What Smart Leaders Do With AI | The Fluent Edge Ep. 7

The Fluent Edge Podcast

🎧 Episode 007 – What Smart Leaders Do With AI

Most leaders treat AI like a tool—like Excel on steroids.

But what if the real power of AI isn’t just faster output... but better thinking?

In this episode of The Fluent Edge, Sean Watson and Dr. Howie Jacobson explore how advanced English learners and forward-thinking professionals can treat AI not just as an assistant—but as a strategy partner, creative challenger, and emotional intelligence booster.

From designing prompts that push your thinking, to simulating team conflict without bruised egos, this episode is your guide to real AI fluency—for leadership that’s both sharp and human.

🔹 If you’ve ever wondered how to go beyond ChatGPT novelty and make AI part of your leadership stack—this one’s for you.

🎙️ What You’ll Learn

• The 3 Levels of AI Mastery for Leaders
• Why context, role, and constraint matter more than “the perfect prompt”
• How to build a simple 3-tool AI dashboard for yourself or your team
• How to use AI to depersonalize conflict and clarify communication
• Real use cases: lesson generators, nonviolent feedback GPTs, and more
• How voice dictation can make prompt creation feel like a conversation
• The one sentence Sean adds to every prompt to avoid confusion

🛠️ Tools + Methods Mentioned

• The CRIT Prompt Framework (Context, Role, Interview, Task)
• Custom GPTs for leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence
• Using AI to create dynamic ESL lesson templates
• The “invisible advisor” approach to leadership AI
• VoiceNotes + AI transcription = frictionless prompting
• AI as a tool for risk analysis, objection simulation, and de-escalation

🧠 Concepts That Will Stick

• “You can’t read the label if you’re inside the box”
• Treating AI like a teammate—not just a tool
• Prompting as thinking, not just querying
• Why output quality = input clarity
• How vague prompts lead to scope creep

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Cold open: AI isn’t Excel on steroids—it’s your 24/7 strategy partner

00:48 – Intros: Sean & Howie on language + leadership

01:30 – Sean’s AI ‘aha’ moment: scaling quality with less effort

03:10 – How prompting gets smarter with practice

04:15 – The CRIT prompt method explained

06:20 – Using voice dictation to create natural prompts

07:10 – BCG study: 40% jump in quality from AI adoption

07:45 – Live demo: Sean’s ESL GPT and lesson template

10:00 – Prompt iteration = product iteration

11:00 – How AI helps depersonalize conflict and boost clarity

12:15 – Howie’s idea: a nonviolent communication GPT

13:00 – Why companies like Sanofi embrace experimentation

13:45 – Build your AI dashboard: 3 tools per quarter

14:30 – Prompt Pack walk-through: strategic planning example

16:00 – Closing thoughts: stay sharp, stay human, stay fluent

🎤 Interactive Challenge

Pick one of your leadership challenges—conflict, brainstorming, feedback, or delegation—and write a CRIT-style prompt using the framework from this episode.

Then feed it into ChatGPT or your own custom GPT and see what you learn.

🧠 Bonus: Ask the AI to interview you to sharpen your thinking.

📥 Download Sean’s CRIT Prompt Pack

👉 https://tinyurl.com/yhmkvf5p

📬 Let’s Connect

💼 Coaching with Sean – English Clarity, Fluency & Executive Presence

👉 https://tinyurl.com/5669kjnm

🧠 Coaching with Howie – Burnout-Proof Leadership & Communication

👉 https://tinyurl.com/yty9n5np

📝 Subscribe to Howie’s Substack

👉 https://tinyurl.com/askhowie

🌐 Visit our Website

👉 https://thefluentedge.com

📧 Contact Us

📬 [email protected]

👍 If you liked this episode:

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