JULY 2026 Even as AI reshapes how we work, Jay Shetty has a different kind of edge in mind, one that has nothing to do with software. Shetty, bestselling author and host of the “On Purpose” podcast, took the stage at Ingram Micro ONE recently to make the case for what he calls “connected thinking” and why it may be the most important leadership skill you can develop right now. “In an age where it feels like technology is in charge, I want to talk about the power of human connection,” he said. “Becoming a connected thinker is not only important, it’s necessary.” A connected thinker, in Shetty’s words, is someone who can think as broadly and deeply as they choose. The leaders who do it best share one trait: They spot connections across departments, industries and markets that everyone else misses. So, how do you get there? Shetty laid out four mindsets. Mindset 1: Community Most leaders think about building a strong network. Shetty pushes that further. It’s not about how many people you know; it’s about how different they are from each other. “When you know lots of people who know each other, you create an echo chamber,” he said. “Your ability to be innovative, impactful and creative is reduced.” If you’re e-mailing the same five people and bouncing ideas off the same group chat, you’re not stretching your thinking. You’re reinforcing it. A connected thinker actively seeks out perspectives that don’t already match their own. Mindset 2: Coach Great leaders don’t lead everyone the same way. Shetty broke the room into four personality types: Doers, who live by deadlines and results; Inspirers, who run on energy and ideas; Perfectionists, who want precision above all else; and Supporters, who lead with empathy and care. Each needs to be spoken to differently. “If I don’t learn to speak that language, I’m making it harder to lead,” Shetty said. The leaders who get this right don’t just manage people. They bring out what each person does best. Mindset 3: Childlike Ask a group of kids to draw 30 unique circles in 30 seconds and you’ll get soccer balls, bubble wrap, clocks and faces. Ask adults, and you’ll get circles numbered 1–30. Somewhere along the way, the creative brain gets overruled by the logical one. Shetty’s challenge to leaders is to find ways to bring that curiosity back into meetings, into problem-solving and into the way you view your business. “It’s fascinating what happens when you tap into that childlike mind,” he said. Innovation lives there. Mindset 4: Coder The founder of Pokémon Go didn’t set out to build a tech phenomenon. He wanted to get his kids outside, the way his own father once got him outside. The technology served a deeply human purpose. That’s Shetty’s point about AI more broadly. “All we can do is humanize the way we use it and what we use it for,” he said. “The machine becomes us. We can’t be scared of anything we created.” At a time when it’s easy to feel that humans are becoming less relevant, Shetty’s argument runs in the opposite direction. The four mindsets he outlines map directly onto the skills predicted to matter most by 2030: problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and people management. The leaders who will thrive alongside AI aren’t the ones who out-tech it. They’re the ones who stay relentlessly, unapologetically human. LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF AI: JAY SHETTY ON THE POWER OF CONNECTED THINKING CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT If your day runs on conversations, this changes how you keep up. The Plaud Note Pro is credit-card thin, but what sets it apart is the “press to highlight” button — tap it during a meeting and the AI prioritizes that exact moment later. It records from up to 16 feet away, auto-detects calls versus in-person conversations and turns everything into structured summaries, tasks and insights. SHINY NEW GADGET OF THE MONTH Plaud Note Pro Capture Every Conversation, Skip The Notes The Tech Cumulus Technology That Works! • 844-KLOUD9IT (556-8394) • 3
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.