AI isn’t the threat. Shallow thinking is.
In a world moving faster than ever, leaders who rely on “easy answer” thinking will get outpaced—fast. The real competitive edge? Elevated thinking. Strategic thinking. Disciplined thinking.
This week’s video challenges you to step out of pedestrian thinking and into intentional growth. Because AI will amplify whatever direction it’s given—and without strong leadership thinking, that direction can go wrong quickly.
Here’s what high-performance leaders are doing differently:
– They think progress, not just activity—driving forward momentum instead of reacting
– They elevate their thinking discipline—moving beyond surface-level solutions
– They go all in on personal development—treating growth as a non-negotiable
The opportunity has never been greater. Leaders in their twenties are stepping into executive roles. High performers are accelerating faster than ever.
But there’s a dividing line: those who step in—and those who sit back.
If you want to build a future where you lead, not follow, it starts with one decision: raise your thinking.
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This is an oldie, but a goodie. It’s called The Magic of Thinking Big. And yes, I know there are some prehistoric comments within the book, and yet wisdom is wisdom.
It’s timeless. It’s classic.
And in this book, on page two hundred and seventy-six, under “how to think like a leader,” he says: think progress, believe in progress, push for progress.
And the reason I bring that up is we’re living in a world of AI. It’s not going anywhere, and all of us are going to need to buff, buff here and scrub, scrub there on our skill sets to bring up our critical thinking skills to a higher level of thinking.
Pedestrian thinking, as my mentor always called it—which is that easy solution thinking—is not going to withstand the challenges that come along with AI, because AI will move fast and furiously in the wrong direction if not guided by wisdom and prudence.
Taking your development seriously is an important piece. I have seen so many young people move to the highest levels of their organizations. I’ve had several different people who’ve gone through the Management Development Certification course, and they go right up to the executive team level in their twenties. I’ve seen people taking some of the other accreditations, and they become presidents of their organizations within just two short years.
You’re going to need to think and grow rich by starting to understand that you’re going to have to develop your thinking.
Learn things you never thought you were capable of learning, and decide to step all in, because in this new world of AI, there will be a very bright future for those who step into it. But for those who sit back and wait for someone to tell them what to do, it’s going to be brutal.
So decide that you will think and grow rich, develop your mind, take every learning opportunity that comes at you, master the learnings, apply the learnings, and decide to be the kind of team member that you dream that you would have around you everywhere.
Decide to step all in.