer experience. How can they still use high touch to maintain authentic relationships and empathy?" “AI won't replace humans. It'll replace humans using AI.” “Deep Fakes are going to be one of the biggest things, knowing what's real and what's not.” “If you look at the younger generations and their motivations... it's not about getting seduced by the generations as much as culturally how people are communicating.” “The workforce is changing, communications are changing, how people communicate in conflict.” “I just think that with AI, you're going to see a lot of that really corrupting how people work, how they live their social interactions. They're going to lose complete skill sets because AI is going to be able to replace a lot of it and they're not going to learn how to talk to people.” "We only think of high touch when it comes to customers. We don't think about the high touch that we actually need in the workplace to influence and inspire people." "Onboarding really comes down to three things. You want to do the paperwork. That's number one. You want to socialize, make sure they feel comfortable in socialization. And then number three is training." "AI can act as my life coach, relationship coach, and business advisor. It's going to infiltrate our lives in ways that are both exciting and scary." "You have to question your cognitive biases, question your logical fallacies, and be willing to be wrong." “Confirmation bias is a fancy way of saying we all argue for our own limitations." "The leadership challenge is harder now than ever. Social media and isolation from COVID have altered our social skills." Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | Sponsored by | Rafti Advisors. LLC | Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | Ford Saeks Website | Ford Saeks LinkedIn | X (Twitter) | This is the book mentioned  in this episode