---
id: "quote-training-replacement"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ When Empathy Goes"]
tags: ["employee-sentiment", "job-security"]
related: ["concept-fobo", "claim-leader-perception-gap"]
speaker: "Jamil Zaki"
speakers: ["Jamil Zaki"]
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-42-empathetic-leadership-ai-adoption"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/empathetic-leadership-can-make-or-break-ai-adoption"
sourceTitle: "Empathetic Leadership Can Make or Break AI Adoption"
---
# The Absurdity of Enthusiastically Training a Replacement

> "After all, why would anyone feel enthusiastic about training their replacement?"
> — **Jamil Zaki** ([[entity-jamil-zaki]])

A one-line crystallization of [[concept-fobo]] and the emotional logic behind the [[claim-leader-perception-gap]]: executives expect enthusiasm from workers who rationally experience adoption as an existential threat. The rhetorical question reframes 'low adoption' from a skills problem into a self-preservation response.