My book, Joyful Leadership, is about to be released. It’s getting set-up for print-on-demand as I write this. From initial concept to today, it’s been 4 years in the writing. Truly a labor of love.

Last week, I took a workshop on generative AI. The workshop was fascinating. It focused on how to leverage AI as a brainstorming tool to help you write resumes / cover letters and prepare for interviews. The workshop included one story from a recruiter who received 5 identical cover letters for a position. No doubt AI generated. What did the recruiter do? Threw all 5 applications in the trash. Important lesson here: AI can help you get started, but it should never replace your personal expertise and experience. Or could it?

To answer that question, I share with you the results of the challenge: Joyful Leadership vs. Generative AI. Does my book offer more than what anyone can find through generative AI? Below you will see a shortened version of what AI generated to the following questions. All questions asked are explored in my book. For contrast, I pulled a paragraph or two from Joyful Leadership, so you could get a sense as to how the book answers the same question.

1st Question: Write a 3-point blog that answers the question from a leader’s perspective: “Why would anyone want to follow you?”

Title: "Leadership Unveiled: Three Compelling Reasons to Follow Me"
Leadership is not merely a position; it's a responsibility to inspire, guide, and empower those around you. If you're contemplating why anyone would want to follow me as a leader, here are three compelling reasons that define my leadership philosophy:
·       Visionary Leadership
·       Empathetic Connection
·       Commitment to Growth and Development
Why would anyone want to follow you? I love this provocative question for its focus on the relationship between leader and follower, where the heart of leadership lies.
For over thirty years, I’ve been helping leaders answer this question. Together we have discovered that the answer has two parts. First, people want leaders of great character. Second, they want to follow someone who believes leadership is about service.

2nd Question: Write a blog on the 5 core character traits of a great leader

Title: "Leadership Unveiled: Embracing the 4 Core Character Traits of Great Leaders"
Leadership is more than just a position; it's a reflection of character. Great leaders are not defined solely by their titles but by the traits that shape their actions and influence. In this exploration of leadership, let's uncover the four core character traits that distinguish exceptional leaders from the rest.
·       Integrity: The Foundation of Trust
·       Empathy: Connecting on a Human Level
·       Resilience: Navigating Challenges with Grace
·       Vision: Guiding the Way Forward
Becoming a great leader is no easy task; it is a development journey that spans an entire career and lifetime.
The first part of this book focuses on self-leadership; that is, becoming a leader of great character. What character traits inspire you to follow? Do you follow people of integrity? Do you admire leaders who are always striving to be the best they can be? Are you thankful for the leader who has your back, encouraging you when things get tough?
Self-leadership is about leading yourself toward your best self. It’s asking the tough questions about who you want to become and what you can do every day to grow into a leader of great character. Self-leadership is about creating a vision of the leader you want to be and then choosing daily practices and actions to help you become that leader.
Joyful Leadership focus on:
·       Excellence in All you Do
·       Being Trustworthy
·       Acting with Integrity
·       Living a Lifestyle of Stewardship

Follow-up question: From the viewpoint of a leader, answer the question, “How do I build trust?”

Title: "Trust in Leadership: A Blueprint for Building and Nurturing Trust"
Trust is the currency of effective leadership. As a leader, the ability to build and sustain trust is foundational to fostering a positive work environment, enhancing collaboration, and achieving collective success. Here's a blueprint for cultivating trust within your leadership role:
·       Lead with Unwavering Integrity
·       Demonstrate Competence and Expertise
·       Foster Open and Transparent Communication
·       Empower and Support Your Team
·       Consistency is Key
The Leader Know-How section within ‘Being Trustworthy’ describes the six facets of building trust with multiple actions and ideas for building trust in each of these facets.
·       Sincere
·       Competent
·       Reliable
·       Credible
·       Empathy
·       Integrity

3rd Question: Write a 4-point blog on what leaders can do to strengthen the relationship with their followers

Title: "Leadership Bonds: Four Strategies to Strengthen Relationships with Followers"
Leadership is not just about guiding from the front; it's about forging strong and meaningful connections with those you lead. Building and strengthening the relationship with your followers is essential for fostering a positive and productive work environment. Here are four strategies leaders can employ to nurture and enhance these crucial relationships:
·       Cultivate Open and Transparent Communications
·       Demonstrate Empathy and Understanding
·       Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development
·       Lead by Example with Consistency
Let’s return to the opening question: Why would anyone follow you? My experience and research discovered that people want leaders of great character who believe leadership is about service. We now turn to the second part of the answer.
The heart of leadership is about the relationships we nurture through love of others. Just as the heart muscle pumps the blood, circulating what we need to live throughout our bodies, the heart of leadership also circulates what we need to nurture others. Without the heart pumping, we die. Without ongoing nurturing of the relationship, our leadership dies, because no one is willing to follow.
What are the leadership skills that keep the lifeblood of love circulating in our relationships? Let’s consider:
·       Servant leadership and coaching excellence
·       Forgiveness and feedback
·       Prayer and conflict
·       The greatest of these ... love and encounter listening

Follow-up question: From the viewpoint of a leader, answer the question, “What is a good conversational framework for resolving conflict?”

Title: "Navigating Conflict: A Leader's Guide to Constructive Conversations"
Conflict is an inevitable aspect of any workplace, but it's how leaders address and resolve these conflicts that can define the strength of a team. Adopting a well-structured conversational framework is crucial for resolving conflicts constructively. Here's a guide for leaders seeking to navigate conflicts effectively:
·       Initiate with Empathy and Active Listening
·       Clarify Perception and Concerns
·       Identify Common Ground and Shared Goals
·       Generate Collaborative Solutions
·       Establish Clear Agreements and Follow-up
The Leader Know-How section shares a conversational framework for resolving conflict – titled: The Peacemaker Conversation.
·       Identify the shared conflict
·       Share why it is important for you to make changes
·       Share what you would like to do about it
·       Ask the person for a reaction
·       Dialogue on how you can work together on this
·       What are you both willing to do?
·       Agree on your plan and next steps
·       Ask for support and show appreciation

What did I learn from my challenge ?

One of the most difficult parts of writing a book is creating the high-level organizing structure. This capability comes from experience and a lot of thinking / writing / thinking / re-writing / thinking / starting over…. you get the idea. On this point, Joyful Leadership wins. I really don’t know how AI could compete with this human capability.
In writing the challenge questions, I needed a lot of knowledge of the topic to even generate what I was looking for. For example, when I asked the first question about ‘followers’ without the context of leadership, I got an answer pertaining to social media followership. So once again, real world experience and human knowledge wins the game.
And finally, I found the answers provided by AI a good starting point, but not very deep – just a bunch of current buzzwords like empowerment, transparency, or empathy. After I read the description of each bullet point (which I didn’t include above), I wanted to ask another question. For example, “How do I Navigate Challenges with Grace – Resilience? Even when I asked the follow-up questions, looking for more specific know-how, the answers stayed at the surface level. My sense that the answers were not very deep, also showed up in the repetitiveness of the answers. It seemed the general topic of ‘leadership’ overweighed the more specific question I was asking.

Bottom line, I believe Joyful Leadership provides you with the depth you are looking for as you answer the question, “Why would anyone want to follow you?” I hope you agree. (And you won’t have to ask AI more than 100 questions to cover everything in the book. It’s all in one place).