Most organizations are treating AI like a software upgrade. Buy the licenses, hand it to IT, measure adoption rates, call it a transformation. It isn't.

Charlene Li has spent the last several years inside organizations actually leading AI transformation — not just talking about it — and her diagnosis is blunt: the problem isn't the technology. It's that leaders keep handing off a leadership challenge to the wrong person. When the CEO outsources AI to the CIO, the whole organization stays stuck in adoption mode. Tools get installed. Behavior doesn't change. Value doesn't follow.

In this conversation, Charlene and I dig into what leading AI transformation actually requires — why it has to start at the strategic level, how to move past the fear and stigma that keeps most employees treating AI like a cheat code, and what governance looks like when it accelerates instead of stalls progress. We also get into the jagged frontier debate, what AI fluency actually means for next-generation leaders, and why the most dangerous question you can ask your team isn't "are you using AI?" — it's "what are you using it for?"

If you're a senior leader sitting on a pile of licenses and not much to show for it, this conversation is for you.

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// ABOUT DAVID

One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David’s forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are changing how companies approach leadership, teamwork, and collaboration.

A skilled researcher and inspiring communicator, Dr. David Burkus is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS Mornings.

A former business school professor, David now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA. David’s keynotes aren’t just entertaining and enlightening—they’re evidence-based and immensely practical, offering leaders at all levels a set of actionable takeaways they can implement immediately.

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Perfectionism feels like a strength, but it’s often the very thing slowing you down.

In this video, we break down the hidden costs of perfectionism and how it quietly sabotages productivity, decision-making, and team performance. Drawing on research and real-world examples, you’ll learn the critical difference between pursuing excellence and chasing perfection, and why that distinction matters more than you think. I'll also explore the three types of perfectionism and how they show up at work, from being overly critical of yourself to placing unrealistic expectations on your team. More importantly, you’ll walk away with practical strategies to overcome perfectionism without lowering your standards, like setting guardrails, focusing on progress over perfection, and adopting a more process-driven mindset.

Chapters:

00:00 Perfectionism Creeps In....

00:23 Meet Dr. David Burkus

01:43 The Three Types Of Perfectionism

02:43 Audit The Cost Of Your Perfectionism

02:59 Questions For You To Try!

04:03 Focus On Process, Not Perfection

04:49 Experiment With “Good Enough”

05:33 As A Leader, Set The Tone

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Want to build your best team ever? Join 25,000+ leaders who receive these insights in my free newsletter: https://davidburkus.com/youtube

// SPEAKING

Like what you heard? Learn more or find out how to bring me to your company or event: https://davidburkus.com/keynote-speaker/

// ABOUT DAVID

One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David’s forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are changing how companies approach leadership, teamwork, and collaboration.

A skilled researcher and inspiring communicator, Dr. David Burkus is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS Mornings.

A former business school professor, David now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA. David’s keynotes aren’t just entertaining and enlightening—they’re evidence-based and immensely practical, offering leaders at all levels a set of actionable takeaways they can implement immediately.

//CONNECT

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidburkus/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/davidburkus

Facebook: http://www.FB.com/DrDavidBurkus

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DavidBurkus

Want to get promoted and land the high-profile projects? Just doing great work isn't enough. You need a strong internal reputation that speaks for you even when you're not in the room.

In this video, I'm breaking down five proven strategies to build your workplace reputation without playing politics. I'll show you how to make yourself visible, how to make others look good (and in turn make you look good), and why building relationships across your organization matters just as much as managing up. I'll also share why your external reputation can supercharge how colleagues see you internally and why consistency is the secret ingredient that ties it all together.

Your reputation is being built right now, whether you're actively shaping it or not. Let's make sure you're taking charge of it.

00:00 What you want usually requires a good reputation.

00:11 Meet Dr. David Burkus

00:39 Why Your Internal Reputation Matters

01:34 The Problem With Playing Politics

02:38 Make Yourself Visible

03:58 Make Others Look Good

05:11 Build Relationships Across, Not Just Up

06:01 Don't Forget Your External Reputation

07:20 Be Relentlessly Consistent

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Want to build your best team ever? Join 25,000+ leaders who receive these insights in my free newsletter: https://davidburkus.com/podcast

// SPEAKING

Like what you heard? Learn more or find out how to bring me to your company or event: https://davidburkus.com/keynote-speaker/

// ABOUT DAVID

One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David’s forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are changing how companies approach leadership, teamwork, and collaboration.

A skilled researcher and inspiring communicator, Dr. David Burkus is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS Mornings.

A former business school professor, David now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA. David’s keynotes aren’t just entertaining and enlightening—they’re evidence-based and immensely practical, offering leaders at all levels a set of actionable takeaways they can implement immediately.

//CONNECT

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidburkus/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/davidburkus

Facebook: http://www.FB.com/DrDavidBurkus

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DavidBurkus