Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
I think now is that turning point because AI is what I like to say, an equal opportunity disruptor. It doesn't matter if you're accounting or engineering, if you're marketing or HR, right? It can level up every area of business
Kristiana Corona: Ever feel like everyone else has leadership figured out and you're just making it up as you go? I've been there. I spent two decades leading design and technology teams at Fortune 500 companies, and for years, I looked like I had everything pulled together on the outside. But on the inside, I felt burned out, overwhelmed, and unworthy of the title leader. Then, a surprise encounter with executive coaching changed my life and dramatically improved my leadership style and my results.
Now, I help others make that same shift in their leadership. This podcast is where we do the work, building the mindset, the coaching skills, and the confidence to lead with clarity and authenticity, and to finally feel worthy to lead from the inside out.
Hello, and welcome back to the Worthy to Lead podcast. I'm your host, Kristiana Corona. My conversation today on the podcast is going to be a little bit different, and I hope you enjoy it. My good friend Kevin Sakamoto is a PhD professor in a university, and he and I go way back. We have worked together at Target, and I've followed his journey as a product leader and I've been a design leader.
There's always just been such an interesting dynamic. We always see things from different perspectives. So today, we're gonna be bringing those different perspectives together, both from what Kevin is seeing in the product world and the education world, and from what I have been seeing through many, many conversations that I've been having with different leaders and how they're navigating AI and what changes that they're seeing.
And one of the things that Kevin and I both care deeply about is human-centered leadership. So what does it look like for the humans as we go through this major change? What things are we noticing where there's struggles, and where are we noticing patterns of investing in yourself, becoming more strategic, opening up new opportunities to reskill?
There are so many interesting dynamics about this entire situation, and so we're gonna dive into what those are, and hopefully, you can just see behind the scenes what it's like for Kevin and I to have these types of debates and conversations. I hope that at the end of this episode, you will gather just a little golden nugget for yourself of one thing that you can take forward and start thinking about doing with your team So, without further ado, let's dive into my conversation with Dr. Kevin Sakamoto.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto, welcome to the Worthy to Lead podcast. So glad you're here.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Thank you very much for having me, Kristiana. Happy to be here.
Kristiana Corona:
Kevin and I talk all the time, and so this is really fun. This is just sort of like an extension of the conversations we have behind the scenes. So I thought it'd be really fun for everyone to be invited into a conversation, especially because we really like to think about what is happening out there in the world right now, having conversations with a lot of people.
Kevin is also a professor, so he's also seeing things from different angles than I am. The goal of this conversation today is for us to be able to just talk about what is happening, what are we seeing, and what are some of the golden nuggets or things that we'd want you to take away, especially for your leadership during this really uncertain time.
So, you know, one of the things that comes up a lot in conversations is this fear of becoming irrelevant. So leadership, especially, leaders are constantly thinking about their roles evolving, where roles are being eliminated in some cases. It can feel really disorienting. So I'm just curious from your perspective, what you're seeing as far as the reality of the landscape today.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah, that's a great question. I actually have some published research about employee dignity, and as part of that research, we found that employees were not feeling as if they were being treated with dignity in the workplace. So there is a lot of concern among the rank and file and individual contributors.
And so there's, uh, just generally some, some fear, uncertainty, um, and doubt in that place, right? And at the same time, we're seeing a lot of sensational headlines in the news about companies laying off, and Microsoft, as of this recording a couple weeks ago, just laid off, right, 4,800 employees. And I have friends at Microsoft, so I immediately were texting all of them just to see if they're okay.
So there, there is a lot I think that is going on right now, and there's a lot to be uncertain. But there are also a lot of positive signs out there, and it's important to be able to hold both of those things together in the same space in order to just generally see which way you can go within your own particular environment.
Kristiana Corona:
Yeah, and I think, um, you know, we tend to focus on the negative headlines, like you said, and it creates this feeling of worry. But there are actually some really interesting case studies out there of positive results and things that have dramatically improved businesses. And I know one of the case studies that you and I were having a good time talking about previously was this case study about Ikea and how Ikea was able to leverage an AI chatbot that took over, what was it?
Like 40, 47% of their customer service inquiries. So think about a job that is very thankless in many cases for the people that are working there, and they were able to automate a lot of that in a way that was a good customer experience, and then be able to take those employees, and instead of laying them off, they found a different customer problem within the business to solve, and they re-skilled them to become interior designers.
And because of that change, they were able to make an additional $1.4 billion of revenue for their business. I mean, that is like such an astonishing story. But yet, that just shows the creativity, right? The creativity of what you could do with this moment, rather than focusing on only the efficiencies, only the eliminations.
That's a sort of downside of this situation.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah, I, I agree, and initially, I, I like to think that part of IKEA's, uh, results were based on the very fact that when you look at your house, very likely you don't just snap decide, "I'm gonna buy a couch, and it's gonna go right there." So as people, we normally make some decisions.
The bigger the thing is, the more expensive the thing is. You and I both know, having worked at Target, that customers will spend time browsing on their mobile device and then researching on their desktop because they wanna read the reviews and look at the pictures. And if the higher the price point item, the more they spend on desktop, right?
So the same would be true, I would imagine, for IKEA, that as an organization, because they deal with such big things and homes and furniture, yes, they've got the small KitchenAid things and those types of stuff, but for the most part, it's concerned decisions, that that's already part of just how they view the world.
And you can kinda see some of that in their key values when we're looking at the article, and it's very easy to find eight key IKEA values. And I really honed in on a few of them that I thought would explain why they were such a success. Um, so for example, one of the values, the first one that they talk about is togetherness, and it says here, "Togetherness is at the heart of IKEA culture. We are strongest when we trust each other, pull in the same direction, and have fun together."
And that already creates this sense of, okay, how can we take AI and move together with this and not treat it as if it's this new technology that the existing silos within an organization will just say, "Okay, do something with that, and see if you can save money or maximize revenue."
The togetherness as the first core value seems to be driving that approach towards AI.
Kristiana Corona:
What were some of the other values that were uncovered?
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah. It's interesting. One of them was renew and improve, and it says that we're constantly looking for new and better ways forward. And I think that that says a lot for IKEA.
And, and one of the things that really interested me about IKEA as an organization a few years ago was when they started that program where you could sell your, your furniture back to IKEA, and then you could, it was like a marketplace, and you could buy that furniture as well. And yeah, there's al-- this joke about, "Oh, why would I wanna buy IKEA used IKEA furniture, right?"
Um, but it kind of speaks to, I think, that use of AI, right? Instead of just letting go people that so many organizations are doing nowadays, it sounds kind of morbid to renew and improve people, but the spirit is there, right? Is, is how we've got all this talent. How do we renew their skills? How do we uplevel them?
How do we make them a greater part of this, this whole, this togetherness, with the new capabilities that we have with AI
Kristiana Corona:
I think that is one of the things that really stands out. As you look across companies right now, where is AI forcing the function of we truly believe in the values of this company or not?
Because I think you can really, I mean, it just, it accelerates change, but it also accelerates are we making decisions that are aligned to those values, or are those just things that are on the wall and they don't actually mean anything? Are we sacrificing everything to get ahead for this quick win, right?
I actually really love the word renew because I think there are so many opportunities right now for leaders to renew themselves and to invest in themselves differently right now. And I know one of the other articles that really stood out to me, we, we were kind of reading this entrepreneur.com article where it talks about sort of the collapse of this middle manager layer or just management in general.
When you think about traditionally how leadership was approached as sort of a hierarchical, an authority, you are managing the priorities, you're, you know, in the weeds delegating things, putting things in the backlog, reviewing, approving, right? It's that very tactical, hands-on type of work. And I feel like right now is this renaissance for leadership in that that isn't the ultimate goal anymore because AI can automate so much of that and take it off your plate.
So what would you then do with that time? You know, how could you invest back in yourself to start thinking more strategically, to start innovating, to really think about what does it look like to renew yourself as a leader? What's it look like to play again, to your point about IKEA? Like, play is okay.
It's, it's invited. In fact, you probably should be playing right now if you're not playing with AI, for sure. But I think it could be a moment for people to reposition instead of doing what I've always done and the thing that I didn't love anyway. What if instead I refocused my attention on driving something completely new and innovative and different, and really getting hands-on with what is strategic?
Like product strategy. I think about people like you who've always loved product strategy and always wanted to spend time in that. And, you know, at times it feels hard. How do you make time to do that? And maybe now is the moment.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah, absolutely. And there's so much to unpack there. Um, so when you talk about middle managers and what is their role, and I can see this great concern in that lack of clarity, especially when you have the concept of token maxxing, which was kind of really rose in popularity and now seems to be fading out.
And for those of you that don't know it, token maxxing is this idea of just maximizing all the burn of your AI tokens. So because organizations just a few months ago were using how many tokens you're spending as a measure of productivity, uh, and that's the measure of success. And humans being humans will find a way to maximize tokens without producing anything.
So there are lots of reports, uh, again, part of our research, where people were just writing agents upon agents to burn through tokens to show that they were spending a lot of tokens, and to the point where developers are burning $100,000 worth of tokens within a week. And what is the result of that artificial metric?
You see Uber just a couple of months ago saying that, "Oh, we are now having to roll back. We, we spent all of our AI budget in April of 2026 already, right? And we're having to decide what to do next." So in, in that respect, you can imagine the middle manager is left saying, "Oh, my, my people are doing what you said.
They're burning tokens, and I don't have any input into that. So what is my role here?" Because they are just burning tokens without my direction. So I do think that, yes, there, there is a challenge ahead for organizations as a whole to decide what do we do with this talent that we have within the organization, and how do I maximize the value that they contribute?
And I do believe it goes back to culture, and IKEA is just one example, I think, of where they leverage the culture to make sure everybody's moving forward together.
Kristiana Corona:
I love the idea of what does it look like to help everyone move forward? Because I think there's a lot of organizations where things have become increasingly competitive, and you are fending for yourself.
You have to individually learn how to maximize AI. You got to learn how to code. You got to learn how to build your own agents. And whoever comes out on top of that most technically savvy, you win, and you get more work, and you get more rewarded, and you get pulled into the right things. And everyone else is like, "Well, I'm behind. Great. What do I do?"
But what I've been hearing from some folks that I've been talking to across different organizations is this idea of forward deployment of our best people, of our most skilled engineers, to think about the systemic problems in the organization. So think about areas that maybe are traditionally less tech-savvy, like HR or maybe marketing or, or different functions, maybe call center functions, things like that.
How can we take these people who are superstars with using this tech and go find systemic ways, oh, this is a really nasty problem that keeps taking all of our time, this documentation on the back end, whatever that is? Solve that problem. Fix that pipeline. Make everyone in the team, their worst task, make it their easiest, and then go to the next department and do the same thing and do the same thing and do the same thing.
And by doing so, you're not forcing everyone to be in this competitive mode. You're using your best talent to rise the floor. Raise the floor? To raise the floor. So I think raising the floor is really important in an organization, and the vibe and the culture of that sort of intent says, "We care about you.
We want you all to succeed. We want everyone to learn. We want everyone to adopt the most efficient way of doing things. But we acknowledge that for some people, it's gonna require some help, and we're willing to invest some people and some time to do that." And I, I love that approach.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto: I fully agree, and this is where that next level of leadership is important.
So if you have that directional approach, that strategic direction to say that this is what we're gonna do company-wide, we're gonna put together this team that will go through all these different departments and then start to raise the level of capability within every department, without having that sort of countermeasure to say, "Well then, what about me?
I'm good at development too. Why am I not part of the team?" Right? Uh, then others will feel othered or left out. And then the other side will be: "Well, I don't want these people coming in here and just messing everything up. Yes, uh, things are not perfect, but it's our way of doing things in, in said department," right?
So it's interesting you brought that up because I'm actually giving a talk, uh, in the middle of August at an Asian American conference about this concept of inverted apprenticeship, where it is almost that, where senior leaders or people that have been within the organization for quite some time have this tacit implicit knowledge of the organization, how it's run, the people, the history, the co-- all this stuff.
What they don't have are the skills to develop AI into vibe code and all these different things. Then I look at my students who are coming out. I, I teach capstone strategy courses for every college of business student, and I teach MBAs, and especially in my capstone courses, I see every class, there are at least a couple students just vibe coding away, and I'm curious about what they're building, right?
And they're building all kinds of crazy things. So they have the skills. They have this attitude of, "I can build this. I can solve this." But what they don't have is that organizational contextual knowledge. So the concept of inverted apprenticeship tries to solve that, where you pair these young, bright, brilliant college students who have the technical skills with these more senior employees, and then together they start to build and solve the problems.
And what happens then is there's a sense of agency on both sides because the employee feels like, "I'm actually contributing. I'm six months into my job, and I'm actually solving real problems. I'm building something." And then the person who's been there for a while can say, "Well, I'm learning how this is being made. I may not know exactly all the steps that were used to build it, but I know what connects here, what goes here, and if I need to address it, I can fix it."
Kristiana Corona:
It's such a nice pairing of the best of both worlds and acknowledging that each has value. And I think a lot of the conversations are around people feeling like what they have isn't valued, right?
Like, maybe it used to be valued, but is it anymore? Have I become irrelevant? And so I love the intentional activities that create that ecosystem of we see the value of the history, we see the value of the context, we see the value of learning over decades what works and what doesn't work, and pairing that with the fresh approach or the faster way of getting things done or maybe something novel, right?
Maybe there is a different way of solving this that doesn't require eight weeks to get it done. Maybe we could do it in two days, right? So I love that approach, and I think there is real value in getting creative right now in how you pair people together and how you unlock... I think a lot of times there's unlocking people's desires for change that maybe they just have given up.
Like, "Well, we're never gonna get the attention. We're never gonna get the solution. We're not important enough. We're not at the top of the list for our problem to be solved. It's just an internal problem. It's just an internal tool. It's a legacy tool," right? Well, maybe now is the time to ask again because maybe the answer will be different.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And now more than ever, another. So I'm such a nerd. Like another..
Kristiana Corona:
That's why we love you, Kevin.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Another paper that my colleague and I are researching right now is about-- And I, I don't wanna give too much away on it, but it's about sort of that institutional knowledge that sort of gets lost through time, right?
And the only people that have that knowledge are people. It's not Excel spreadsheets; it's not a Jira ticket or whatever. So it's important that we include all of these people in the decision and, and to show that that is valuable information. Like you and I both know, again, having worked in retail, the value of seasonality, and why are we buying Christmas things in February?
Well, because we have to make the orders so that they get in on time, right? But on the surface, it may not seem, if you just look at the black and white, why are you ordering products for sale in November and December in February, right? Just the black and white doesn't add up. Then when you start to add the context, it makes sense, and that context is only through people within the organization.
Kristiana Corona:
And the other thing about storytelling is the wisdom, right? Like the things that aren't, to your point, aren't written down, uh, the tribal knowledge, this is the shortcut, this is how you get it done when it goes wrong, you know, all of those things, because none of us have the time to fully document everything.
And so is there a way that you're seeing organizations start using that tribal knowledge differently now? Are you seeing ways that they can unlock that context that they haven't before?
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
In a very, very small use case, uh, right now where there's a small design firm, they've been around for twenty years, and I'm sort of guiding them through the use of AI.
And one of the things that I had suggested to them was, as you start to implement AI, make sure that you have weekly sort of campfire discussions so that everybody can report back within the division how they're using AI and some of the, the benefits that they're seeing and some of the challenges they're receiving or they're seeing, so that they're moving together, so that they're sharing the stories, this, this shared experience, but from different perspectives.
Because they were a little afraid of implementing AI. They've been around for twenty years, and they say, "Well, this is how we've always done things." We, we've heard that time and time again, right? But I think now is that turning point because AI is what I like to say, an equal opportunity disruptor.
It doesn't matter if you're accounting or engineering, if you're marketing or HR, right? It can level up every area of business, but the important thing is that we're sharing how it's making those improvements so that we are moving together.
Kristiana Corona:
So one other area that I was thinking about around the shift that we're seeing is really this idea of becoming more of a player-coach, where maybe traditionally you're pretty hands-off, you don't get deep in the code, or you don't get deep in the directing where the team goes, the practitioner portion of the role.
It's been pretty segmented for a lot of companies. And we're seeing a return back to the player-coach mentality of getting your hands dirty, being a part of the entire process, or helping to guide the process differently. And the thing that comes up for me is, if you haven't been doing that up until now, or maybe it's been infrequent, you might feel a little rusty on what does that actually look-- how do I insert myself in a valuable way so that I don't become a bottleneck, and also my team doesn't feel like they're being micromanaged, right?
Like, that's a terrible way to lead. But I am providing a kind of value that is helpful. And one of the requirements, I think, is obviously technical fluency. So understanding what AI is, roughly how to use it, practicing building things, so when you are in those conversations, you can participate fully and not, you know, have to stand in the background and say, "Well, I have no idea what they're talking about."
But I think the other thing is, like, really assessing the quality of the questions that you ask. And that's where I think becoming an actual coach to your team can be extremely valuable. And a lot of that comes from what you were saying around your experience and how do you bring that context in? How do you ask those provocative questions about how you might handle different situations?
What are the risks that could come up here? What is our opportunity? How do we know that this is a meaningful way to invest our time? And also, how do we push our ideas further? And I think that's something that you and I both talk about a lot, which is, as you think about investing in skill set and upskilling yourself in this time period, how might you become a more efficient and effective and inspiring innovator?
Like, what does that actually look like for your team? So I know I have a lot of thoughts on that, but I would love your take on if you were gonna recommend for leaders how they could start upleveling their innovation skills to be more helpful to their team, what would you say?
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
I would say this, this is easier said than done, right?
Space is the most important thing we could do for both ourselves and for your team, is to create that space to learn and sort of to discover. But don't feel pressured by all these videos and YouTubers and saying that, "Oh, you know, you sh- you can do all these things, or you should do all these things based off of AI."
Because we know from just basic psychology that if you're not interested in the thing, you're not gonna do the thing. So really sit down first to identify what is it that you're really interested in or what is it that's really bothering you within your workflow, within your life, within whatever. And then see if AI could solve it.
Because then you'll be vested. Then you'll, you'll really wanna, wanna do it. Um, like for, for example, when I'm in the middle of developing, uh, an app right now, and as I was going through just line by line certain things, I realized that, oh, the toast message, when I do a tab overlay on top of it, is reading the same thing that's on screen.
And from an accessibility perspective, that's not good, 'cause then the accessible user won't, won't do that. I'm interested in, I'm always looking at how those experiences come to life within the app. So that's the kind of value that I think I can add because I'm interested or because I'm an advocate of it.
So everyone within the organization, every team member, has that thing that they're interested in, that they like, and really capitalize on it. I think AI gives you that opportunity to do so. And one quick story of, of, on another one was, for me, I would find myself saying, "Oh, do I really wanna ask AI that?
I think it's gonna..." I found myself early on saying, "It's probably gonna think I'm stupid." I'm like, "No. What? Just ask the question." You know? Just ask it. It's fine. So, so just, just ask. Nobody's gonna notice, right? Just ask away, and then you'll, you'll find some really good answers.
Kristiana Corona:
Yeah. It's the, the perfect way to ask all your dumb questions.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah
Kristiana Corona:
'Cause there's nobody on the other side, so.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Right.
Kristiana Corona:
It's great. They're not cringing on the other side.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
No, no. But I-
Kristiana Corona: At least... Yeah, hopefully their response is somewhat respectful instead of like, "Seriously?"
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah, exactly. I do say, and, and this is a whole another topic too, just about anthropomorphizing AI, and I don't know about you, Kristiana, but I say please and thank you to my AI. Do you too? I do as well. Okay.
Kristiana Corona:
Yeah. We're trained.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yeah. Yeah, we're trained.
Kristiana Corona:
I think, too, some of the things that I think about when it comes to innovation is, and to your point, AI is just another tool. It's another tool in our tool belt. We're just learning the new medium. It's new and exciting 'cause we're just learning it.
Eventually, we will understand it; we'll know the constraints, the boundaries, what we like, what we don't. It will continue to change over time, but it's not gonna be the novel thing that means every, you know, if you're a hammer, everything's a nail, right? Right? Everything is AI right now. Eventually, you know, maybe there will be another catchphrase or variation of this that will then become the popular thing.
But it's just an evolution over time of this medium. And I love how you pointed out, and I totally agree with this, that really the context here is shifting around us, but the principles behind how we ask great questions are the same. And so if we're really going in and starting with the problem and focusing on what is that customer pain point that is so intractable that we just have not made progress on, that sounded impossible before.
That thing that everyone said, "Oh, that's too hard. The system is too complex. It's too legacy. We could never touch it." Maybe we can revisit some of those things. Or the internal examples of super inefficient task-oriented things, processes, whatever. Those are really great problems to solve. But I think if our focus is always on where's the pain and relieving the pain, and then coming up with the most creative, wild, imaginative, different ways of solving for that pain, and inviting lots of different voices into the room, and bringing different disciplines together that maybe wouldn't have worked together, we're always going to arrive at something really interesting and likely something that is going to be a true innovation.
But I think if we have it backwards and we're always focused on the tool and not on the problem, that's where we get ourselves in trouble, right?
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Yes. Yeah, I fully agree. As you were talking, I immediately thought about one of the things I talk about in my lecture; one of the many things I talk about in lecture is food and the difference between a stew and a potluck.
And now I think when we're looking at AI and the use or the approach of AI, it is very much, I think, this IKEA version of a potluck. We want everybody to come together, which is one of their core values, and bring your differences, bring all your dishes, and let's see how we can move together and solve problems and how to create different things, right?
There are no right or wrong ways to have a meal, right? Stew or potluck, right? I think in this particular-- where we are sitting right now, that potluck approach is needed, uh, because we do want everybody to come We don't only want engineers, we don't only want product managers, we want everybody. And maybe we theme it.
Maybe one week is, you know, I don't know, a vegan potluck, and another week is a different type of potluck, so that at least we could say, "Okay, this month it's gonna be all about HR. How do we solve HR-related things with, with AI," right? But nevertheless, it goes back to creating that, that setting and that space to say, "It's okay to bring your thing.
It's okay to not know. The important thing is that you're here and that we're gonna move forward together."
Kristiana Corona:
And the beauty of doing that is not only do you get to try new foods that you may not have tried before. I'm getting really hungry having this conversation. I'm imagining, like, the best potlucks.
But you also get to have a rhythm. You get to create the space to make it expected to have leadership support that, to have something where everyone aligns to, this is the space that has been dedicated to help us do this and to help us learn together, and to acknowledge that we are all learning together.
And I think just that, that cultural norm of creating that space, that togetherness, it has so many positive ripple effects, right? It creates trust, it creates community, it allows for incubation of new ideas and cross-pollination, and sparking delight and new ideas that you wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise.
I mean, so many really great things, and it can be reviving. For cultures that have just been pushed to the edge of delivery, delivery, delivery, this can be a simple way for people to reinvest in their culture and their people, and everyone benefits. Yeah. So I absolutely love it. I think we should end on that note because there is just nothing better than a potluck.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
I agree. I'm hungry too.
Kristiana Corona:
I guess any last words you would wanna leave people with on the topic of, you know, the shifting, the, the change that's happening right now in leadership and, and how they should think about it?
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
I'll go back to a story at Zappos, and I think it ties in nicely together, food and culture and leadership and creating space.
So once a month, we had a cafeteria, and the Zappos leadership would give out free lunches once a month. But what made it special was the fact that at least one of the C-suite would be there serving food, and oftentimes it was Tony, the late Tony Hsieh, right? So number one, it creates the space. Everybody knows once a month we're gonna have this, the free food, right?
And everybody's gonna come because it, it-- Well, yeah, one, it's free, but two, we get to see each other. It's an excuse to see each other, and let's not have meetings. Let's go to the cafeteria. And number three, it's our chance to just say hi and have a little chitchat with the C-suite 'cause they're gonna be there serving food, they're gonna be talking to one another.
But I think the most important thing that did is it humanized the C-suite. When you see your CEO serving you food, it really drives that message home that they are just like one of us, right? And I think here is the same thing too, is how do we create this environment where we have these AI potlucks where the CEO herself and her C-suite are there, and they're learning, and they're contributing, and that everybody is learning on this together.
Because, I'm sorry, nobody has the answers to AI, and it is changing every week. And I think the best thing we can do is just sit down, have meals, and learn about it together.
Kristiana Corona:
That's such a beautiful image, and the simplicity of doing that. I mean, it, it's not something that takes extraordinary amounts of time, but think about the extraordinary impact.
I mean, you're still talking about it years and years later, the impact that had on you of creating that level of accessibility and trust and investment and saying, "I care, and I-- this matters." So what a beautiful symbol. I love that. And I would just close out maybe by encouraging people to maybe take some chances on yourself.
As you think about this opportunity, there might be a lot of fears, a lot of risk, a lot of unknowns, and it's easy to sit in a place and kind of stew on those things. But I think one of the best things that you can do to get out of that mindset and into a more productive one, which is going to be helpful to you and your team, is to the point that Kevin just made, focusing outward and thinking about where are there opportunities to lift others up, to serve my team, to show up with them, to learn something new together.
Uh, this doesn't have to be a you sitting on your own island struggling to change as quickly as you possibly can. Turn it into a team event. Turn it into something that is done together, and I, I guarantee not only will it create trust, but it's going to also help everyone reduce that stress level that they're under right now.
Because going through it together is far superior to going through it alone. So, all right. Well, this has been a really wonderful conversation. Thanks for popping in, Kevin. I know you are without AC, and I'm really hoping that that gets turned around quickly, so appreciate you coming in despite the heat.
Dr. Kevin Sakamoto:
Oh, always. Thank you so much, Kristiana.
Kristiana Corona:
Thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate you following along with this conversation, and hopefully some new ideas were sparked, whether that was the IKEA story, thinking about how to become more creative, how to re-skill your existing employees, how to solve new problems that may unlock growth in areas that you never expected.
Or perhaps apprenticeships and partnerships and pairing between different people across different departments to solve internal process issues that maybe have been so difficult over the past years and have never gotten the attention they deserved. Or maybe it's the potluck, that potluck idea of creating community around something important and revisiting those values.
You know, what was it that made this company great? What was it that made us strong? How do we reinvest in that idea as we approach this AI shift in our leadership? So there are many, many ways to create that community and to lift all the boats across your organization, and I can't wait to hear how you are approaching this change.
So please reach out to me. I would love to hear what you're experimenting with. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, go ahead and subscribe at worthytolead.co/subscribe. We'd love to have you along for the journey. Until next time, keep showing up, keep doing the work that matters, and keep leading like you're worthy to lead, because you are. Bye for now.
