Bill Sherman #DESIGNtoCHANGE ONstage PODcast - in conversation with Ruud Janssen

Bill Sherman is the COO and Thought Leadership Practice Lead at Thought Leadership Leverage. He helps individuals and organizations take ideas to scale and achieve the outcomes they want. Bill has been in the field of thought leadership for over twenty years, working with global organizations and world-renowned thought leadership practitioners. Website: https://thoughtleadershipleverage.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-sherman-274a02/ Bill speaks with Ruud Janssen about claiming time and the role of thought leadership when you Design to Change. Fill out the worksheet we discuss here: designtochange.online/worksheets/ Learn more about #DESIGNtoCHANGE at designtochange.online 6. Claiming Time - Design to Change page 146 Bill Sherman’s response: What did you do previously, whereby you were not being taken seriously when event owners were having the conversation about change? * I forgot to prepare the space and make sure they were mentally available for the conversation. It's not just a matter of me being ready for the conversation, it's also making sure that they are ready as well. When asking yourself: “Why are people not taking the design process seriously?” * In order for people to take the design process seriously, they need to see it as a way that leads them to their goals. If you don't make that connection, they will want to skip steps and race to the outcomes. You have to connect the action with the outcome. What buttons are you pushing to get what you need? * Make sure that you understand what's important for your client's organization as well as the client personally. Why is this event/idea important to them? How can you and your team zoom out and empathize with the event owner to address their required outcomes? * Meet with the event owner away from formal meetings. Establish rapport. Get to see them as a person -- what do they do beyond work? What brings them joy? Is your event owner not ready or are you as the event designer not ready? * As the designer, I always start by assuming that if there's a miscommunication, I probably caused it. It leads me to focus on finding a solution rather than assigning blame.