19 Comments
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Mia Kiraki 🎭's avatar

Problem is, leaders feel pressured to become "creators," so they look for shortcuts. The result is a bunch of content that all sounds the same because the authors never had a unique take to begin with. Looking forward to part 2 :)

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Joel Salinas's avatar

Excellent point! Agree, if there is no excellence, just don’t do it or it all becomes cookie cutter content

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James Presbitero's avatar

Yep! I see it all the time. Anything born from pressure is bound to fizzle out. The leaders who are winning in content these days are all creation from passion and mission!

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Boring Quinn's avatar

And that's what's funny, somehow the Internet still likes those half baked content!

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James Presbitero's avatar

Haha yeah. I’m convinced that the part of the internet that likes those half baked content are themselves makers of half-baked content. They’re all just supporting each other.

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Phaetrix's avatar

This hits. I’ve seen too many leaders unintentionally dilute their message by outsourcing not just the writing — but the thinking.

Loved the “Core / Mantle / Surface” breakdown. Curious: do you think there's ever a right time to let AI into the Core layer — say, for framing a contrarian idea or stress-testing your beliefs?

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James Presbitero's avatar

Yeap! I agree with Joel. Those are good uses of AI at the core level. As long as you're using your idea and your identity is intact, use whatever tool you like. The danger comes when you over rely at the core level -- you don't know what to think or believe, so you use AI.

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Joel Salinas's avatar

That's a great question, and I say resoundingly "yes" as long as done strategically. Here is a full post I put out recently on how I use AI to question my ideas and assumptions: https://leadershipinchange10.substack.com/publish/post/168216942

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Helen Mosimann-Kogan's avatar

"What’s one strong belief or idea you have about AI and thought leadership that wish more people in your industry understood?"

It's not a master-slave relationship, it's a collaboration.

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Joel Salinas's avatar

Yes!!🙌

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James Presbitero's avatar

Yes! AI is so much more powerful when used collaboratively.

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Helen Mosimann-Kogan's avatar

Agreed, the experience and output go to very new levels!!

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Melanie Goodman's avatar

I used to think “being visible” meant being loud or overly polished. But like you, I found that writing forces clarity in a way nothing else does.

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Joel Salinas's avatar

Yes! and it's the kind of thing you have to experience to really understand :)

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Joel Salinas's avatar

by the way, Melanie, glad you commented and I got to see your channel! Just subbed

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James Presbitero's avatar

Writing really is a superpower in some respects! Thanks for reading and commenting :D

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Alex Randall Kittredge's avatar

We live in the attention economy! Writing makes leaders visible!

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Joel Salinas's avatar

Yes!

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James Presbitero's avatar

Exactly! One of the best ways to be visible in my opinion.

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