S2E1- How to Empower Your Leadership Skills with AI
In this Season 2 premiere of Blade to Greatness, hosts Ricardo Belmar & Casey Golden sit down with renowned leadership coach and author April Sabral to explore how AI is transforming leadership in retail. Far from replacing leaders, AI is exposing poor leadership behaviors while empowering those who lead with curiosity, adaptability, and transparency. April shares insights from her new book Positive Accountability for Teams and explains why the future isn’t AI vs. people — it’s AI plus people.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why AI is exposing leadership failures, not just process gaps
Why curiosity will replace control as the defining leadership trait
The three essential leadership skills for the AI era: curiosity, ideation, and agency
How to train humans and machines together for better outcomes
Why adaptability and transparency are non-negotiable for future leaders
How small retail businesses can use AI to compete with enterprise brands
The role of positive accountability in driving change management
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Guest Spotlight:
April Sabral — Leadership coach, author of Positive Accountability for Teams, and founder of RetailU and Ask April AI. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilsabral/
April Sabral is a leadership and mindset expert, bestselling author, and founder of Ask April AI, an AI-powered coaching and training platform designed to support retail, hospitality, and service-based business owners. With over 30 years of experience leading teams at iconic global brands such as Starbucks, Gap, Banana Republic, and DAVIDsTEA, April has trained thousands of managers to become confident, people-focused leaders. Her proven leadership system, The Positive Effect, has been embraced by top brands including Jimmy Choo, Tory Burch, Sunglass Hut, Victoria’s Secret, and Psycho Bunny. Her bestselling book by the same name was named a Top Global Retail Book by the National Retail Federation in 2025 and is featured in the Forbes Leadership Library.
April has the only coaching certification in the retail industry that certifies leaders and coaches to train and license her proven methods, which is launching this fall.
April is also the Executive Director of the Design District Chamber of Commerce in Miami, where she combines her passion for retail with community leadership. She has been named a Rethink Retail Top Global Retail Expert for three consecutive years (2022–2025) and is on a mission to positively impact one million leaders worldwide through practical business tools and mindset transformation.
Learn more at www.AskApril.ai. & www.aprilsabral.com
About your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter and elevate your retail leadership skills::
Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.
Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T.
Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Swag, Tag and Brag from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.
Transcript
00:00:01 --> 00:00:04 April Sabral: If AI exposes the same breakdowns repeatedly,
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 it's probably not the process.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:08 It's probably the leader.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:14 you've really got to have a mindset shift and stop fearing it as competition
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 and start treating it as a teammate that amplifies your human strengths.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 Ricardo Belmar: Instead, she's flipping the script.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:24 AI is exposing poor leadership and empowering the ones who know
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 how to inspire, adapt, and evolve.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 Casey Golden: It's AI plus people.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:34 And leaders who can train both will be the ones who thrive.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:39 April Sabral: I think curiosity as a leadership skill will replace control.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:45 In this AI generated world, because the leaders who thrive won't be
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 the ones who know every answer.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 They'll be the ones who know how to ask better questions
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 of both humans and machines.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 Ricardo Belmar: Welcome back to Blade to Greatness, the podcast
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 where retail leaders sharpen their edge one skill at a time.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:07 I'm Ricardo Belmar.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:09 Casey Golden: And I'm Casey Golden.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 This season we're diving deeper into the traits that separate a
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 good leader from the great ones.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 And today's episode might be redefining what leadership
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 looks like in the age of AI.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 Ricardo Belmar: Our guest today is April Sabral renowned leadership
00:01:24 --> 00:01:28 coach, author, and her most recent book, Positive Accountability for
00:01:28 --> 00:01:33 Teams, and Founder of Retail U and Ask April AI, who's here to challenge the
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 narrative that AI is replacing leaders.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:37 Instead, she's flipping the script.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:43 AI is exposing poor leadership and empowering the ones who know
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 how to inspire, adapt, and evolve.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 Casey Golden: April shares how AI is leveling the playing field for small
00:01:49 --> 00:01:54 businesses, giving them access to tools once reserved only for big brands.
00:01:54 --> 00:02:00 And she reveals why the future isn't AI versus people.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 It's AI plus people.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:07 And leaders who can train both will be the ones who thrive.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:11 Ricardo Belmar: If you're ready to lead with vision, not fear, and to embrace
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 the tech that's reshaping retail.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 This episode is your wake up call.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 Now, before we jump in, I just have one quick ask of our listeners and viewers.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 If you like our show, please consider giving us a five star rating and
00:02:23 --> 00:02:27 drop a quick review on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or Goodpods.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:29 We really appreciate your support.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 Casey Golden: That's right, and we would be remiss if we didn't drop
00:02:33 --> 00:02:37 a quick plug for the other shows in the Retail Razor Podcast Network.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 Please do yourself a favor and go check 'em out.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:44 The Retail Razor Show, Retail Transformers, and Data Blades.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:49 If you're on Apple Podcasts, just search for the Retail Razor channel and you'll
00:02:49 --> 00:02:53 find 'em all, or put a face to our names and visit our YouTube channel.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:54 Ricardo Belmar: Okay.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 With that said, let's get into the episode.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 Casey Golden: April, welcome back to another Blade to Greatness.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 It's always such a treat to have you on the show.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:08 April Sabral: Thank you.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 I'm so excited to be here.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:11 I love this show.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 Ricardo Belmar: Well, it's always great to have you on especially since
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 you recently helped us kick off our new Retail Transformers podcast.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 You've got your new recently released book, Positive Accountability for Teams.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 I've got my copy and I'm really enjoying that.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 So really, really wonderful to have you today.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:28 April Sabral: Thank you.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:32 Ricardo Belmar: So today you're here to talk about a really important topic.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 It's incredibly timely, I think, for every retail leader and something I'm sure every
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 leader's hopefully, deeply thinking about.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:42 And that's the future of AI in leadership and how AI can
00:03:42 --> 00:03:43 really give leaders an edge.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 So tell us how leaders should be looking at AI.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 April Sabral: Yeah, I think leaders should be looking at AI as the assistant,
00:03:51 --> 00:03:57 their companion, their coach, their problem solving partner, and as a tool
00:03:57 --> 00:04:02 to help them get clarity, get clear on things when they're solving things
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 and really looking at as a partner.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:05 We use it every day.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 And when I'm coaching leaders, I was just coaching somebody this
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 week on it and they were struggling with just a clear job description.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 I was like, well, hold on, let's look at what you have.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:15 Let's put it in.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:21 Let's see what the market determines that job would be, and let's get really help
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 it get really clear because I think people struggle with language and communication.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 We've seen that 'cause we train people all day on communication.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 So I think you can see it as a partner, an assistant whatever.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:35 As long as it's like helping you with your job, maximize your
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 performance, that's where I think you can use it very, very well.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, that makes sense.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 That totally makes sense.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:45 So if we think about how a retail leader should measure, for example, if, if AI
00:04:45 --> 00:04:51 is either helping 'em expose leadership failures versus process gaps, I mean,
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 are there specific behaviors or, or metrics that leader should be looking for
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 that might trigger an action for that?
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 April Sabral: Yeah, I think here's the test.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:05 If AI exposes the same breakdowns repeatedly, it's probably not the process.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:06 It's probably the leader.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 And so a temporary gap might be a system glitch.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:12 We've all seen that, right?
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 If something's not performing, something's not getting done.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 But a leadership failure is when you see.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:23 Behavior gaps like miscommunication, lack of follow through, or poor
00:05:23 --> 00:05:28 accountability behaviors showing up across different tools and metrics.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 I think you have to look at response times.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 You have to look at completion rates on things and how quickly a team adapts.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:41 So if the tech works, but the people resist, you've definitely got a
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 leadership gap, not a process gap.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:44 Does that make sense?
00:05:45 --> 00:05:45 Ricardo Belmar: That makes sense.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:46 Yeah.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:51 So April what does it look like when leaders successfully train humans and
00:05:51 --> 00:05:55 machines together, which I know is something you, you've talked about before.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 You know, what are the mindset shifts that are needed to really lead in
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 that kind of a, a hybrid environment?
00:06:01 --> 00:06:05 April Sabral: I think leaders have to have a curious mindset.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:11 I think curiosity as a leadership skill will replace control.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:17 In this AI generated world, because the leaders who thrive won't be
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 the ones who know every answer.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 They'll be the ones who know how to ask better questions
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 of both humans and machines.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:33 You have to be very, very curious and be able to iterate with AI and ask
00:06:33 --> 00:06:37 questions of it to get the best out of it, and that's a human condition.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:41 As a leader, that is always lacking.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 I mean, we see it in accountability where leaders are just directing
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 and not clarifying, right?
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 Clarifying is curiosity.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:54 So curiosity will definitely have to replace control.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 And then secondly, I think adaptability.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:02 AI changes really, really fast and so must your style.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 Ambiguity is something that I learned and developed as I grew in my leadership
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 role from being a store manager to being a senior vice president.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 We didn't have all the answers all the time for everything, and
00:07:13 --> 00:07:18 we had to live in this world of ambiguity and just getting curious.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 So you have to also add in the last one, which is transparency.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:30 If you are hiding decisions or using AI in a non-transparent way, I think
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 AI will expose your gaps as a leader.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:37 I think the future leaders will lead with data, but also with trust.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:42 And so that trust is gonna be built on having a curious mindset, asking the
00:07:42 --> 00:07:47 questions, showing up with adaptability, and then sharing transparently
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 with how you are using it to get to those answers, and then teaching
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 other people how to do that too.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, so it's really about, I mean, everyone on the same page.
00:07:56 --> 00:08:00 Working together, sharing that trust and the data, but obviously, you
00:08:00 --> 00:08:04 know, be keeping everyone up to date in the team as well as from leaders
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 to team on just what's happening and where AI is bringing that benefit.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:08 April Sabral: Yeah.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:12 And I think, three skills that I, I think I was just talking to a leader about
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 this the other day, is like ideation.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 Curiosity agency.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:20 These are three skills that I think are gonna be really, really important in the
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 future workforce that we're gonna have to train people on actually as leaders,
00:08:23 --> 00:08:28 because curiosity, leadership trait, human trait, you've got to ask questions.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:33 Ideation, hello, like you've gotta be asking questions and ideating all day.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 And then agency.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:36 Because you own it.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 Like you have to have agency, how you show up and in interact
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 with AI and with people, right?
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 It's, it's ownership.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 I think that's where it comes back to accountability too.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 Casey Golden: This has to be a lot with an organization's culture and, and
00:08:51 --> 00:08:57 changing that culture from managers and leaderships being very task oriented.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 To really people coaching.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:03 How does that look as you can't have one leader moving forward this
00:09:03 --> 00:09:09 direction and then not be meeting these KPIs or have different ways
00:09:09 --> 00:09:14 of measuring growth or success if everybody's not really on board yet.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 April Sabral: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right?
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 Like you have to be, again, and this is why I think positive
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 accountability is so important.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 It's not, not here to just talk about that.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:29 But I think the steps involved in that are so crucial because, have
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 to become coaches in this new era.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 We have to become approaching leading others with a training mindset.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 And we have to discover and ask those questions of what's holding them back.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 And we have to also assume that there is resistance there.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:48 Because there is, and if we are not peeling back those layers and
00:09:48 --> 00:09:53 considering that in the workforce, we're never gonna adopt change
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 effectively and positively, right?
00:09:56 --> 00:10:01 So whether it's ai, whether it's, a new tool, whether it's a new, policy,
00:10:01 --> 00:10:05 whatever's coming down the pipeline, you've really got to have a mindset
00:10:05 --> 00:10:10 shift and stop fearing it as competition and start treating it as a teammate
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 that amplifies your human strengths.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 And I think that creates that really requires leaders to
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 take a coaching approach.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:21 And that whole change management formula, right, of like walking
00:10:21 --> 00:10:22 people through what's in it for them.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 So that's gonna be really, really important.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:29 I think as we continue to grow in this area, and I think it's again, the whole
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 ambiguity, iteration process of it.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:35 We're gonna be learning as we go, but we're working together with machines now.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:40 We, it's, it's not going backwards and we have to get people to adopt it positively.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 Ricardo Belmar: Right.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:41 Yeah.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:42 That's so, that's so true.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:46 Do you see this working the same for small retail business leaders as, as much as for
00:10:46 --> 00:10:51 large enterprise leaders, and is AI in a sense helping to level the playing field
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 a bit for those small business leaders?
00:10:54 --> 00:10:58 April Sabral: I think it is because I work with a small boutique owner, a few of
00:10:58 --> 00:11:04 them actually, and they can't necessarily afford to have a consultant come in or,
00:11:04 --> 00:11:09 re they just don't have the funds and the money to be able to bring in, high
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 priced consultants and hire people.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:16 Even thinking about hiring a director of hr, for example, somebody I was
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 working with the other day and we were trying to really wrap our heads
00:11:19 --> 00:11:23 around like what does he need in terms of his general managers to do?
00:11:23 --> 00:11:24 What are the responsibilities?
00:11:24 --> 00:11:29 He in the past would have to find a HR person to come in, pay them to do all
00:11:29 --> 00:11:33 of this and we just basically got, an AI tool, opened it up, went through
00:11:33 --> 00:11:40 it, put in his tool and recreated his job description for the dream
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 manager that he wanted so he could pull himself out of doing everything.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 'cause that is the number one thing that small business
00:11:45 --> 00:11:46 owners are doing everything.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 And in the past he wouldn't have that tool and he was like,
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 wow, that took us five minutes.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 Now I can create a job posting.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 Now I can go out and find that person that, that was five minutes, that in
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 the past would've never got solved like that because you just didn't have the
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 tool to do it or the insights to do it.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:02 Ricardo Belmar: Yeah.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 No, that's amazing.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 It's amazing.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 April, this has been a fantastic discussion.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 Thanks for highlighting such an important topic that I think every
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 retail leader should be thinking about and applying today with AI.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:13 April Sabral: Thanks.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 Thanks for having me!
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 Casey Golden: If you enjoyed our show, we have a simple ask.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 Please consider giving us a five star rating and review on Apple
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00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 I'm Casey Golden.
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00:12:54 --> 00:12:59 Visit our website@retailrazor.com for transcripts and more info about
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 each episode and our amazing guests.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 Blade to Greatness is part of the Retail Razor Podcast network.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:06 I'm Ricardo Belmar.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 Casey Golden: Thanks for joining us.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 Ricardo Belmar: Until next time, stay sharp, lead boldly, and stay human.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 This is the Retail Razor Blade to Greatness.