TLP348: Our Real Interview with Artificial Intelligence Sensation ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the artificial intelligence talk of the town, and Jan and Jim have experimented with it for a few months and share the questions they asked it, and the responses ChatGPT provided. They discuss how ChatGPT can be a game-changer for leaders to spend more time doing what they do best – develop relationships and exercise judgment. Listen in for how AI can be a new tool in your toolbox, and its potential as a leadership enhancer.

Key Takeaways

[1:38] Jan and Jim give a big shoutout to their friend Greg Hinc of County Cork, Ireland. He wrote that he started listening to The Leadership Podcast at about Episode 150, then he went back and listened to them all. He comments on their social media posts. He’s talked a lot about how much he’s learned and gained from it, which means a lot to Jan and Jim. There’s a little gift coming to Greg.

[2:34] If you have listened to every episode like Greg, then Jan and Jim would love to hear from you, as well.

[4:07] Jim’s friend, Jim Mirochnik of Halock Security Labs, introduced him three months ago to ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot. After five minutes of interaction, Jim was as excited as when he first learned of the world wide web in 1992. Jim asked ChatGPT a variety of questions and he got back usually well-written answers.

[5:33] To test ChatGPT on a task a human probably couldn’t do quickly, Jim asked it, “Write a Java computer program that will take the input of two people’s names and an adjective describing their relationship and create a poem written in Iambic Pentameter.” Within seconds, it wrote a Java program that was pretty close to being exactly what Jim had asked for.

[6:17] Jim clarified his question and ChatGPT gave him a better result. Then Jim asked it to write the program in Python and it instantly supplied the Python code on half a sheet. It gave a more concise answer than a human coder might have given and it was good code.

[7:01] Jim and Jan share some questions he asked and the answers from ChatGPT from about three months ago.

[7:14] Q. Write a 500-word essay on leadership. The answer came in about 35 seconds and it was amazing. Then Jim asked, “How many words is that essay?” It said 532. Jim asked why it went over. It said leadership is a complex topic and hard to explain.

[7:54] This morning Jim asked it the same question: Write a 500-word essay on leadership. ChatGPT has gotten a lot busier, with more users. The response today took six minutes. It was very well written again and similar to the first response but it was much more concise at 372 words. ChatGPT is having a deep impact on university students and the way they study. It is a fantastically useful and powerful tool.

[8:53] Jan hears people afraid that ChatGPT will take their job. He recently demoed ChatGPT to a CEO. When the CEO asked, Why are there silos developing in my organization? It gave these answers: Lack of communication/collaboration, competition for resources, different goals and priorities, silos created by structure, or resistance to change. That gave Jan and his client five things to explore together.

[10:56] If you only had pliers before, now you have a vice grip. What sticks out for Jan is that he has to ask it very good questions and then, exercise his judgment and decide what to look at. [11:27] What Jan did with his CEO client was look at different goals and priorities. They have a retreat planned where each attendee will bring a list of five important priorities and will make sure everyone is clear on roles and responsibilities and where there is overlap. Jan — not ChatGPT — will facilitate the discussion. Jan sees it as an awesome tool.

[12:03] Some people get better and quicker responses than others when searching on Google because they know how to ask questions the right way for good search results. That skill is super important with ChatGPT. You get better by practicing and using it.

[12:45] There are some things that it can do quickly that might take weeks for a human to do. Jim asked, What are the top five themes articulated in The Leadership Podcast?

[13:41] ChatGPT answered, “As an AI language model, I don’t have personal opinions but I can provide you with an overview of some of the most commonly discussed themes on The Leadership Podcast, based on the content available on their website and podcast. Here are five possible themes: Leadership …, personal development, team dynamics, innovation and disruption, business and industry insights.”

[14:27] ChatGPT took about a minute to make that analysis. It had indexed and searched the entire site for The Leadership Podcast, so it knows about it. Jim had asked it the same question two months ago before it was able to search websites. Now it can. Its functionality is increasing at a geometric pace.

[15:16] ChatGPT is a fun, powerful tool, and its answers are exceptionally well done. Another question was, Can you measure leadership? It came up with a similar answer to a discussion with guest Sarah Wirth – The Leadership Podcast Episode 351.

[16:28] Jan asked ChatGPT When I interview Jim Vaselopulos from Rafti Advisors for my podcast, what should I ask him? ChatGPT responded, “As a business strategist and leaders consultant, Jim is able to provide valuable insights on various topics related to business management leadership. Here are some questions to ask during the interview. …”

[16:51] “ … How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted business strategies in leadership and how can organizations adapt to these changes?”, “Can you share a memorable experience from your career that taught you an important lesson about leadership?”, “What inspired you to become a strategist and leadership consultant?”

[17:22] “Can you share a particularly successful project you had with a client and what made it successful?” These are good generic questions. They provide a good starting point. Jim cites Atomic Habits, by James Clear. If you want to run, start by putting your shoes on. Then you generally follow through. ChatGPT is a tool to help you jumpstart a report or analysis. It can help you get moving.

[18:53] Jan is working with an organization with five good values that has not articulated its values into observable behaviors. One of the values is accountability. Jan asked ChatGPT, What three observable behaviors would you assign to the value of accountability? ChatGPT’s response was, “Honesty and transparency, reliability and follow through, adaptability and continuous improvement.”

[19:26] Under “continuous improvement,” ChatGPT added, “They take feedback constructively, they recognize mistakes or failures can be opportunities for growth and learning, they’re willing to adjust their approach …” Jan asked if you, the listeners, know what the values mean in your organization? Don’t follow a robot blindly, but ChatGPT gives a great starting point for a discussion on values.

[20:25] Jan says, oftentimes, those [company] values are ambiguous, the culture is by default, and the values and standards cannot be upheld because there’s no agreement on what they mean. There’s no common vocabulary. That’s something every organization could do today. Look at your values and agree on behaviors to associate with them. Can we be more clear on what we want our folks to do?

[21:12] Three years ago, Jim and Jan were asked to go out to the Air University in Montgomery, Alabama. They gave a speech summarizing The Leadership Podcast and the guests they had interviewed and the overarching theme they could find. One of the themes that still continues since then was curiosity. The most successful leaders had the trait of being curious. ChatGPT didn’t come up with that!

[21:59] The Leadership Podcast is about curiosity. Learning to use a tool like ChatGPT is about being curious. What are you curious about?

[22:28] Jan asked When I interview Jan Rutherford from Self-reliant Leadership for my podcast, what should I ask him? ChatGPT responded “Can you tell us a bit about your background, how you became interested in self-reliant leadership?” and “What are the key traits and characteristics of self-reliant leaders?” It didn’t ask a single COVID-19 question, ask about stories or mention entrepreneurs.

[23:06] ChatGPT had picked up on those topics on Jim’s website, not on Jan’s. There were relevant questions for each Jan and Jim from their websites.

[23:18] Another question for Jan was “Are there any common misconceptions or misunderstandings about self-reliant leadership that you would like to clear up?” That’s a good question. During this episode, Jan and Jim were curious, tested their assumptions, and learned something!

[23:40] Curiosity is such an important theme. ChatGPT is a vehicle to supercharge your curiosity and enlighten yourself in ways that you couldn’t without reading books that you may not have time to read.

[24:27] Simon Sinek was a guest on the show and they asked him, “Where does personal responsibility and a sense of real duty to each other start to play a role, especially now (during the pandemic)?” So Jan asked ChatGPT that question.

[24:42] ChatGPT had interesting answers, ending with “To foster a sense of personal responsibility and a duty to each other, it’s important to prioritize empathy, compassion, and kindness. We can start by listening to and understanding the needs and concerns of others, being willing to make personal sacrifices for the greater good, and taking action to support our communities in meaningful ways.”

[25:09] Jan plays Simon’s answer: “Trust is a two-way street. Just think of any relationship: friendship, marriage, or anything. Trust is always two ways. In a business context, where there’s formal hierarchy, it is the leader’s responsibility to create the environment in which trust can exist.”

[25:41] (Simon continues) “To build a circle of safety and create an environment in which people feel safe to raise their hand and say, ‘I made a mistake,’ or ‘I need help,’ or ‘I don’t understand,’ without any fear of humiliation or retribution. Without any fear that they’ll be on some shortlist by the end of the year. However, it’s everyone’s responsibility to step into that circle of safety.”

[25:59] (Simon continues) “Compare it to a personal relationship. It’s very important for at least one person in the relationship to start to create an environment in which the other person feels safe to express themselves or be themselves. But it’s still the responsibility of the other person to take that risk to express themselves or be themselves.”

[26:16] (Simon concludes) “It’s the same in business. It’s all fine and good for us to create the environment but people have to take the risk and say, ‘Hey boss, I need help,’ or ‘I made a mistake,’ and to realize that there’s no humiliation or blowback if you do that. In fact, you get his support.”

[26:36] The ChatGPT is not about to replace Simon Sinek. He’s wonderful to listen to, he’s articulate. He hit on a lot of the same themes that were in ChatGPT’s answer. Jan finds that interesting. We know this AI today is going to be exponentially better. In less than a year, it may use a voice and cadence to come close to Simon Sinek. Leaders and business people now have another tool in their toolbox.

[27:39] We’re still going to need to build relationships; we’re still going to need to be able to exercise judgment. If curiosity is a value in your organization, what does that mean? Are we teaching people to ask better questions and to listen better? Or are we saying go to Toastmasters to learn to be a great speaker and articulate? The emphasis has been on using our mouths instead of our ears!

[28:10] To do a school term paper, you come up with an outline and then flesh it out. In practical business, people don’t start with an outline. Powerpoint is the closest thing to an outline for presentations. Make one good point instead of five average points. Two good points and seven bad ones ruin a presentation. ChatGPT can help you sharpen your point and get at it.

[29:38] What are the keys to having difficult conversations? ChatGPT answered with seven bullet points taking up three-quarters of a page. Jim lists the bullet points: “Prepare, choose, listen actively, be clear and direct, focus on the issue, offer solutions and options, and follow up.” The supporting information is spot-on. It doesn’t have too many extra words or fluff statements.

[30:23] What are the most common mistakes people make when delegating? “Not delegating at all, over-delegating, poor communication, micro-managing, lack of follow-up, not providing sufficient resources, and taking credit.” You have to recognize the efforts and achievements of the person you delegated to.

[31:27] For as scary as this new technology can be, we need to adopt it, embrace it, and understand that it’s going to affect all of us in some way, shape, or form. Whether you realize it or not, your employees are using it! Jim shares a client story about it.

[32:14] Jan just had a conversation about trust. He cites past guest Margaret Heffernan: Social capital is what happens between people; that relationship. You want to work with people you like, people you respect, and people you trust. Trust takes time and everybody’s busy.

[33:28] Jan refers to Lisa McLeod, a sales thought leader, who says “If you can’t understand how you’re making people’s lives better, you can’t sell anything.” It would be so sad to go to work, with whatever tools you use, and not think at the end, “How am I making people’s lives better?” See the interview here: https://selfreliantleadership.com/blog/2021/05/06/lisa-mcleod-on-selling-with-noble-purpose/.

[34:10] Jim asked a young salesman what his value proposition was. The salesman listed the product features but Jim wanted to know how the salesman was making his customer’s life better. Jim tells a friend’s story about the pressure-washing cheerleader who lifted his low spirit with kindness and joy.

[36:55] Past guest Barry Schwartz told about cancer-ward janitors who weren’t there to clean messes but to provide a better experience for patients. That floor had the best cancer-survival rates because of the janitors who brought them kindness and preserved their dignity.

[37:39] Jan recalls how past guest Christophe Morin of SalesBrain uses props. As a prop, Jan holds up an insulated mug his wife got him for Valentine’s Day. Jan asks ChatGPT How does a coffee mug that stays warm improve someone’s life? “A mug that stays warm can be a convenient addition to a person’s daily routine. They can take their time enjoying their drink without having to worry about it getting cold.”

[38:53] ChatGPT also says that drinking a hot beverage has been linked to various health benefits, such as improving digestion, boosting metabolism, and reducing the risk of certain diseases. “With a mug that stays warm, one can ensure they’re consuming their hot beverage at the optimal temperature to reap these benefits.” Our business is selling something. Do we understand how it improves someone’s life?

[39:20] Is ChatGPT a menace? It might be. Is it something that can improve our life? Jan thinks it will be able to speed up things. It will get us to a point where creating an outline or coming up with some ideas, we’ll let somebody else do that and we’ll focus on the things that only we can do; exercise judgment, cut and paste, modify, edit, or think, and step back. It will help us get better at asking questions.

[40:11] What Jan hopes ChatGPT does is allow us to spend more time with each other and improve the relationships we have between people, not on a computer all the time.

[40:54] Jim asked ChatGPT to write the Darley ad, and it did! Jim reads the ad.

[41:37] Microsoft is incorporating ChatGPT into Bing.

[41:51] Jan and Jim would love to hear your feedback on this episode and on ChatGPT. How are you using it? This is a game-changer. Comment on LinkedIn or on Facebook or comment on the episode page. Jan and Jim will respond.

[42:28] Closing quote: Remember, “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.” — Arthur Schopenhauer