How can leaders remain grounded, relevant and human when AI is changing the way we work so quickly?

In this episode of the Leaders Who Coach™ Podcast, Sehaam Cyrene speaks with Dan Dunton, Programme Director in AI and Transformation, about leadership growth, powerful conversations and the changing role of leaders in an AI-driven workplace.

Dan was the very first graduate of Leaders Who Coach™. He shares how learning to ask rather than tell has shaped the way he leads teams, works with clients and navigates complex transformation programmes.

From resisting the urge to provide the solution to becoming more comfortable with silence, feedback and difficult conversations, Dan reflects honestly on the practical skills that have helped him develop his own leadership style.

The conversation also explores why AI makes human leadership more important, not less.

As technology accelerates the work, leaders need to become more intentional about the conversations they protect, the questions they ask and the conditions they create for others to succeed.

Together, they explore:

• Why new leaders must stop trying to be the best “doer”
• Asking questions before jumping to solutions
• How securing permission changes the quality of a conversation
• Why silence often reveals the most important insight
• Building trust when joining or inheriting a team
• The value of measured vulnerability as a leader
• How curiosity, empathy and candour shape Dan’s leadership style
• Why values help leaders remain grounded through change
• How AI is exposing leadership cultures within organisations
• Why greater efficiency should create space for more human conversation
• Remaining honest when you do not have all the answers
• Why senior leaders cannot afford to disengage from AI
• How leaders can bring experience and judgement to AI-generated thinking
• Why asking better questions is becoming a defining leadership skill
• Managing upwards and approaching challenging conversations
• Giving clear feedback to people you genuinely like
• Finding a leadership style that reflects who you really are

This is an honest and practical conversation about leadership maturity, coaching skills and what it means to lead well during a period of extraordinary change.

00:00 – Introduction to Dan Dunton
01:21 – Becoming a leader and finding your own style
03:04 – Asking before jumping to solutions
05:01 – Securing permission before difficult conversations
06:58 – Listening, silence and creating space
09:08 – Getting to know a new team
11:03 – Vulnerability, feedback and leadership blind spots
13:16 – Moving from doing the work to enabling others
15:02 – Using coaching skills with clients and stakeholders
16:44 – Curiosity, empathy and candour
19:02 – Values, culture and how leaders choose to show up
21:03 – Why AI makes human conversations more important
23:25 – Leading teams through uncertainty and anxiety
25:46 – Why senior leaders need to understand AI
28:07 – Trusting people without blindly trusting the tools
30:05 – How collaboration is changing
31:54 – Why leaders must become better at asking questions
33:06 – Managing upwards and challenging senior stakeholders
35:10 – Giving honest performance feedback
37:18 – Candour, empathy and timing
38:46 – Advice for new and aspiring leaders
40:05 – Final reflections

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