The AI-Driven Leader Quotes

“Attached is our strategic plan. I want you to act as my AI Thought Partner™ by asking me one question at a time to challenge my biases and the assumptions we have made. I also want you to challenge if our plan has the sufficiency to achieve our goal. Once you have enough information”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I would like you to act as a Thought Partner by asking me one question at a time. Here’s the situation: (provide the necessary context). Here’s what I’m trying to solve: (then insert where you need help). Please help me think through potential solutions.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“The more you ask, the more thinking leverage your people will bring you.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Question every requirement. Delete any part of the process you can. Simplify and optimize. Accelerate. Automate.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“What is the importance of this task? How does this help us or distract us? Can we stop doing it?”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Their job is not to do everything on their job description. It’s to deliver results in alignment with your culture. That will only happen when they focus on the 20% that drives the majority of the results.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I want you to act as my Thought Partner to help me identify how I can 10x the impact I can make for my organization. My intention is to harness my strengths, with the priorities of my role, in alignment with the company goals. Your task is to ask me one question at a time to: 1. Clarify the 20% priorities of the business based on our strategic plan (attach if you have it). 2. Identify the 20% priorities our business goals require my role to do exceptionally well. 3. Help me uncover my 20% strengths that drive 80% of the value I can deliver. Based on the information you gather, help me understand the intersection between my strengths, the priorities of my role, and the company goals.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Acting as my Thought Partner, help me identify three to five questions I can bring to my next series of one-on-ones with my direct reports. My goal is to act as a great coach, focusing our conversation on: 1. Ensuring they are clear on where their focus needs to be this week to drive progress toward our thirty-day milestones. 2. Helping them think through the challenges they might encounter this week and how to proactively address them. 3. Raising their performance this week so they continue to develop and grow. Ask me one question at a time to gather the information you need, and then generate a list of questions for me to consider.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I am the leader of a business. Historically, I’ve delegated to people by simply adding things to their plate but rarely having conversations about subtracting. As a result, I’m concerned people are reacting to what’s most recent and losing focus on what’s most important. I’d like you to act as an executive coach by asking me one question at a time to help me think through how I might change what I say and ask when I delegate. Success would be describing what I need them to take on and then shifting the conversation to where they believe this falls in order of priority. This will ensure they do not react and always stay focused on what matters most.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Here are my top priorities for this week: (List your top priorities). Here is also a picture of my calendar for the week. In reviewing my calendar, I don’t feel it reflects a clear plan to achieve my weekly goals. Acting as the Interviewer, ask me one question at a time to help me identify changes I can make to the calendar. Once we’re done with the review, I want you to help draft the communication I need to send to the people I’m canceling or rescheduling.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Attached is our strategic plan. The next step is to identify the specific progress we need to make for each item on the plan in the next thirty days to be on track for our targets. Ask me one question at a time to help gather this information, and then generate an executive summary I can send to my team so we are aligned.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I want you to act as an aggressive growth-minded board member with deep expertise in company turnarounds. Attached is the board deck for this business. It’s not doing well and needs to be turned around. I’d like you to identify the top five questions that you would be asking the CEO during this meeting. Please list them in order of priority, as we only have one hour for the review, and I want to make sure I’m asking the most important questions first.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Ask great questions to evaluate if they are making the progress they expect to be making. How clear are they on what matters most this week? Are they prioritizing so the most important things get sufficient space on their calendars? What are the distractions that are threatening their focus? How can you support them? Where do you see opportunities for them to perform at an even higher level? How can you guide them there?”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Imagine your boss asks you to do something. You simply say, “I’d be happy to take that on. Based on what I have planned for the week, I would be able to get this to you by (share when you can have it done). Does that work for you?” Now imagine they say they need it faster. You can say, “I can do that. To make sure we are aligned, here is what I would deprioritize to prioritize this. Does that work for you?”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“As the leader, when you delegate, state what you need help with, and then ask either of the following questions: I need your help doing (insert the task). How would you prioritize this based on the other things on your plate? I need your help doing (insert the task). Help me understand what you would be saying no to in order to say yes to this.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“your calendar should represent a plan to achieve your goals.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“How many of you know exactly what you are capable of achieving?” Crickets. I laid it out for them: the truth is, none of us really know what our true potential is. But when we’re setting goals, if we can’t see a straight shot to achieving them, we convince ourselves it can’t be done. That’s a story we are telling ourselves, not a fact. We don’t know it to be true.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Don’t base your goals on what you think you can do. Instead, think big and launch yourself onto a completely new trajectory.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I’ve got to cut the cord with my old way of thinking on how I can achieve my goals.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Take a look at our strategic plan for our upcoming fiscal year. Acting as an executive coach, I need you to challenge our assumptions. Start by questioning our goals: are we really pushing the envelope, or are we playing it safe? Then assess the structure of our plan: is it robust enough to achieve our goals even when things don’t go as planned, or are we too reliant on ideal conditions? After our discussion, I’d appreciate your feedback on the strengths of our plan, areas for improvement, and actionable advice to ensure we’re set up for success.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Not every decision you make is going to deliver the expected results. What matters is making the decision right and then having the humility to admit that you could still be wrong.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“need to make an important decision. I’m considering these two options. Your task is to evaluate the upside and downside of each potential solution and explain which you’d recommend and why.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I need to make an important decision. Here is the situation: (describe the situation). Here are the solutions I have identified so far: (list the solutions you’ve identified). I want you to act as an expert in identifying risk by asking me one question at a time to help me see the second-order consequences of these solutions.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“To make a great decision, you have to pressure test your solutions.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“you have biases and assumptions that, when left unchallenged, can lead you astray. You’ve got to challenge them head-on.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“the success of your communication is determined by the way it is received, not your intention. If your stakeholders can’t understand the value you intend to deliver, then you will fail.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“Role-play with me as if you are the decision maker. I’ll present a recommendation for your approval, and I want you to simulate their likely response. Challenge me where they might resist so I can practice my responses. Afterward, provide feedback on: 1. What I did well. 2. Where my approach was not strong enough. 3. The key changes I can make to increase my odds of success.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“3. Who are early adopters who will be most affected by the decision because they are closest to the point of impact? Then, help me analyze what each person cares about and how the decision impacts them. This will help me communicate the benefits and mitigate potential downsides. Structure your answer in a table format.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“I need to make a decision for our business and want to be strategic about involving the right people in the process. Acting as my Thought Partner, I want you to interview me by asking one question at a time to help me answer the following questions: 1. Who are the decision-makers who can approve or reject this decision? 2. Who are the influencers who can sway the thinking of the decision-makers I need to engage?”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions

“tackling smoke doesn’t extinguish the fire. You can wave away the smoke all day, but until you put out the flames, you haven’t solved the core issue.”
― Geoff Woods, The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions