The Champions Brew – Leveraging AI, Not Hating Exercise, and Purposeful Reflection for Growth

So, what went well for you this week?  What could have gone better?

Happy Friday, Brew Nation!

Grab your favorite coffee cup, sit back, relax, and get ready to sip on some enriching and thought-provoking content that will equip you to thrive in all areas of your life:

• Work Hard – The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought about significant changes across various industries. While some may view AI with skepticism or even fear, it’s important to understand its potential benefits and how it can enhance leadership. Playing off of a thought provoking blog post that Carey Nieuwhof wrote titled, 5 Tips for Pastors Using AI, here are my takeaways for leaders considering the use of AI:
  • Don’t ‘fear’ AI – I will start with this: Leaders should educate themselves about the limitations and biases that can be present in AI systems. They must recognize that AI is a tool developed by humans and can inherit biases from the data it’s trained on. By understanding these limitations, leaders can approach AI with a critical mindset and mitigate potential ethical issues.
  • AI can help you delegate or deconstruct tasks – Ask it to help you to draft an email, or improve your resume based upon specific job requirements in a job posting.
  • AI has been in use for a long time– Over the past decade or longer, AI has become increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, often working behind the scenes without us even realizing it. Here are some examples of how AI has been integrated into various aspects of our daily use including spam filters, personalized recommendations, virtual assistants (Alexa – turn the lights on!), and health monitoring devices such as smart phones and smart watches.
  • AI is Neutral unless you ask it NOT to be! – AI won’t have an opinion but, it can be trained.  I asked ChatGPT to tell me the main difference between Leadership and Management.  It’s response: “Leadership revolves around inspiring and guiding individuals or teams towards a shared vision or goal.  Management, on the other hand, is primarily concerned with the efficient and effective implementation of processes and systems to achieve specific objectives.” – Probably not wrong.  The fun part about AI can be the follow-up question like, Can you write a paragraph with 5 tips  on how to approach these differences when providing feedback to a group of young leaders ? It’s response:  Communicate the Complementary Nature, Encourage Self-assessment, Foster a Learning Environment, Provide Role Models, Offer Training and Development. 
  • AI can help you to Brainstorm – AI can be a great resource for brainstorming.  Ask it to generate a list of 10 fun ideas to host a football game watching party at your house (College football starts this weekend!) and get a response like this: Jersey Contest, Football Bingo, Tailgate-inspired food, Football trivia, Prediction pool, Penalty Flag Challenge, Game-themed photo booth, and a commercial rating.  All of these suggestions pop up in seconds! 

I know that AI can have risks. As leaders, we must inspire, encourage, and equip others. One challenge is figuring out if tools work well and using them in a good and honest way. I’m not entirely comfortable with the power of AI, but as leaders, we need to understand it and make smart choices. When I find something that can help leaders be better at their jobs and have more time for important things like relationships, family, and personal health, I want to share it with Brew Nation.

• Exercise Daily – I came across an Instagram story featuring Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion. He shared his definition of discipline: “Discipline is doing what you hate to do… but doing it like you love it!” (You read that, and you heard it in his voice, didn’t you?  Come on.  Don’t lie!!)  When it comes to exercise, I believe he has a valid point. While I can’t say that I ‘hate’ exercising, I can’t exactly say I love it either. That’s why I always seek enjoyable ways to change my routine. One technique I particularly enjoy is called the “waterfall.” It involves grouping different exercises together, typically in full-body circuits to maintain balance, and performing them in a specific pattern. You start with a certain number of reps for each exercise and then gradually decrease the reps with each circuit until you reach just one rep per exercise. Today, I plan to try a fantastic waterfall workout shared by Jeremy Scott Fitness at the gym:

10 Total Rounds

Dumbbell curl press extensions

Wide push-ups

Dumbbell bent over rows

Dumbbell squat

Sit-ups

Dumbbell straight leg dead lift

Pick up a dumbbell you can handle for 10 repetitions and go through all 6 exercises.  After you are complete with the first round of 10, subtract 1 rep from each exercise so do 9 reps of each exercise, then 8, then 7 and so on down to 1 rep (hence, the Waterfall name!).  Track how much time it takes you get all the way from 10 to 1.  Rest as you need.  Pick a weight accordingly.  Have fun and, as always, be sure to consult your doc before you start any exercise program.  Let me know how you did!

What are some fun exercise routines you do so that you don’t hate doing it?

• Read More – Welcome to my latest John Maxwell Law series of posts, where I am reviewing one chapter each week from John Maxwell’s book, “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth”. This book is a must-read for anyone on a personal growth journey, and I’m excited to share my insights and reflections on each chapter with you.  Here we go!

Law # 4 – The Law of Reflection

Learning to Pause Allows Growth to Catch Up with You

This particular law holds immense significance to me, as it emphasizes the value of purposeful reflection producing purposeful actions.

Reflection is one of those disciplines that we put on our calendar, but ‘dismiss’ more than any other.  It feels selfish.  The only thing selfish is that if we don’t do that and allow other tasks to appear more important, we are being selfish with ourselves and depriving ourselves of necessary feedback allowing us to change our direction or activities.    

Don’t overthink the reflection discipline.  It can be as simple as asking:

1) What went well _____________ (today, this week, this quarter, this year)?

2) What could have gone better _____________?

3) What do I need to Keep doing?

4) What do I need to Start doing?

5) What do I need to Stop doing?

You can use this same open-ended format for any activity you want to improve personally or professionally.  Do you want to improve your relationships?  Ask those 5 questions.  Improve meetings?  Ask those 5 questions.  Get in shape?  Ask those 5 questions.  The key is to take action.  When you answer questions 3,4, or 5, they imply that action must be taken.  Add those actions to your calendar!!

To establish a cadence for personal reflection, I recommend incorporating the following intervals into your routine: weekly (dedicating 15 to 30 minutes on a chosen day), quarterly (allocating an hour), and ideally, annually (setting aside a full day).

Leaders get so busy with responsibilities and urgent activities that they are often guilty of moving all the time and neglecting to stop and take the time to think.

Sir Francis Bacon said, “If a person will begin with certainties, he will end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he will end in certainties.”

Undoubtedly, the process of reflection requires intentional commitment. It is an unfortunate reality that many individuals avoid such a discipline.

Consider this: your aspirations and current position on your journey serve as navigational markers, identifying strengths and gaps that necessitate regular review. By harmonizing the five thought-provoking questions provided earlier with your unique circumstances, you can tailor your reflections to address the behaviors, habits, and circumstances that are required for your personal growth.

• Quote of the week:   “At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance.  The results should either applaud you or prod you.” – Jim Rohn

What You Need to Do:

Call to Action:  So, when do you carve out the time in your week to do purposeful reflection?  Take 15 minutes over the next week to incorporate this simple (not easy!) habit to assist you on your personal growth journey.

It’s an honor to be your trusted “Friday Coffee Guy”.  Each week, I’m excited to provide yet another round of curated content that I’ve been reading, listening to, watching, or thinking over. The purpose of the Champions Brew is to inspire, equip and encourage you to become the uncommon leader you were designed to be. I am so grateful for your decision to invest a few moments with me! I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew. If you did, I would appreciate it if you would share it with someone who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week.

Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!

P.S. – Are you a podcast fan?  Maybe the Uncommon Leader podcast is for you.    Are you interested in being a guest on the Uncommon Leader Podcast?  Do you have a story to tell?  Email me [email protected] and let’s have a chat and set something up!!