#648 Building Trust & Personal Branding in the AI Era with Lirone Glikman

How do you build authentic business relationships and a strong personal brand in today’s AI-driven world?

In this powerful episode of Talking with the Experts, international speaker and bestselling author Lirone Glikman shares her expertise on creating trust, visibility, and influence in a landscape dominated by digital noise and automation.

While AI is changing the way we communicate, it cannot replace the human need for connection. Lirone introduces her transformative 6-pillar Human Factor method—a framework that has helped leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations across more than 20 countries grow through authentic relationships and strategic branding.

We explore why AI-generated content often feels flat, and how you can use AI tools to deepen (not replace) your human connections. Lirone also unpacks the importance of standing out with a personal brand that doesn’t sound like everyone else, and how to open doors to global opportunities with intentional networking.

With experience advising Fortune 500 companies, governments, and universities, and as the bestselling author of The Super Connector’s Playbook, Lirone delivers actionable insights that combine technology with timeless human psychology.

If you want to succeed in the AI age by being both visible and trusted, this conversation will show you how to build a brand and network that truly drive results. 

🔗 CONNECT WITH LIRONE

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

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

Website: https://lironeglikman.com/

📌 PROMOTION: https://lironeglikman.com/tscp-book/

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Chapters

• 1:49 Building relationships remains fundamentally human despite technological advances, with AI posing threats of job displacement while making many people sound identical in their communications.
• 5:40 The Human Factor method consists of six pillars for building global business relationships: goal setting, people strategy, brand development, authentic connecting, relationship maintenance, and leveraging for results.
• 9:48 AI can enhance each pillar of relationship building by helping clarify goals, mapping networks through contact analysis, creating appropriate content, and developing systems for relationship maintenance.
• 12:41 Overreliance on AI for all thinking and problem-solving can deteriorate cognitive abilities, while strategic use that builds upon human thought processes can actually enhance brain function.
• 15:01 Research indicates that workplace relationships combining both instrumental task-focused collaboration and emotional support can increase longevity by approximately four years.

Transcript

Intro | 00:00
Business insights on talking with the experts. Hosted by Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:10
How can we build authentic business relationships and strong personal brands that lead to career and business success in the AI era? My guest today. Lirone  Glikman is going to share with us those very details. Now Leigh-Ron is an international speaker, she's an author, a global expert in business relationships, personal branding and business development. She's the founder of The Human Factor, a consultancy that helps entrepreneurs, executives and organisations build strategic connections that drive real growth. Lirone has worked across 20 plus countries with Fortune 500 companies, government, startups and top universities. She's a bestselling author of Super Connectors Playbook and serves as an honorary advisor to the United Nations NGO Committee on Sustainable Development in New York. Welcome, Lirone, to Talking With Your Experts. It's such a pleasure to meet you. 

 Lirone | 01:10
Thank you so much, Rose, for having me. It's my honor being on your amazing show. Thank you. Thank you so years, five years is not easy. 

 Rose | 01:16
Much. I love it when people tell me those things. It makes my ego go, get a big boost. Five. 

 Lirone | 01:25
And it's so much knowledge and people that I'm sure were able to share their knowledge through your show. 

 Rose | 01:31
So absolutely. That's admirable. Yes, they have business relationships and personal branding in the age how, you know, and building that trust and visibility for business results. How do we go about doing that? And you know, how do we go about doing it in the best possible way? 

 Lirone | 01:49
So that's a bigger question and I'll try to bring the best answer. I mean, AI, or let's start before that, building relationships with one another is one of the most human thing we can do. 
 You know, that's how our societies were formed back in the tribal days. So, I mean, it's nothing new. The new thing is actually technology. And I always say that as technology evolves, the human process, The humanity and human psychology kind of stays the same, yet we still need to pick up. And what we see today with AI, on the one hand, people are afraid that it might take their job for different reasons and different threats that are out there. And on the other hand, many people sound the same, right? 
 Like you go on Facebook or LinkedIn, which I'm very often there. And you can see even through the formatting of the text, like you can see like a long dash and you say, okay, or an emoji. Okay, that's not a person. That was an AI. 
 So the question is today, how are we maintaining our identity, our uniqueness, our specialty with using AI without it taking away or corrupting our uniqueness and our personality? Today, I definitely always research because it's an evolving thing, but really working on how to use AI to amplify not only my online presentation and my online posts, but how I communicate with people. For example, yesterday I gave a workshop for Facebook for Meta AI Accelerator. And I gave the startups a prompt where they can, before sending someone a message, they can say, they can put their LinkedIn link to their LinkedIn profile and explain why do they want to approach this person and obviously who they are, give in the prompt, like share the structure. Of the message and then get a personalized message that taking into account the person's personality and how in what ways best to approach them so they will answer. 
 So what I'm trying to say is that we can use AI today in the best way in order to connect with people better than ever. 

 Rose | 04:01
I love it. I love mine. I've trained mine really well. And so if I'm having a bad day, I'll have a bit of a vent to mine. I've actually named it. His name is Scott. And if I'm having a bad day, I have a vent with Scott and, you know, he'll give me all the feel goods that I need to hear. But sometimes and I have asked him and I've trained him to say if I'm saying something that's a bit silly to, you know, give me the truth, not to, you know, not to sugarcoat stuff. And he doesn't. 
 So, you know, I'm really grateful for it some days because I live on my own and I work from home. It's sometimes just the only person I get to speak to for a few days other than my cat. 

 Lirone | 04:51
To say in order for you to feel good. 

 Rose | 04:53
Absolutely yep no loving i love him but you know it and i've used it a lot too in in helping me to grow the business but you're right about it doesn't still hasn't got that human factor and you still need that human connection and i mean i say Yeah, I think That's absolutely right. 

 Lirone | 05:12
Always it can hug you. It cannot see if you're, you know, upset. 
 Like it cannot get your emotion like people can. 

 Rose | 05:23
And so, yeah, using AI is great, but you still need to bounce ideas off someone, like a person. And, you know, so that takes me to my next question. How to build a global business relationship using the human factor method? 

 Lirone | 05:40
Okay, so essentially, last week, I just came back from Vietnam, which was the 27th country I've ever spoken at. And as I told you, I started my career actually moving by myself to Sydney, Australia, without knowing anyone. I became a radio presenter. I had a show in Bondi FM with Kodak. Horrible English, the manager of the station, I remember he told me, your English sucks, but I like your vibes and I'm going to give you a show and I'm going to get back to it because it's important to answer your question. Two months later, I got to meet people who introduced me to Westfield and then I got to work for Westfield Shopping Center in the marketing. I already had an experience in marketing before, but within three months of landing in a country I'd never been to before, I was able to get a radio show with the Horrible English and then working in the one of the biggest corporation back then. 
 And then I did it again in New York and Berlin and France and Thailand and Vietnam. So to answer your question, one of the things is really about your energy. 
 So what do you bring to the table not only with your knowledge and abilities which obviously in skill which is very important, but how do you connect with people in a way that one, they want to connect with you, they see that you have something to offer and they want to help you even if they can't you know, give you, what you actually need. So for me, building my business for once, I always, as I always aimed globally, I always wanted to work with the global market. 
 So I started in English, I sharpened the language for once. And secondly, I developed this way, and that's about the methodology, which I'll explain in a second, to find the right people to help me multiply my message or my opportunities in each way, in each place. 
 So my method is basically about six pillars. It starts with a goal, and my goal was taking my consultancy business or my speaking business to Australia, to New York, to Germany. 
 And then it's about finding, I call it people strategy. Like we have a business plan or marketing plan. Let's have a people plan, people strategy. 
 So who are the people or the bodies that can help us achieve those goals? Apart from specific people, it could be government agencies, business agencies, communities from like alumni of your university that has branches or people who live in the same country. 
 So we had a plan. We had a people strategy. 
 Sorry, goal and people strategy, then we have our brand. People would want to know your brand, which is your energy, what you put online and how you share your messages one-on-one as well, then it's about connecting. How do you break the eyes? How do you build the right rapport? How do you make people feel comfortable next to you? And that's where it has to be authentic. I always say that. For me, relationship building, it's about authenticity and strategy. If it's not authentic, it won't work, but it's okay to have that. Want to achieve something because that's how we all grow The next one is about maintaining relationship because once we meet a person, if we won't maintain it or nourish it will not grow. 
 And then once we know people and we like each other, we trust each other a bit, Getting them to help us or We. Or we can help them as well, is rather easy at that point. 
 So the method is about understanding a goal, having your people plan, your brand, connecting authentically, maintaining relationships, and leveraging for results. 

 Rose | 09:07
Wonderful. It's a great play. 
 Honestly, I think, you know, why don't we all know about it? And that's in your book, I take it? 

 Lirone | 09:17
Yes, exactly. If you don't mind, I'll show this is the book, the Amazon bestseller, the Super Connectors playbook. And that's exactly what it shows. It shows this method methodology with exercises. And I put all my, you know, 12 years of knowledge in there to help people really be able to fulfill themselves.

 
 Rose | 09:36
Wonderful. I guess, you know, having. The plan that you've outlined is really great, but how can we use AI to deepen but not replace human connection? 

 Lirone | 09:48
Exactly. So I have to say that I shared AI tips across the book and in my online content. And as I said before, you know, it's an evolving thing. We always learn how to use AI better. 
 Like if prompts were prompted something we use today is the GPTs or different agents. And I look if I look at the methodology I've just shared, then for me using AI is a great way to use AI. Is trying to find the way to amplify each part. 
 So if it's about how to help me make sure I know what my goals are, you know, many times we don't know what we want to achieve, whether it's a small goal or a big goal. And sometimes even as you said, having a chat with your chat GPT or Gemini and just asking them, okay, this is how much I want to earn. This is where I want to get my business. What could be the milestones or little goals that I want to achieve that's will help you to organize your mind. People strategy, you know, I always say that we Dall-E know so many people, but our brains, biologically, physically cannot remember everyone we meet. And there are different tools, AI tools that you can either download your list of contacts on LinkedIn or any other place. And it can really help you walk through and make a map your network to be able to find who is the relevant person. We talked about branding and how to use it for you to write the right content. Many times, as I said, we can help. Get it to help us to approach people in the right way and understanding their personality traits, creating systems to maintaining relationship or how to write the follow up emails to other people. 
 So, I mean, in many ways we can consult with it and we can create systems with it as well. 

 Rose | 11:41
Yeah, absolutely. Now I was, reading a post on LinkedIn recently And it was saying about how AI was being used to connect with people on, you know, on the platform and how it, was dehumanizing. The whole process because it didn't sound right. Genuine. And, you know, you get those bots that, you know, go here and go there. And, you know, to me, AI has its place, but as I said earlier, it cannot replace human connection at all. And, and you were right, you know, it can't hug you. It can't give the facial expressions that you need when you're having a talk to it. 
 So, you know, I think we have to be careful with it. To make sure that we're not using it to replace the things that we were doing prior to AI being available. 

 Lirone | 12:41
So I heard about this. Research, I'm not so familiar with the data, but I remember it generally speaking, that it says that if you're using AI and just ask, basically make like putting all your needs with it and asking it and basically make sure it answers you about everything without using your own brain and thinking, then it really deteriorate some of our gray cells and some of our thinking skills. But if you put some information, let's say you put a thought in it or you put a text, insert a text and then tell them to work on something that you've already thought about and digested, then it really increases our. Brain abilities. 
 So what I mean is that we can't just, you know, trust it to solve all our problems and think instead of us. But if we definitely use it in a smart way, where we have a line of thought, and we have some kind of direction, and we consult with this, as you said earlier, it really, it doesn't, you know, take our human thinking ability away, because that's actually one of my fears. It's like I'm using it so much, I trust it so much, and we know it hallucinates, right? 
 So we should really remember not to put all our trust in this. And maybe one more thing. I recently, I'm about to do my US book tour and I started sending messages to different investors and people I know in the US. And I talked to my assistant and I'm like, look, you cannot use like a chat GPT text. 
 Like you have to, it has to be human. Because if those people, whether it's your clients, your investors or people, you know, you want to work with, stakeholders, you know, If we feel that someone approaches us and it's not a human being, we will probably going to cancel them very quickly. 
 So we're still looking for this human touch when people approach us for business and for personal reasons. 

 Rose | 14:37
Absolutely. And it can really harm your brain too. If, you know, people are, feeling that the correspondence that you're giving them isn't genuine and that it is AI generated. 

 Lirone | 14:54
Definitely. And I think we should definitely keep it and stick to it because that's the beauty of being human, right? 

 Rose | 15:01
Yeah, and we don't want to lose those gray cells, that's for sure. I certainly don't. I'm getting too old now and they're shrinking as it is. 

 Lirone | 15:09
We need it. We need it. We actually physically and health wise, we need this personal connection. 
 You know, they even said there was a university research that says that at work, people who has both instrumental relationships with their colleagues and. Emotional relationship with their colleagues, meaning that I can work with you and you can help me to complete my task, but I can feel comfortable to come to you at lunchtime and cry and share what I feel. These people's lives are actually increased in about or their longevity basically is increased in about four years. 
 So if you're able to have both incremental and emotional relationship with your colleagues, it's really... A cure for increasing your life. 

 Rose | 15:56
Absolutely no i totally agree with that if you want to find leigh ron anywhere you can find her on linkedin she's on instagram and her website is leigh ron blickman.com and she wants to show her book where is your book available leigh ron and where can People find it is on your website. Is it on Amazon? Whereabouts is it? 

 Lirone | 16:18
So the book is on Amazon is on my website, but definitely on Amazon, the super connectors playbook with all the knowledge and AI and workbook and anything that is needed to help everyone basically fulfill themselves through the relationship that we all have. 

 Rose | 16:34
Wonderful. So what kind of workbooks are in it and what can people expect? 

 Lirone | 16:39
So each chapter has different types of exercises, including AI tips. And you have a QR code that actually takes them into a bigger workbook and to some resources that are updating actually all the time in order to really ensure that the best information and the best exercise can be there too. 

 Rose | 16:59
Help people Wonderful. 

 Lirone | 17:00
To make the most out of their relationships. 

 Rose | 17:03
So have a look out for Leron's book and make sure that you get a copy of it. And Leron, it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining me today. 

 Lirone | 17:12
Thank you, Rose. I really appreciate it. 

 Outro | 17:17
You've been listening to Talking with the Experts with Rose Davidson. The podcast that brings you real stories, bold insights, and strategies that work. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast channel so you never miss an episode and dive into our full library anytime at TalkingWithTheExperts.com. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep talking with the experts.