9. AI & Human Potential: A Conversation with Dr. Alison Harris Welcher

Episode 9 of Kinwise Conversations · Hit play or read the transcript

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  Lydia Kumar: Welcome to Kinwise Conversations, where we explore what it means to integrate AI into our work and lives with care, clarity, and creativity. Each episode we talk with everyday leaders navigating these powerful tools, balancing innovation with intention and technology with humanity. I'm your host, Lydia Kumar.

  Today I'm truly honored to speak with Dr. Alison Harris Welcher. Alison and I worked together at Public Impact for a few years and we've stayed in touch over time. Alison is a strategic leader and advocate for educational equity and an executive life coach for high-achieving women of color through her company THRIVE Life Coaching. With a background spanning from classroom teacher and principal to her current role as Chief Strategy Officer at Chiefs for Change, Alison's journey is deeply rooted in her belief in human potential. She brings a unique perspective to how we can leverage technology while staying grounded in what truly matters: authentic leadership and human connection. Let's dive into our conversation.

  Alison, thank you so much for being on the show today. I am so excited to be able to talk with you because I've admired your leadership. We've worked together before and I've been watching you from a distance as you've gone from working at Public Impact to Chiefs for Change and founding your own company, THRIVE Life Coaching. And so I'm curious about what ties all... and you've been a principal and a teacher, so you've done a lot of things, and I'm curious about the threads that tie those chapters together for you.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah. Well Lydia, thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm excited to be here on Kinwise. Yeah, so, gosh, classroom teacher to now, Chief Strategy Officer at Chiefs for Change. Um, definitely was not on my bingo card, was not trying to clearly reach for that. But I truly think the piece that ties all of those experiences together is the belief that I have in human potential. The belief that I have that we all can grow and develop, as well as the belief that we all have a highest and best use. We are all uniquely created to do something great in this world and impact others in positive ways. And so whether it was a high school English teacher, teaching high school seniors when I myself was only 22 years old, and, you know, moving beyond just reading Shakespeare with my students, but helping to tap into their knowledge and skills and desires as it related to reading and writing and communicating, all the way to being a principal and coaching and developing both teachers and leaders, to the work I was able to do at Public Impact, which really was all about the development of people and getting great educators in front of as many students as possible, to the work that I do now at Chiefs for Change, where while my role is very much internally focused, I obviously still have an opportunity to lead and develop individuals, which I absolutely love, in service of developing and supporting the best and boldest superintendents across the nation who are again, doing that same thing, developing others, developing their leaders, developing students. So I really do think that's the thread that ties all of the chapters together.

  Lydia Kumar: You've told so many stories about how you've been able to coax out that belief in human potential throughout your career. What do you think instilled that belief inside of you, throughout your life that's played out into who you've become?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Gosh. Um, such a powerful question. I mean, it really does go back to things that were poured into me as a child. Um, I honestly grew up in such, I think a healthy, supportive environment that made me the confident person that I am. I was always encouraged to try something new, to keep going, you know, see how it works. And that just helped me because that was poured into me. I honestly felt like everyone should have that. Everyone should have their own cheerleader. In fact, my dad, whenever we're texting, any cards for special occasions, it's, "I'm your biggest cheerleader." And it's kind of an inside joke because I was in fact a cheerleader for many years. I was actually a competitive cheerleader, and my dad would always kind of joke with me very much so with some of the cheerleading moves. But my dad truly is my biggest cheerleader. And I think it's the cheerleader in me, right? I obviously don't get up and perform anymore and do all the moves, but I do really very much enjoy cheering other people on and supporting others. And let's be clear, it's whatever individuals see for themselves, right? I think is what's really important. There's no one way to do something. There's no one way for people to be. And sometimes it's about helping folks find their just-right fit for them, broadly, but also in whatever season of life that they're in.

  Lydia Kumar: I love that. And I can just imagine your dad doing cheerleader moves now, Alison. What a great anecdote and what an important thing as a leader to think about how do you help people see the person that they can become and kind of pour into that because that's what I'm hearing. Your family always gave you this confidence to believe that you could become whoever you needed to become or that person that existed inside of yourself, and you've been able to do that with students. You've been able to do that with folks you led, like me. When you, when we worked together, and I know that you're doing it now with superintendents and in your internal work with Chiefs for Change, as you've led in all of these different areas, what are some of the lessons that have proved timeless to you and the things that you continue to hold and to remember?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, yeah. Gosh, there are so many. And I had to learn very early on, you don't lose, you always learn. So just again, so many lessons, but some that really stick out to me is "slow down to speed up." I by nature am a problem solver. I by nature like to take very complex situations and figure them out. I find that I process fairly quickly, perhaps more quickly than others. And I can externally, verbally process that out loud. And what I've learned over time is that there is a great benefit in slowing down, in taking time to just pause, to assess, to really think through what's really happening here. Let's consider other perspectives. Let's examine our own perspective.

  And so that has just really held true and it quite honestly is something I have to remind and coach myself on constantly. I'm a very time-sensitive person, so I'm very self-aware. I know efficiency is really important to me. To some extent, certainty. So when is something going to happen? How am I going to schedule my day? How might I expect something to go well or fall apart? A lot of anticipation protocol. And yet again, this idea of slowing down has really proved to be really meaningful in my leadership because what I have found in slowing down oftentimes, the answers are revealed to you in that space. Whereas I could have worked toward and started putting pen to paper, trying to figure something out, and actually, the answers are in the space that I create between whatever I'm trying to solve for and where I am right now.

  Lydia Kumar: One thing that I think a lot about when it comes to generative AI is that it allows us to move fast, really fast. Like you have just shared, you're a naturally fast-moving person. You process fast. You like goals, you like time-bound things that you can work toward. And now we have this technology that allows fast people to move faster and everyone to move quickly. And so I'm curious for you about how are you navigating that as you've witnessed this tool and how it can help you move faster? How do you balance this knowledge that you have about the importance of slowing down when we have a tool that allows everybody to speed up?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah. My gosh. So in many ways, it's a jewel and I haven't quite found that it's a curse for me personally yet. But it has certainly been a blessing. And you know, I'm only about a year... I mean, I guess I don't know how long it's been around. I felt like I was a little late to the game. First, we were talking about this ChatGPT thing. I was like, what are you talking about? This was last year. I'm like, I have no idea. I don't know where to go to get that. Where do I get that? Is this Amazon? Right. Where am I going to get the ChatGPT?

  And so I feel like I'm very much a newbie, but I use it and I try it, and what I try to do in determining, you know, am I going to use this tool or not, is really assessing the purpose of what is it that I need, right? And what's the gravity of what I'm trying to figure out. I am a mother of two boys. So two little ones, a three and a five-year-old. I'm a wife. I work a full-time job. I'm the creator of THRIVE Life coaching. I have a lot of things on my plate. And so there are oftentimes that I just need some quick answers or I need to unpack and process something really quickly. And I have thought about the questions that I have. I haven't quite gotten to the step of the solution. But again, I kind of weigh the grain size of that thing to make sense of, hmm, is this something I want ChatGPT to help me with? Or is this something I just need to... I need to breathe, I need to sit, I need to take a walk. I need to think it through. And quite honestly, Lydia, that happens for me both personally and professionally, because I use it in both spaces.

  Lydia Kumar: Could you share an example about an effective way you've used it personally or an effective way you've used it professionally and how you knew this is like something I want to use ChatGPT for, or maybe something where you were like, oh, this is not where I would want to use this kind of technology.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I'll go a little lighthearted here, but I am constantly, you know, figuring out, as a 41-year-old woman, what can I do to get more energy, right? Like, what should I be eating? Like what, what's the right balance for me? And so I will often feed ChatGPT a lot of information, say, yep, I like this food, I don't like this food, help me make a meal plan, right? Something that is going to make sure I have energy to get through the day. Something that's quick. And so, personally, you know, I've used it in that way. I obviously don't, or maybe not so obviously, don't provide it a lot of personal information around just, you know, any medical conditions or anything of that nature. So not using it in that way, but it's just been a helpful tool. Again, decision fatigue is real. And so the amount of decisions that I have to make for my children, for my home, for work, being able to put something as simple in as like, help me come up with a meal plan for the week, this is what I have, makes it super, super helpful.

  I think on a professional side, you know, quite honestly, coming right back... so I was recently on a summer break. And quite honestly, the break was wonderful. I completely disconnected, but my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders. And I had a ton of emails I had to get through and I was typing the emails. They made sense, but they probably weren't my most polished work. And so, you know, I ran them through ChatGPT, said, "Hey, help me polish this a little bit," or, "help me make this more curious or more direct," to really hit that right tone. Again, as a person who moves quickly, sometimes I can be so focused on getting the thing done versus getting it done well. And so ChatGPT has been helpful in those ways.

  Lydia Kumar: Right. It can help you evaluate how your message is going to land. I think particularly for email writing, when your purpose is just to communicate something, you're not maybe trying to evoke an emotion. You're not necessarily trying to be persuasive. You're just like, "I need to set up the logistics of this event, and I need to say it in a way that's not confusing and we're both on the same page."

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Exactly.

  Lydia Kumar: I've found these tools so helpful for that specific task. Because you can spend a lot of time thinking about, how do I word this so that we'll both be on the same page? And you don't have to put as much mental energy into that, or you don't have to use your decision-making power to decide what meals to cook. You can use that in a way that feels more meaningful for you.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. If I can just add to Lydia, so my CEO read a book called Smart Brevity. And so, and I don't want to get it wrong, I think it's Axios, maybe. They're all connected. And so, you know, he read the book, he was super fired up. He was like, this is how we all need to be communicating. And so for me, I'm thinking, this is my boss. You're telling me this is how you want people to communicate with you, say less. Right. And so anytime I'm communicating with him, I'll write the thing because mind you, I'm on the other side of this. I'm a former English teacher, English major. Like I can get pretty lengthy with my words and get really detailed. I'm like, but hey, this is how he best receives information. And so oftentimes when I'm communicating, any communication that has him included, I will run it through ChatGPT to say, "Hey, put this in the smart brevity format." And it just helps me to quickly get what's needed. And again, I'm achieving the goal of me getting the information to him and him receiving it in a way that he knows exactly what to do with it.

  Lydia Kumar: Yeah. That makes so much sense. You're able to check those things off a list and spend your time in other ways. I want to kind of flip to the... you know, that's a very positive use of these tools. But I'm curious as you are a leader and you're a leader who leads leaders. And as a leader, you kind of have to navigate moments where you're vulnerable, you show up fully as yourself, and then there's moments where you have to make hard calls. ChatGPT is a great tool and I think there is a risk of leaders sounding overly robotic. I think sometimes people can tell a little bit when you've used AI to write something and I don't think it matters if you're planning logistics, but if you're talking about a crisis or something that's very stressful or complicated, it might not come off great. So how do you make those choices? How do you navigate that risk?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, it's sometimes really hard. Again, especially a person who wants to move fast, I want to work through the thing. And so, it's really first kind of working through like, is this a technical or an adaptive challenge, right? Is this something that we need to address, check off, and potentially move forward? Or is this something that really needs to... it's not one answer, right? There's no simple way to work through this.

  And you know, I'll start by actually sharing. I have had cases, again, I don't think it's a curse per se, but I've had cases where I've used ChatGPT and I've gotten feedback from, you know, to help me with leading a meeting or delivering some information and folks have said like, "Hey, that came off really robotic." And that was both the words in which I chose to use from ChatGPT, but also my affect as well. And so I say that to say, you know, even when using the tool, you still have to show up as human, right? You still have to show up as yourself.

  But I think in making the choice when to even invoke the use of ChatGPT, I think it really has to come down to what is it that you're seeking to address? What is it that you're seeking to discover through that conversation, if you're using it for a conversation or information, and recognizing that it's a tool. It's meant to support. It's not meant to be the end-all, be-all. And so you have to get really centered and clear with yourself and remember the human element and the authenticity of every single moment that you're engaging with people. Because here's the thing, people are not widgets, right? Everyone is not going to respond to you in the same way and what you choose to say, it's better to say really what's in your heart, because that's what you can stand by. I can't really stand by per se and defend words of ChatGPT. Right? But I can stand by what's in my heart and what I feel, which may sometimes be, "I don't have the answer." Right. Which for me as a leader can be really challenging to just say, "I don't know." Right. And ChatGPT isn't going to say that. ChatGPT is always going to give an answer, but part of being a leader is being open and vulnerable. And if we go back to some of my comments earlier, highest and best use. Right, knowing what your strengths are, knowing where you are uniquely positioned to lead and knowledge that you have. Just because an individual doesn't know a certain thing or they're not an expert in another thing, doesn't mean they're not a great leader. It just simply means they don't know that thing. And so being able to be really authentic with oneself and self-aware and being able to reveal that to others is hugely important when making a decision around how to use ChatGPT and when.

  Lydia Kumar: That resonates so strongly with me, Alison, because I could see especially young leaders who are stepping into a leadership position for the first time, or maybe you're wrestling with imposter syndrome and you have this tool that sounds so confident when you have a question, can make everything sound so good on paper. And you can read that and show up and have an answer. But you can risk being seen as robotic or not having authenticity or even saying something that's not right because ChatGPT says things very confidently, but it's not always right. And so I think we have to resist this temptation to... sometimes I think hard things show up that you don't want to deal with, or you don't want to figure out how to say yourself and you can put that into an AI tool and get an answer, or get a script or get an email. And that might be a helpful place for you to challenge your own thinking, but you have to still be present with the discomfort. You can't delegate your discomfort to ChatGPT.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Oh, so good. So good. Yes. You cannot delegate your discomfort. I love that.

  Lydia Kumar: And so that really feels present for you and what you're sharing. And we have to allow ourselves... I want to hear from you like, what does it mean to show up with your rough edges? I think ChatGPT can make you look really good, but what does it look like to show up, not be perfect in a high-visibility space and make that choice intentionally?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah. You know, I really think it looks like, as I mentioned before, being able to acknowledge where you don't have the answers. Where you name, "I'm working through this, I'm trying to figure it out." It also comes honestly sometimes with the unpolished solution, right? It's coming with, "This is as far as I got," and thinking about this, "this is really hard." It means showing up and allowing your emotions to show. It means showing up and plans not going the way that you had intended.

  Quite honestly, I had a presentation with my team today. Created, you know, beautiful PowerPoint, used ChatGPT a little bit for the activities, and they wanted to have more discussion. And you know what? I could not have been more happy. I think I was grinning so much. They were like, "Why is she so happy talking about development and finance right now?" And it was because I had created like a great plan, right? Using ChatGPT and these wonderful like, "Hey, I need this activity for five minutes. I need this for 10 minutes." And they're like, "No, we just want to talk." I'm like, "That is true deep engagement. Let's just talk." I said, "We don't need the rest. You have the PowerPoint. If you want to reference it, you are welcome to go back to it, but let's just talk." And so to me that is what showing up, in some ways with the rough edges, that even your best-laid plan, you have to be willing to release that, no matter what you put into it, just being present and being in the moment.

  Lydia Kumar: There's so much wisdom there, Alison. I want to move us to your coaching business and THRIVE where you're working with these high-achieving women who are seeking support. So I want to give you a chance to kind of talk a little bit about THRIVE as we move in here, so you can share whatever you want to. But then I want to hear about how you help women resist perfectionism while driving results. When you were telling us how do you develop that knowledge inside of you to know this plan may have looked perfect on paper, but it's not what's needed in the moment. And being willing to have that humility, that self-awareness, that ability to let go of your perfect plan that looks great to you on paper and step into the messiness of what's needed in the moment.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, THRIVE Life Coaching was developed at a time when I felt like I needed something like this. So, specifically THRIVE Life Coaching seeks to support, pretty explicitly, black and brown women who are navigating womanhood, motherhood, and career. And I found myself in a very unique position and space after I had my first son in 2020. So just two months before the pandemic and really trying to figure it all out. I had been a high-achieving professional for the duration of my career. Then throw in a newborn, then throw in a pandemic. And I think the moment that I was like, "Whoa, like I need... something is happening here," was I think, while at Public Impact, I was nursing my son while still engaging in a meeting. And in that moment it just all got to be a bit too much. And I think what I had observed through other women is this kind of idea of "you can have it all." Right. You can be the great mom, you can have the great career, you can do all the things. And I was like, "Whoa, I'm not really sure that that is what I want or if I can do that."

  And I know that's one particular narrative, but what I would also add to that is what I didn't feel like I heard being talked about enough is how do you just navigate that? And so I'm a huge advocate for therapy and I did have a therapist during that time and there was something different that I needed. I needed to really have a thought partner and someone to help me think through what are the various ways that this could look. And anyone who is a mother knows that there are different seasons of motherhood. So how this looks, it looks very differently depending if your child is a newborn, if they're an infant, when they're a toddler, when they're school age. And so that's what really prompted me to develop THRIVE Life Coaching.

  So when thinking about how I go about coaching high-achieving women to really resist this idea of perfectionism, I really think about helping them think through THRIVE as a framework. So T being transformation, right? What is it that you really see for yourself? What is the vision that you have for yourself? H being healthy habits, what are the healthy habits for you? For some people that is eating really healthy, for others, it is really making sure that they're running every day. But what do those healthy habits look like for you? R is rest. This idea that rest is not something you have to earn. Rest is something that your body needs. Rest is a rejuvenating key. I, really thinking about identifying your core values. So what matters most to you? A lot of folks will tell you what else matters to them, but you've got to get really clear what matters to you in this season, because core values, I believe, do change depending on the season. V is visualizing victory, right? So really seeing yourself achieve whatever it is and the life that you want to have. And E is enjoy. You've got to have some fun along the way. And so, I really try to help break down that perfectionism by really unpacking it and saying, there's a lot of dynamics, there's a lot of pieces to this. And depending on where you are in life, it's going to look different. So let's just really assess and take a beat, as I say, slow down to speed up, and really figure out what would make most sense for you in this moment to thrive and not just survive.

  Lydia Kumar: I love that, Alison, and it makes me think about how when you move to a different stage of life, when you go from not being a mother to being a mother, the environment you're in changes. So one day you were able to do all one set of things and now you're able to do some of those things because you have a whole huge other responsibility that's on your plate. So when I think about resisting perfectionism or just being able to show up as a human, part of that is like knowing you can't do it all. Part of it is you have to be really clear with yourself, what can you do?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: What can you do? And I'll add not just what can you do, 'cause I'm sure you can do it. What do you want to do? And what matters most to do right now. And that is really an internal, for a lot of folks, an internal conflict like, "Yeah, I can do this, but do I want to do that? And what's more important right now?" There have been things... I've gotten so good at saying no lately. And it makes me smile. And because I've gotten really clear around what matters most to me right now. And I read somewhere and I hate that I'm not able to attribute it, but you know, saying no allows you to basically remove a thousand decisions off of your plate because saying one yes oftentimes leads you to doing a whole host of things.

  Lydia Kumar: Absolutely. That's so smart. It also... to kind of loop us back to AI is with this technology, I think it's easy to tell yourself you can do so much more than you've ever done before, but the internal work takes the same amount of time.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Oh, yes. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I mean, the internal work is that mental gymnastics, right? It is just so... it can really leave you in a whirlwind. And so it's just so important just to be able to make sense of your own thoughts. And ChatGPT I think really can cloud that a little bit, right? You just kind of need to sit with yourself as a human and be able to be with oneself, right? And still have that ability to self-reflect on your own, to truly know what you think, to truly just like write pen to paper. There's a saying, "I write because it helps me to know what I'm thinking," and really engage in that. And in this world and age of technology that we have, we can constantly be putting things down that allows other people to get feedback on it. And actually, you don't need any feedback. You just need to sit with it yourself.

  Lydia Kumar: I love that. It makes me think of two things I've been reflecting on personally. One is the writing piece. I use ChatGPT and Gemini and all these tools all the time. For a while I was feeling like the written word didn't have as much value because it was so easy to generate and I got a little bit lazy. And so recently I have been picking up pen to paper because I think writing to know what I think and why I show up helps me articulate my thoughts more clearly. It helps me to show up in a more centered and authentic way, but it is so easy to disregard that when you can write a nice vision. The time it takes to internalize when you're writing and rewriting and wrestling, I think is really, really important.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, for sure, for sure.

  Lydia Kumar: The other thing is you're not as attached to your ideas when ChatGPT writes them. So we're more likely to just disregard things that are generated for us. And so you might come up with, alongside of ChatGPT or a tool, a hundred great ideas a day, but because you came up with a hundred great ideas, you didn't do anything with any of them because you're just moving... you're just like, oh, I can come up with another idea. So just that awareness too, when it's easy to come up with ideas, when it's easy to write things down, it can reduce the value and that reduced value can make it more difficult to make real progress.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And having a commitment to whatever it is that it's pumping out. And really again, it's this conversation with yourself like it's not removed. It's like, do I agree with that? Is that aligned to who I am? It looks good, but is that something I really want to say? Is that really how I want to move based on this advice and these words that ChatGPT is giving me?

  Lydia Kumar: Absolutely. It's really important to have that internal piece. And so it's cool that what you're doing with THRIVE Coaching gives people the opportunity to think about who they want to be as a leader and how you take care of yourself. I recently read that busyness causes cognitive decline, so just being really busy isn't necessarily who you want to be either.

  I am going to move us to thinking about the future. And so I know you said you've been using ChatGPT and AI for about a year now. And you know, the longest users have not been using it much more than that. It came out in late 2022. So when you think about the future, like five years ahead from now based on what you see right now, how do you think leaders can use AI while keeping humanity at the center? What are the things that we should consider because we can predict this technology will become even more advanced and central to how we work.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah. I think my prediction... you know, I haven't lived a long time, but I tend to see things kind of swing, right? The pendulum swings and my hope is that five years from now, the best and strongest leaders will be even more self-aware and reflective, and really have a clear sense of when and how to best use AI and won't be using it all the time. You know, one might imagine five years from now, AI might be integrated into everything we do. And I'm going to, again, totally age myself, right? Like there was a time like I was on dial-up internet and so like, you weren't getting on the internet just anytime, right? It was like, "Do I really need to get it?" 'cause you're going to hear that like noise and it's going to dial up. Now, internet is like, you've got to be super intentional about not getting on the internet via your phone or your laptop or whatever. And so one could assume that AI is going to be that way, that it's just going to be ever-present. But my hope and prediction is that five years ahead, the strongest AI-informed leaders are actually going to be individuals who say, "No, I don't need AI for that, and here's why." So that's my hope.

  Lydia Kumar: I love that. Okay, so I want to invite you to give our listeners a call to action. So what's a practical step folks can take tomorrow to lead more authentically?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: A practical step to lead more authentically. I'm going to say, get out of your head, get into your heart, and the strategy I suggest for one to do that is to step away from your computer. Get outside, get some fresh air, get some sunshine. It is something that I try to do every single day. So any listener who is tasked with making decisions after decision after decision, who is working to solve really, really hard problems, I encourage you to step away, get out of your head, get out of your seats, get from in front of the screen, get outside. Take a walk, get some fresh air, get some sunshine.

  Lydia Kumar: I love that making space. And who knows what will happen when your brain has time to kind of unclench and unfurl and things can bump into each other when there's space. Okay, my close. I love to close on this question because I think AI is a big topic that people can be excited about or concerned about. And so I want to close with this. What question or idea about AI is keeping you up at night or driving your curiosity or making you feel hopeful?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: Yeah, absolutely. So I am an educator through and through. So while I have not been in a classroom for many, many years, and not been a principal now for almost 10 years, I often think about how children learn. And now more recently, how my own children are learning in daycare, but as they begin to enter into the K-12 system. And so what keeps me up at night, and I'm so curious about is, gosh, so many things. But how are we preparing our teachers and principals and educators to teach children who are going to have this at their fingertips? And do the standards that we have, are they best suited for what we are hoping to develop our children for? And even as I ask that question, I quite honestly feel like I'm giving so much power to school systems and so much power to those who create the standards. And so I put the question back on myself, right? How do I help orient my children to AI, right? And what it is and how it can be a useful tool. And what perhaps we should not use AI for. Those are the things I'm thinking about. You know, again, my children are three and five. I didn't really know what the internet was until I was maybe like 13. And so just like how do we make it make sense for little minds? And what is it, how should they be learning about this in an age-appropriate way that's going to be developmentally appropriate, but build and scaffold for them as they grow through their educational journey?

  Lydia Kumar: I love that. I think about the almost soft skills that we need, the grit to make the choice to do the hard thing. Learning is hard. Learning is uncomfortable. And so when you have this tool that can make the, you know, produce the thing without the learning, what does that mean? And how do we... this is a tool that I think can be used to help your thinking. And there are studies that show like, if you use it in some ways, you can think critically, you can grow. And if you use it in these other ways, you're really just putting your brain on a shelf and not going to learn what you need to learn. So those are big questions and I really appreciate you surfacing those.

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: You are welcome.

  Lydia Kumar: Okay. Well that is my last question. Is there any last thought that you want to leave on or anything you're dying to say or share?

  Dr. Alison Harris Welcher: I've just really enjoyed this conversation. I appreciate you just creating space for me to bring all parts of me. And so even in how you have framed this conversation, Lydia, set it up, I just truly appreciate you allowing me to bring my authentic self and always as a mother, as a career woman, with my hopes and fears and rough edges. So thank you.

  Lydia Kumar: That was such an insightful conversation with Dr. Alison Harris. A huge thank you to her for sharing her journey and her thoughtful approach to leadership in the age of AI. I was particularly struck by her wisdom on slowing down to speed up, the crucial balance between efficiency and authenticity when using AI, and her hopeful vision for a future where leaders leverage technology with greater self-awareness and intention.

  Continuing our exploration of what it means to lead thoughtfully in the age of AI, join me next time on Kinwise Conversations for a chat with Jim Cobb, founder and CEO of the Bloodhound Branding Group. Jim is a proven brand and marketing leader with over 40 years of experience applying neuroscience to brand meaning and customer emotional engagement. You won't want to miss his insight on how AI is reshaping brand strategy and consumer experience.

  To dive deeper into today's topics with Alison, I put everything for you in one place. Just head over to the resource page for this episode at kinwise.org/podcast. There you'll find the full transcript, more about Alison's work with Chiefs for Change and THRIVE Life Coaching, and a list of prompts and resources inspired by our conversation. For the leaders and teams listening, if Alison's insights have you thinking about how to build a real AI strategy for your own work, I invite you to learn more about the Kinwise Pilot program. We partner with organizations to create practical, human-centered professional development and policies that empower your team to use these tools with confidence and care. You can learn more at kinwise.org/pilot.

  I hope this discussion has encouraged you wherever you are on your own AI path. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe and consider leaving a review. It truly helps other thoughtful listeners find us. You can learn more about how to approach AI with intention, explore resources, and join the Kinwise collective by visiting kinwise.org. And if you or someone you know is doing interesting work at the intersection of AI and humanity and has a story to share, we'd love to hear from you. Until next time, stay curious, stay grounded, and stay kinwise.

• Connect and Resources

  I hope you enjoyed hearing Dr. Alison Harris Welcher’s wisdom on nurturing human potential and leading with authenticity in the age of AI. If her perspective resonated with you and you’re ready to keep learning from her work, here’s where you can connect:

  Chiefs for Change – Official Bio: See how Alison drives strategy for this national network of bold, equity-minded superintendents and state chiefs, and explore the initiatives she’s shaping to support K-12 leaders. https://www.chiefsforchange.org/team/alison-harris-welcher/

  THRIVE Life Coaching: Discover her one-on-one and group coaching programs designed to help high-achieving Black and Brown women balance career, motherhood, and personal growth, so they can truly thrive. Explore THRIVE Life Coaching

  Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Alison’s professional journey and reflections on educational equity, leadership, and purposeful use of technology. Connect on LinkedIn
  

  Follow on Instagram: Get practical tips, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of her coaching practice at @THRIVElifecoaching

• Prompts inspired by Alison

  1. To support clarity and leadership communication:
  “Rewrite this email to reflect a ‘smart brevity’ style that’s concise but clear, keeping a tone of curiosity and professionalism. Here's the draft: [insert email].”

  2. For reducing decision fatigue in busy seasons of life:
  “Create a weekly meal plan that balances energy and nutrition for a busy working mom. I like [list foods], dislike [list foods], and want meals that take less than 30 minutes to prepare.”

  3. To slow down and reflect before acting too quickly:
  “I’m facing a leadership decision and want to explore different perspectives before acting. Help me list questions I should ask myself to slow down and consider the emotional and strategic layers of this challenge.”

  4. For preparing authentic team meeting content:
  “I want to lead a team discussion focused on development and engagement—not just deliver a slide deck. Suggest 2–3 reflective prompts or small group discussion questions based on the topic of [insert topic] that invite vulnerability and insight.”

  5. To strengthen values alignment in personal or coaching work:
  “Help me identify and clarify my top five core values based on these priorities in my current season: [insert your priorities]. Then suggest one practical way to honor each value in the coming week.”