Your team isn’t just afraid of AI taking their job. They’re afraid of losing their place.
Julia LeFevre, executive coach and founder of Brave Restoration, explains what happens in the brain when people feel threatened by AI, why facts and training won’t calm that fear, and what leaders can do instead: be present. Then we get to the hopeful part. AI has raised the average quality of work, so good enough is now easy. The people who get the most from it are the ones willing to keep doing the hard part.
Want the written version? Read What Do You Say to a Team That’s Afraid of AI?
Key moments
- Facts and training won’t calm it (10:37) “For all of you leaders who are trying to explain and give facts and figures and train, it’s not going to work.” https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=637
- The fear under the fear (7:30) People are scared of being replaced. Julia says the deeper fear is that they won’t belong anywhere, and their purpose will be taken from them. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=450
- What works: presence (11:21) The relational need behind the fear is met by presence: being with someone when they’re afraid. That’s hard, because our brains don’t like discomfort either. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=681
- “You don’t have to do this alone” (12:39) Acknowledge it. Validate that it’s scary. Then tell people they won’t face it alone, and ask what they need. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=759
- Leaders can’t take teams farther than they’ve gone (15:11) “Leaders will not be able to lead teams farther than they have been willing to travel.” https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=911
- AI raised the floor (16:47) The average quality of work has gone up. If you’re willing to do the hard part, AI can make you a better writer, designer or artist than you were before. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=1007
- The son who skipped crawling (19:55) Julia’s son skipped crawling and couldn’t get up when he fell. Taking the easy route skips the muscles you need later. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=1195
- Keep AI in its place (21:31) Some things are fine at good enough. Just don’t let everything fall into that category. https://youtu.be/YfhhCQDiiD8?t=1291
Chapters
- 0:00 Welcome, Julia LeFevre of Brave Restoration
- 1:47 Why AI feels so scary: the unknown
- 2:39 Your brain works from the bottom up
- 3:38 The need to belong is as real as food and water
- 5:52 Being replaced and who we think we are
- 7:12 The fear under the fear: belonging and purpose
- 8:21 AI is here. How do leaders help people past the fear?
- 10:03 Why facts and logic won’t calm it
- 11:21 What works: presence
- 12:39 “You don’t have to do this alone”
- 13:22 Leadership is more than KPIs now
- 15:11 Leaders can’t take teams farther than they’ve gone
- 15:33 The path of least resistance and AI slop
- 16:26 AI raised the floor. You can still go further
- 19:28 The capacity to do the hard thing
- 20:00 Julia’s son who skipped crawling
- 21:31 Keep AI in its place
- 22:24 What deserves your effort, and what’s good enough
- 23:47 How we each use AI right now
- 24:10 Julia: talking out articles, then shaping them with AI
- 25:45 David: AI as a project manager
- 26:50 Where to find Julia