Leveraging Thought Leadership

Does your thought leadership content focus on hyping your organization or brand, or are you weaving stories where your audience can picture themselves as the hero? If the second option isn't your answer - you may be doing it wrong! Thought leadership can ensure you connect with the right audience in a meaningful way. Focusing on your audience and creating content that forges a genuine connection is one of thought leadership's strengths - but to utilize it properly, you have to know how to tell the story. Cristina Loughrey is a narrative architect and content strategist with 15+ years of experience in marketing, communications, and experiential marketing (events). She has multiple degrees in rhetoric, sociolinguistics, and analyzing societal narratives in popular American culture. Cristina addresses audience advocacy, and why it's important that the audience you want can see themselves in the story of your brand. Building that connection makes your relationship with the audience stronger. Cristina provides us with a deep understanding about how we should think about our audience, and how to find ways to speak to their hearts and minds. Cristina goes on to discuss why you need to provide room for your audience to relate and connect, and how to use storytelling to put the audience right in the middle of your content. By telling the story in a way that connects, the audience begins to see themselves as the hero of the story - and that engages them in a more dynamic way. With social media data, we no longer need to "write into the void," just hoping our message hits the audience in the right way. Cristina shares why she focuses on qualitative over quantitative data, allowing that information to inform the construction of stories that are deeply relevant to the audience. If you've been dishing out content but don't feel like your message is being heard, this episode can help you fine-tune your story and engage your audience. Three Key Takeaways: * When seeking to grab the attention of your audience the meaning of your message needs to be in the first few opening sentences. * Telling an interesting story isn't enough. You need to present it from the viewpoint of the audience, ensuring it gives them value for their time. * Don't look for an immediate payoff using thought leadership. It takes time and consistency to build trust.

Most people think that once you've hit the big role at your company, it's smooth sailing. The reality is far different. C-suite positions often have hardships, and many executives deal with a lot of stress and difficulty in their job. Once you stop and realize that corporate life isn't fulfilling for you, how do you move on? On this episode, Jennie Blumenthal, founder and CEO of Corporate Rehab joins us to share her journey from executive to entrepreneur, and how she uses what she learned through more than 20 years in corporate America to help others find their way. Jennie's also the author of Corporate Rehab: Ditch the Hustle Culture and Thrive Again, and we're fortunate to have her share her insights with us, today. During the Pandemic, Jennie was able to take a moment to stop and think about the corporate ladder she had been climbing. She stopped and asked herself, "Where is this going?" - and the answer was not one she liked. Following her heart, Jennie left her corporate job and started the journey of a thought leader, founding Corporate Rehab to help others in the same position. Jennie shares the hardships of the transition from corporate exec to entrepreneur, and how she needed to be brutally honest with herself about what she wanted to achieve, where she wanted to spend her time, and what it was better to outsource. While thought leadership played a role in Jennie's corporate position, she explains how it becomes so much more important for entrepreneurs. Without a big brand behind you, you need to produce quality content that shows your unique perspective, and find a way to share it so that others will lean in and listen to your insights. Jennie shares valuable advice for people looking to leave corporate life, or those who already have - and are still struggling to find their way. Three Key Takeaways: * Once you are out on your own you need to think hard about what your voice is and how you'll use it to impact your audience. * As an entrepreneur you won't be able to outspend big companies but thought leadership is the equalizer that lets you outthink them. * Thought Leadership content can be used to build a rapport and relationship with an audience that will have value even if they are not in a buying position.

When launching a startup, there's a lot to think about. Product, investors, marketing. But what about thought leadership? Should entrepreneurs consider making thought leadership a priority early in their venture? Thought leadership plays an important role in startups, and our guest on this episode, Eric Youngstrom, is just the person to tell us why. Eric is the Founder and CEO of Onramp Funds Inc, which provides expertise in eCommerce, fiancé, and software development to startups. Eric has a proven record of success in start-up technology companies, and brings us his insight about why thought leadership should be top-of-mind for startups. Eric explains that startups need to tell a specific story: what problem you solve, why you care about seeing it solved, and why your solution works. This story must reach buyers and potential investors - and even new hires, convincing them of the longevity and value of your startup. And the best way to tell that story is through thought leadership content. Eric goes on to discuss how thought leadership needs to open up conversations and share their ideas. Sharpening your insights, and listening to the insights of others, will only make your brand stronger. Your content can also be a recruiting pitch, bringing in top talent that shares your passion and wants to be part of a better solution. Any successful startup is going to need a savvy team of salespeople. Eric shares how thought leadership is important for the sales team, helping them understand and share the organization's goals and values right from the moment of hiring. We learn how the early years of the company are critical to developing the organization's reputation, reaching one wave of employees and then the next, and ensuring that the culture is instilled in new hires as the company grows. This episode is full of great advice for creating thought leadership that makes an impact right from the start. Don't miss it! Three Key Takeaways: ·* Startups need to be able to tell everyone what the problem they are solving is and why it matters. This needs to be done in a way that sets you and your unique idea apart from those that have come before you. * Thought Leadership is not a short term investment. By creating content that tells your story over years, you will gain trust, brand recognition, and customers. * The sales team is the last line between you and the customer. Ensure your thought leadership is understood by those teams and that it aids them in their job.

Creating an organizational assessment isn't as simple as you might think. It's more than a list of questions with multiple-choice answers like you might find in a magazine's "personality quiz." Reliable assessments take careful research, which must be validated in order to prove the results are accurate and actionable. To discuss the intricacies of creating strong thought leadership assessments, I've invited Tony Alessandra to join me. Tony Alessandra is the Founder and CEO of Assessments 24x7, the global leader in assessment technology. He is also a prolific author of more than 30 books, including What Makes Humans Tick?: Exploring the Best Validated Assessments and The Ten Qualities of the World's Greatest Communicators. Plus, he is a Hall of Fame speaker and the World's Top Communication Guru. We start our conversation by getting an understanding of the difference between an assessment and a validated assessment. Tony explains how a validated assessment meets the requirements of the American Psychological Association, getting a minimum score on a statistical measurement to ensure the results are reliable. That means clients will trust your results, and that means more business. Often, thought leaders want to take their speaking (or book) and monetize it as an assessment, but to make that work, you need to do a lot of work, validation, and statistical design. Tony gives tips for must-haves, if you want your assessment to find financial success. We'd be remiss to have a Hall of Fame speaker on without discussing the speaking industry! We close out the conversation by discussing the slow decline of speaking since the early 2000s, and the rise of virtual events. Tony shares the pros of speaking engagements using online technology, and the cons of not being in person. If you are thinking about creating an assessment for your thought leadership, this episode is essential. Three Key Takeaways: * When creating an assessment, have it validated by a third party to avoid any possible bias in the results. * If you're thinking of creating an assessment, having a mobile app for it is crucial. The more steps involved in taking an assessment, the fewer people will finish it. * Technology allows us to do speaking engagements remotely, adding slides, video, and interactive elements that can actually deliver more value than being in person.

It is rare that thought leadership content is well formed and well supported the moment it's born out of inspiration. How can you polish your content, and tighten up the message, to best connect with the audience you are looking to reach? Today our guests Jerome Pagani and Craig Joseph join us to share how they collaborate to strengthen each other's content and even add levity to serious topics to allow the audience a lighter read on heavy topics. Jerome Pagani is a behavioral neuroscientist and the Head of Thought Leadership, Research, and Insights at Nordic Consulting. Craig Joseph is a Pediatric doctor and Chief Medical Officer at Nordic Consulting. Finding a partner and method of collaboration for thought leadership isn't easy. Jerome and Craig share their process for creating quality content. We learn how their similar (but not overlapping) backgrounds allow them to establish a common understanding, while broadening one another's perspectives. Working in the healthcare field means having to tackle difficult topics and reach a wide audience. Craig talks about how humor helps them connect with the audience, and how they create connection and authenticity between themselves and their listeners, in order to help give specific, actionable recommendations that people can use immediately. In addition, we learn how they add a touch of humor to their content, while still treating serious topics with the respect those topics deserve. If you want to learn how to better collaborate and tailor your message and modality to your audience this episode will be sure to help. Three Key Takeaways: * Collaboration works best when all parties have a mutual understanding and are able to challenge each other's thinking. * When creating content, put yourself in the audience's mindset and think about what they would want to read or watch. *When standing up Thought Leadership as a function , make sure everyone understands the message and can communicate it clearly.

When we were young, we all thought we knew what life would be like when we grew up. Most of us were way off! Life is about more than preconceived notions and expectations. At some point, the steps we take should be a conscious choice, not simply a matter of following the "traditional path." It's important to change our societal expectations as our culture, lifestyle, and technology move forward. To examine ways to challenge traditional societal expectations, I've invited Zale Mednick to join me. Zale Mednick is an ophthalmologist by trade, and also host of the award winning podcast Preconceived and is also the editor of Preconceived: Challenging the Preconceptions in Our Lives. Zale shares how his journey to become a doctor took a turn when he stopped to consider pursuing interests and passions beyond his profession. He landed on the idea of a podcast, and took up the banner of investigating the preconceived notions that we rarely think to question. What holds us back? What "old" beliefs do we carry - preconceptions that aren't necessarily true anymore? While it's easy to get started with a podcast, sticking it out is often a challenge, and many podcasters stop creating by episode 25. Reaching out to friends and family, and asking them to sit for a podcast interview, gave Zack the confidence and experience he needed to build a reputation as a podcast host, broadening his guest list with people he didn't know. After having more than 100 guests, Zale thought the idea would work well as a book. He began to reach out to former guests , asking them to write essays, thought pieces, or short stories about the preconceived ideas they had challenged. 54 of them agreed to join him, and a book was born: Preconceived: Challenging the Preconceptions in Our Lives. If you are tired of going through the motions and want to jump into something new, check out this insightful episode. It's sure to spark your passion and challenge your assumptions! Three Key Takeaways: * Podcasts can take a long time to see results. You need to commit for longer than logic might dictate you should. * Repurposing and resharing content is a time saving method to reach new audiences and grow your brand. * If you are looking for a change don't let fear hold you back. Find a low risk way to make the pivot.

Too often when faced with a problem we rush to find a single solution – something safe, based on solutions we already know. These comfortable answers are nice, but what if you could create an opportunity to not only solve the problem, but excel? Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn are the co-authors of Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric that Matters. It is a book that explores how you and your team can generate a volume of ideas for any situation, by overcoming outdated, stagnant thinking traps. Jeremy Utley is a dynamic and engaging speaker who co-leads the d.school's Executive Education programs at Stanford University. Perry Klebahn is an Adjunct Professor and Director of Executive Education, also at Stanford's d.school. We start our conversation discussing Ideaflow, and how the creation of ideas can be summed up as a complex mathematical equation of ideas over time. Perry explains how, when rushing for a solution, we often fall short because we don't have a volume of ideas. More ideas means more potential directions to overcome a challenge, and even ideas that eventually get discarded may have something to offer our final solution. People often think that generating ideas is a task for a single, individual mind - but that's not the case. In fact, creating ideas with a team can create broader insights,by drawing on a wider pool of perspectives and backgrounds to create ideas that might be outside the experience of a single person.The more, the merrier! Much of the work Perry and Jeremy do is with entrepreneurs and students. For more than 10 years, they've been encouraging their students to use Launchpad, an accelerator which shows teams how to incorporate, develop prototypes, find customers, and prove their proposed offerings are viable. This kind of rigorous idea-testing is invaluable if you want to create solutions that make a real difference. If you want to increase the ideas moving through your organization at all levels this is one episode you won't want to skip! Three Key Takeaways: * To find great ideas, you have to let the unworkable and goofy ideas flow, as well. Don't stifle the process! * In the early stages of business, resist the urge to "lock in" on something just because it is working. Continue to generate ideas and innovate. * To become a better idea generator, ensure that you are working with a wide net of professionals and not the same small team every week.

Many professionals realize that a published book is a great business card – but is anyone actually reading it? Does your book have an impact? Today, we discuss the journey of publishing, marketing, and building a full business model from a book. To share their insights on that topic, we've invited two great guests that have the publishing process down pat. Rita Gunther McGrath is a highly regarded speaker, professor at Columbia Business School, and the author of multiple best-selling books such as Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen. A.J. Jacobs is a journalist, TED Speaker, and seven-time author including the best-selling book Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey. Our conversation starts by discussing the business side of publishing. Our best-selling authors clarify the focus of their recent work, and discuss the various purposes that a published book can serve. While creating a "book-sized" calling card will put you ahead of some, your content still needs to be more than a glorified article if you want people to read it and take action based on your insights. Many first-time authors believe that once the book is written, the job of marketing will fall to the publisher. That's no longer the truth! Nowadays, publishers have stepped back from marketing - leaving the author to get the word out themselves. Rita shares how she plans the marketing of a book before any real writing even begins, while A.J. seeks innovative and creative ways to slice the topics of his books into as many sectors as possible, in order to earn a larger audience. The final leg of our conversation involves taking the information from the page and turning it into teachable content. Our guests share their strategies for turning thought leadership insights into lessons, creating systems and capabilities for instruction that can be brought into an organization in order to create measurable impact. Three Key Takeaways: * When writing a book, ensure your content is bigger than a simple article could contain. * Consider the method of publishing and marketing for your book before you start writing. * Publishers no longer promote books. As the author, you'll need to build a platform to reach the audience by yourself.

At any given time 95% of customers are not in a buying cycle. With that in mind, how can we stay prepared for the "purchasing 5%"? Sales has seen huge changes in the last 20 years. To better understand what's happening, I've invited Michelle J Raymond to join me on today's podcast. Michelle is the Founder and B2B LinkedIn Strategist at The Good Trading Co., which provides LinkedIn strategies, training, and coaching for ambitious, innovative and purpose-driven business owners, consultants, and marketing teams. Her new book, The LinkedIn Branding Book, is a compilation of ways to support investment and profit through the power of LinkedIn. We start by defining "Social Selling," and how it has become the new standard. Michelle explains that social selling is about finding the right people, connecting with them, and nurturing relationships. By providing insightful and useful content in a constant flow, you stay top-of-mind, and when your audience is ready to buy, you are the first person they think about. It's important to keep creating content, you also need a strategy for that content. Michelle shares why a brand strategy helps understand your target market, define what to offer them, and finally, set yourself apart from the others in your niche. Often, people question whether developing a personal or a corporate brand is more important. Michelle explains why these two goals don't need to be at odds, and how blurring the line between the two can boost the signal of both and create a more powerful presence. Our conversation is packed full of advice for understanding and implementing social selling, experimenting with content, problem solving and helping people! Three Key Takeaways: * You can't be everything to everyone. Develop a brand strategy based on a deep understanding of your best target audience. * Staying top of mind means being consistent with content. Slow, or rarely-seen, posts are a fast track to invisibility and stagnancy. * Don't be afraid to post rough ideas! The feedback you receive from followers can give you valuable insight and perspective.

s your organization evolving with the needs of its culture, or are you stuck in a mindset that no longer serves your business or its employees? Our guest today is Eboni Adams Monk, the Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Excellence at Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider that partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart and sustainable manner. She is also the author of Leading Wise: Inspirational Reflections for Corporate Leaders, which offers inspirational prompts and a global perspective for corporate leadership. In our conversation with Eboni, we learn what an evolved corporate community looks like and what it does. She explains that by thinking about the impact a business has on the people and cultures in our community, we can support and enhance those around us - while assisting our company in meeting financial and operational goals. In addition, Eboni shares how she dances at the intersection of leadership, business, culture, and spirituality, encouraging business leaders to develop themselves in ways that encourage thinking and feeling deeply for the people in their employment, and in their community. This creates a stronger relationship with employees and co-workers, and that brings more out of them - and makes critical or difficult conversations easier to have. Three Key Takeaways: * Corporate culture should support the people and communities it impacts the most. * When creating content, think about how you can spark interest and curiosity in your audience. * Leaders should take time for reflection and meditation, in order to absorb the world around them and inspire transformation.