Every week somebody tells you to get across AI. A board member forwards an article. A supplier mentions what their head office is doing. Every post on LinkedIn implies you are already behind.
So it goes on the list, after the freight contract renewal, the range review and the twelve other things only you can do. And there it stays, because learning a new subject from scratch takes a kind of time you do not have.
AI is a tool to be set up, like every other system you run.
You never studied your other systems either
You did not learn double-entry bookkeeping to use Xero. You did not read the ERP manual. Somebody set those systems up around the way your business works, showed you the parts that mattered to you, and you were using them within a week.
AI works the same way. It gets set up on your own week: your inbox, your reports, your meetings. One working session, then a few short check-ins while it beds in.
What a leader's setup covers
A hands-on session on the four places a leader's hours go, using your own inbox, your own reports and your own calendar rather than examples.
- Your inbox. Long threads summarised to the decision they need from you. Replies drafted in your voice for you to edit. The ten emails that need you, surfaced first.
- Your reports. Board packs, sales results and supplier updates read for you, with the exceptions pulled out and the questions worth asking already written down.
- Your meetings. A briefing note before, the actions captured after, and the follow-ups chased without you carrying them in your head.
- The rules. What can go into the tool, what has to be de-identified first, and what you check before you rely on it. Confidence comes from knowing where the edges are.
Why trying it yourself helps
There’s a second reason to try it on your own work first, beyond the hours you get back.
When you arrive at Monday’s meeting with the sales summary already read and the follow-ups drafted, people notice. The question changes from “do we have to use this?” to “can you set me up too?”
Each team can then follow, on its own work.
The time arithmetic
A proper setup is one session and a few short check-ins. Set that against the alternative, which is months of half-read articles, a browser full of open tabs, and a nagging feeling that your competitors have worked this out.
Having it set up on the work you already do frees your time for the calls only you can make. That’s what the leadership session is for.