So, you don't think your people are talking and thinking about AI's impact?
I was having coffee with a former boss — a CEO who had been pushing his team hard on AI and seeing real results in some areas — when he stopped mid-conversation and asked me something I suspect every leader is quietly carrying right now: "How are you going to tell leaders to talk about AI?"
Heck, almost everyone is wondering — how is AI going to help me, hurt me, and change me.
His real fear wasn't the communication challenge. It was the aftermath. Will people sabotage this or just leave?
I knew this from experience. In a previous role, the company we worked at together chose to close down a division. The challenge was it was a few months of work to best manage the cost and the transition. We had to decide whether to tell people early or wait. The recommendation was to tell people early and put incentives in place to retain them through the transition. Even with the incentives the CEO was very nervous. He worried people would leave or become a source of resentment that spread through the rest of the organization. We talked through the risks. Then we talked about our values. In the end, our values won. Retention was high and some of the people who were leaving said how great the organization had treated them. People appreciate honesty — especially when the news is hard.
The same principle applies now. Here is what a CEO can actually say:
"AI is coming… and that is the only thing we really know. What we don't know is how it will help us and how it could disrupt us. We need to face this together. We have built this company together. Our mutual respect, our trust, and our commitment to living our values have always been how we navigate hard things. That doesn't change here."
And when someone asks the question that's really on everyone's mind — are there going to be layoffs — here is the honest answer:
"I know that question is on many people's minds. My honest answer is 'I don't know.' However, my goal is that we work together to see how AI can help us grow as much as it helps make us efficient. I also want to see y'all doing work that has the most impact on the business. We all know there is work on our plate that isn't the most valuable. Here is what we plan to do — AI tools and training. Real work to understand how to make yourself more productive and then ways to make your team more productive. Training and tools are not enough, so we will find time for you to actually play and learn. That's how I have been learning. We will also have a channel to share your ideas and ask questions."
The one thing I'd caution against — don't make promises you can't keep to close on a high note. Your team will remember what you said. Honest and incomplete is more trustworthy than polished and false.
Every leader I talk to is wrestling with the same challenge.