Power Is Measured by Execution: Leadership, AI, and the Future of Institutions | Joel Klemmer

We live in a world where artificial intelligence is advancing faster than ever. Governments are racing through modernised, businesses are investing in the advanced into new technology, leaders talk about innovation every day. But here is the question, if the technology is getting smarter, why do so many organisations struggle to execute? Why do great strategies fail? Why do capable institutions break down? And what happens when AI amplifies the broken systems instead of fixing them? To this conversation isn't just about technology, it's about leadership, it's about institutions, it's about execution. Welcome to Bond before the algorithm. Hello everyone. And welcome back to Bond before the algorithm, the podcast where it's blow, what it means to our group or before AI smartphones and algorithms shaped everyday life. And how we adapt to a feature driven by technology why staying deeply human. I'm your host Vickery and each episode I sit down with entrepreneurs, innovators, executives, authors and thought leaders who are helping us understand the future why preserving the values that technology can never replace. To this guest and spends his career, we business, strategy, government technology and leadership collide. From national defence and veterans, health care, supply chains, educations, procurement and artificial intelligence, he's worked inside some of the most complex organisations imaginable and learned one lesson that applies everywhere. Power means nothing without execution. The first thing I want to say is that today is Joel Clemer, executive entrepreneur author, military veteran and procurement leader, whose career spans private enterprise, national defence, healthcare, infrastructure, technology education and government. This is career Joel has helped transform complex organisations, exercise unlimited federal constructing, contracting authority, lead large teams and advice institutions responsible for billions of dollars in operations. He's also the best selling author of strategy, symmetry, infinite potential leadership, institutional excellence and the procurement revolution where he explores leadership, organisational design, artificial intelligence, supply chains and why even highly capable institutions sometimes fail to deliver. Today we'll explore what leadership really means in an AI-driven world. Why execution matters more than vision alone and how organisations can thrive without losing the human judgement that technology can never replace. So Joel, welcome to the show. Thank you for the wonderful underdog chance. Good to be here. Wonderful, Joel. You know, every guest that is broadcast begins with the same question. So when you hear the phrase "bon" before I look at him, what does it mean to you? You know, it kind of makes me think of growing up where I would go to my great-grandmother's house and she would have this phone where you put your finger in it and you made that turn and then have to let it go. You know, I would used to go over into our basement and play with the typewriter. But I remember when computers were essentially just getting started. And so now you look at it and within a few seconds you can do things that are extremely complex that would take teams of months of planning. It could be done in just a few short prompts. So I would say that's a little bit of what I think of when I think of born before the algorithm. Amazing perspective, Joel. Amazing perspective. So you've said something I find fascinating. So organizations really feel because they look smart or they lack smart people. They feel because execution breaks down. So tell us more about that, Joel. Sure. So, you know, I like to look at it from the other side. If you were a business owner and you were looking to make money, bring value to your company, are you looking and going out and trying to find the most unintelligible people, the people that don't want to do work? Of course you wouldn't. So that is the entire reason there's interviews. That's the entire reason there's credentials and a resume and you go through an entire process that's vetting. You know, and there's different layers. Now they have behavioral studies and psychology studies to just make sure that you're a good fit. So you're going through this gigantic vetting process. So you're going to find the best available person within your area and finding that mutual fit. Right. Someone who's going to bring value to you and hopefully you bring value to that individual. And so if they're focused on getting the best, why do we have? Why do we have people failing? Right. And so a lot of times when you dig down, it can be a few reasons. But a lot of times it'll go back to either the systems or the individuals. And so that's where I've published several books where it could be the leadership above. Whether they're lacking principles, not bringing you to the fullest potential. Maybe not addressing, you know, different things that people need. Or it's the systems themselves. You know, people get burnt out. And maybe they're hard working. But they're not. They're not really making an impact because there's a lot of busy work. There's a lot of paperwork. There's a lot of maybe barriers for them to be successful. And that friction point causes them to be burnt out. I think the best example is when I came to the school district. I had a team who was very, very much, you know, kind of burnt out. And so we looked at it and there wasn't clear workflows. There wasn't clear guidelines. There wasn't clarity. There wasn't accountability. And so it was building these frameworks in these systems. And now they know exactly what's expected of them. They know how to succeed. And they are flourishing better than they ever have before. And so it just comes to show that, you know, once you work out those kinks and you really have kind of a fine tuned engine, you could really bring people to their full six extension. The fullest potential. Amazing response. You're amazing. Stojo, what's the difference between being busy and actually given results? I'll go back to the last example, right? So, Gallimacanly schools does around 10,000 purchase orders a year. And so somebody will request something that could be anywhere from a pencil to clothes and shoes for the students. We live in a very high poverty rate where the school doesn't just provide education. It provides really lifelines to these students. And so somebody will request it. And then you'll go through the process to order it, get it to a vendor and try to get it to, you know, back to the school, back to the teacher, back to the coach or whoever that individual that needed those items. And so there's a lot of administration. There's just a lot of paperwork. You're printing a lot of paperwork. It's going through a lot of reviews. There's a lot of people touching it. There's no clear guidelines as to how it's approached. So each and every individual kind of has their say. And so when you create these frameworks and say, this is, this is what I expect. Right? This is what I want to see on there. And then not only do I want you to kind of go away from all the paperwork. for that, but I want you to get involved. I want you to get involved with the stakeholders, the end users. I want you to start going out to the vendors, start making strategic partnerships. And because we're in such a rural area, if we can't find somebody, I want you to find the best of class. And so these individuals have been going out and we have been getting, you know, the area maybe has very few vendors that can really produce the high quality results or the prices that we need them. And a lot of times in this type of area, it's kind of out of reach for some of the larger enterprise companies. Well, because we've been building these strategic relationships, now we have these global companies coming in and giving us great quality at a great price and giving these students that desperately need more support than they ever have. And what that took is to stop spending all your day, all your time on paperwork. We have technology, automate that and start focusing on what AI can't replace. And that's relationships, that strategic vision, that's critical thinking. And it has paid off within the millions in just a few short months. Wow. And you know, Joe, everyone is talking about AI. But you've argued that AI won't much calyfix broken organizations. So can you explain that for the listeners, Joe? Sure. Now there's different types of AI, right? So you have governance AI, you have a a gemic AI, you have generative AI. And so obviously it depends on which one we're discussing. But for instance, if I put in, please give me a paper that will help me purchase a bandaid. And it will give you a response, an AI response that's very friendly. And very ambiguous. It may give you a gigantic bandaid that covers your entire knee. Or it might give you the little, you know, tiny dot that is meant for, you know, a small time. But if I give the input for that same example, and I'm saying I'm looking for a three inch by half a bench for a two centimeter by four centimeter bandaid. I'm looking for it to be waterproof. I'm looking for it to hold up for during rough conditions. I wanted at a price point that is below MSRP, but not below manufacturing rate. I'm looking for something domestically purchased and I'm looking for something with the capacity of over 10,000 in order. I'm now giving it very specific inputs. And so I'm going to get that quality out of it. And it's the same tool. But you have to use it the right way. And so I think a lot of times, you know, it is an absolute great tool, but all it's doing is amplifying whatever you put in it. And so you have to really kind of define what it is that you're looking to get out of it, really defined whether it's those prompts or those workflows. And then also you want to make sure that it has good data in it as well. You know, some will pull just from the internet and and you can get a lot of bad information. You know, if it's not secure, people can essentially jailbreak your AI agent. No, obviously a lot of the larger ones have protection on that, but let's say you have your internal learning model where it can be, you know, changed. And so you just want to make sure that you have those those governance, you have the workflows, you have really, really good things coming in it and producing a good output. Otherwise, you know, you'll ask for a band-aid and you'll wind up getting the helmet. So, Joe, here's a good lot of question on that. What jobs do we, AI, improve, what are then replaced? So this one's actually pretty personal. I have a younger sister and my sister was a photographer. Some of the largest companies in the world, everything from large drink companies to airlines and very, very successful. And she eventually got off actually taking the photos and she went to photo editing. So a lot of major magazines, you would probably see some of the photos that she would have done and have edited. Well, her job has been completely replaced by AI because within a few seconds you could put it in a prompt and get some of the best quality that you could put on a magazine or on a billboard or produce it in a major marketing ad. And so there is a lot of certain things that AI has been replacing as far as jobs. But that's been every generation. Right? I mean, there was a generation where blacksmiths were replaced. There was a generation when people that made horse and buggy, bugs were replaced. This is part of evolving into a more technological space. And then again, it's really finding how you can utilize these tools to give you the greatest output because if she could maybe transfer that, having all that knowledge, having a college background and a portfolio of a lot of experience, if she was to help this tool get better, it wasn't it wouldn't replace it, it would just make the tool better. So you really have to kind of find where it is that you can be productive and have a good output. Amazing response once again, Joy. So you've led people in government, defense, healthcare, education and privacy business. So what have all those environments told you about leadership? Sure. Leadership is not a title. Leadership is making decisions. Yeah. When you look at the government, especially in the Department of Funds, it is a military organization. And so you have a hierarchy and you have people that have titles in ranks that are above you. And it doesn't mean to be disrespectful to them. It doesn't mean that you have to fight at the end of the day you follow what's being said. But those individuals at some point have to make a decision. And so what I found out is I have started, I moved from the private sector. I was a senior leader in Manhattan in New York City. And I moved to one of the lowest positions in the government. And I'm glad I did. It was a great experience. But I got to start from basically towards the bottom and work it up. And what I realized is it doesn't matter if you're all the way at the bottom of the pay grade or all the way at the top of the pay grade, everybody's reporting to somebody. And most people don't want to make that decision. People don't want to make that risk. People don't want adverse reaction. They just want to go in and see what they can do for the minimum so that they can make it to another day and maybe one day get into a retirement. And that's not leadership. Leadership is where you make these decisions. And there may be risk involved. And maybe you don't have all the information. But you're taking objective steps to make sure that you're leading people. And you're making an impact. And you're trying to get what's better. And it's hard. It's extremely hard. It is a whole lot of easier to clock in and put your head down. But we need leaders, especially in today's world. We just have so many people that will give you sound bites. And they'll give you a good speech. Or they'll they'll do a good job complaining about the other side. But we need some people to step up as leaders and actually lead. Take the risks and maybe you make a mistake and that's okay. We'll learn from it and we'll move forward. But we have to drive change. because let's face it, this world needs it. Definitely does, Joe. Definitely does. So why do some leaders lose the trust of their themes? It's very simple. I would say it would follow a couple different things. The easiest way to lose trust is to be selfish. If you're after your next position, if you're after trying to make yourself look good and take all the problems and blame on others, that's toxic leadership. That's not a leader. That's someone given a title that should be fired. And I know there's a lot of leaders that would hate me for saying that. But honestly, those should be the people that are unemployed. Because that's not how you lead. And all you're doing is sacrificing relationships and sacrificing trust. And at the end of the day, you're sitting somewhere at the top and nobody wants to work for you. Nobody wants to come into work. They may be setting outside in the parking lot, trying to figure out some excuse not to come in. But maybe they have bills at home that they have to pay. That's not, that's not being a leader. That's being a bully. And so, you know, on the opposite side, a lot of times it's, there's no clarity. And so, most companies, most organizations have a strategic vision, where they should. And if they don't, it's something to focus on, right? They should have a North Pole. This is where we're going. This is what we want to become. This is what's important to the organization. But then leaders aren't aligning themselves with it. And so, everyone that is essentially in their wake has to determine how do I fit in this organization? I'm not really sure, you know, what's important. I don't really know how to do things because it's not clear. And that's really where the system's coming. If you have clarity and say, hey, every week I need this report. Here's a template on the report. Here are some examples of the report. If you have any questions, you need any help? Let me know. I'm there to support you. This is why we need this report. This is how it goes up the chain and why it's so important for leadership. Because at the end of the day, this is what drives X, Y and Z. That is essentially where good leadership comes in. And then people understand why they're there and want to work for the organization or at least, you know, if you have someone who cares about the organization will try to do their best to make that happen. Definitely, definitely. So this podcast is called Bond for the algorithm because every guest has experienced life before to these AI during the world. So if you could go back before smartphones, before I see any intelligence before I glue this and speak to your younger self, what's one advice that you give to yourself that would come in change the way you think about leadership technology and success. So I could admit that when I was in my early 20s, I was that selfish leader. I would really make sacrifices, whether that would be friendships, relationships, people in my life, even family members. Sometimes even employees so that I can get ahead. And although that worked, I was in my mid 20s and I was a senior leader. It wasn't fulfilling and honestly, it wasn't that impressive. And there's nobody there to celebrate with you. And it just makes you more alone and more fragmented for relationships. And so if I could go back and tell my younger self, I would say dream big. And make a gosh darn good impact that will impact a lot of people in the state of the course because it's tough. I mean, I am so grateful for some of the mentors that helped me to challenge me to read to challenge me to look at regulations. And the people who were able to assist me throughout my career. And you know, it's not easy. But when you have those people in your corner and you're really trying to go for, for, you know, something that makes an impact, it's a lot easier because you're doing as a team and you don't have to do it alone. Amazing advice, Joe. So Joe, thank you very much for joining me today. This has been an incredibly insightful conversation. You know, about leadership, execution, as scientific intelligence, institution, trust. And what is truly takes to build organizations that last in one of my last take a risk with this. Technology can accelerate process, both strong leadership, their systems, and discipline, execution, control vision into lasting results. So as AI continues to achieve business and governments, perhaps our greatest challenge isn't building smarter machines. It's building stronger institutions and better leaders. Thank you very much for sharing your experience and wisdom with us today. And so, Joe, for any one listening right now, who is who, conversation as resonated with and would love to know more about you. Where can my listeners find you? I'm pretty active on LinkedIn. I try, I'm a part of a lot of associations. And so if you're part of professional associations, please stop by. Come see me. As far as maybe you're in a place where you're not in those circles, my books are available in most major bookstores across the kind of well globally. And so everything from Walmart, Bards and Nobles, books of million and most major bookstores. And you could really kind of get my insights there. Otherwise, feel free to reach out to me. And I'll do my best to get back. Nice injury. So if you'd enjoyed this episode of Bond before the algorithm, don't forget to follow the podcast. Give a review and share this episode with someone passionate about leadership, innovation, business or the future of work. Remember, technology may change the tools we use. Both character, leadership, discipline and execution, who always define the future. I'm vitri and this has been Bond before the algorithm. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and never stop learning.