Leveraging Thought Leadership

An interview with Ryan McCarty and Mark Goulston that originally aired on January 26th, 2021, as part of Leveraging Thought Leadership Live on LinkedIn. How do you use thought leadership? Some thought leaders use it to build a brand, or to share an idea. My guests today come from a background of service, and they use thought leadership to help people find purpose and hope. Ryan McCarty is a keynote speaker, co-founder of Culture of Good and co-author of Build A Culture of Good: Unleash Results by Letting Your Employees Bring Their Soul to Work. Mark Goulston is the world's leading Healthy Conflict Coach and author of multiple books including Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior and Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone. In this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, we discuss how the purpose of helping others started them in their original careers (ministry and psychiatry, respectively), and how they continue following that purpose through the practice of thought leadership. Ryan shares how he spent 20 years in ministry focused on community, and how he found his purpose in helping people find a sense of purpose in their everyday lives. Mark comes from a background of psychiatry, and after his own brush with depression while in med school, rose to specializing in suicide prevention so that he could help others discover hope and meaning in their lives. Our guests have traveled parallel paths, helping others live happier and healthier lives through their work. Now, they're bringing those insights about hope and meaning to the corporate sphere. We learn how Ryan built a Culture of Good and how that philosophy gets companies to create a meaningful and fulfilling workplace that also improves the bottom line. Mark works with executives and leaders, teaching them to carve away the negative aspects that create a culture of mistrust, fear, or hopelessness at an organization, and build trust and purpose into the everyday life of the org. Our guests today provide actionable advice on how you can change the culture of your company and employees, and live a more meaningful life — starting today! Three Key Takeaways: Every leader — from thought leaders to the organizational C-Suite — needs to be authentic, caring, and purposeful, and strive to be the type of person others want to follow. Keeping a journal of thought and ideas can build a deeper understanding of everyday insights, and might even create the basis for your thought leadership! Doing good and making money doesn't have to be at odds. A profitable business can use its strength to create and fulfill a meaningful purpose.

The words power, politics, and leverage typically have a negative connotation. They bring to mind times when good people have been oppressed and mistreated. But what if you could leverage power and politics ethically? Michael Wenderoth is a speaker and executive coach who works one on one with leaders and executive teams, inspiring and teaching them to ethically leverage power and politics to get things done. Earlier this year, he authored Get Promoted: What You're Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back, codifying his philosophies around thought leadership and morality. In today's chat, we examine power in the workplace; from the fundamentals to the uses of leverage. Too often, good people stand on the sidelines of leadership, afraid of the negative associations or power - and therefore, those people are not making a positive impact. Michael explains how power is simply the force needed to get things done. It's not good, or bad, and it can be used to help others. Michael has seen an increase in organizations wanting to shape the next generation of ethical and more diverse leadership. He shares how many people who are not used to being in a position of power or leadership can be ill-equipped to take the lead. Companies are investing in their future leaders by hiring coaches to help the next generation reach their full potential. In March of 2022, Michael published Get Promoted: What You're Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back. We discuss why launching a book takes years of investment, and talk more about navigating the two sides of a coaching business - doing the grunt work of business, and the amazing potential of coaching. Three Key Takeaways: * Power and politics in the office can be leveraged ethically to accelerate your career. * Organizations wanting diverse leadership need to invest the time to train these potential leaders – but also accept that leadership can look different to many people. * When working as a coach for a company you need to be frank about the deliverable and how you will impact those you serve.

Our guest today is Michael Gallagher, Founder and CEO of The Stevie® Awards – the world's premier business awards. He's also the co-founder of ImageShield, a web based program that helps protect images from unauthorized use. Today, Michael tells us why he founded The Stevie® Awards, and how it has grown from its origins among The American Business Awards® to include eight award categories each with their own focus, list of categories, and schedule across the globe. Next, we turn our attention to Michael's newest endeavor: ImageShield. Millions of people share their images online every day without much thought to who else could be using those images, and negative ramifications that could come when someone steals your images and uses them without your permission. Recognizing this growing problem, Michael is developing ImageShield - a service which will provide updates to its users, helping them keep track of how and where their images are being used. Launching a new product like ImageShield requires educating the target audience on why this product is a necessity. Michael shares how he turned to Leveraging Thought Leadership for help in creating avatars, images, and strategies for reaching ImageShield's core audience and helping drive an understanding of its services Three Key Takeaways: * People have a need to be recognized for their dedication and hard work. * Good thought leadership can draw attention to common problems that are not top of mind to the average person. * When investing in thought leadership, find the people in your organization that can vocalize your org's mission, clearly and compellingly serving the brand.

Do you know why you choose one brand over another? Traditional market research focuses on what people are buying. They study the number of items sold, where they're sold, and how those numbers are shifting. But traditional research doesn't tell you why people are acting in a certain way. That's where human insight comes in! To understand the best way to merge human insight with market data, I've invited Manish Bahl to join me for a conversation. Manish is the Chief Executive and Founder of Curious Insights – where the company mission is to humanize data for analyst firms and organizations. Traditional research has its place, but it can show a limited, one-dimensional perspective. Manish explains how data often misses the "human connection," and how the warmth of human insights can make research truly revelatory. Adding an understanding of human behavior, the way individuals think and feel, puts people back at the center of market research.. Convincing C-Suite executives to participate in surveys and interviews can be a challenge. Their time is precious, but so is the information they have to offer. Manish shares his best tips for turning a data-driven interview into a two way street, where both parties are engaged and learning from the discussion. Manish also discussed how to create content that is fresh and compelling. Too often, content creators become focused on SEO results, which can create bland, cookie-cutter content. Manish shares how having passion and invoking curiosity in your audience can draw people in - and take your ideas to scale. Three Key Takeaways: * Blending human science with data collection allows us to understand what customers think and feel about our thought leadership. * In order to have successful interviews, the interviewer must also be transparent and open. A conversational experience will yield better results than a static list of questions. * People have a short attention span. If your content does not grab them in the first 5–10 lines, you will lose them.

If you thought a global pandemic would dim the lights of customer service - you thought wrong! Customers still want answers to questions, friendly assistance, and solutions for their problems. But one thing is changing: the way we deliver answers and solutions. To take a deeper look at the customer experience, and how employee satisfaction relates to it, I've invited two good friends to join me in conversation. Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, keynote speaker, bestselling author of I'll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again & Again. Shane Green is a culture consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and Founder and President of SGEi, a company that helps customer-focused organizations develop a culture that attracts the right people and retains top talent longer. We start our conversation by discussing the way reliance on virtual meetings has created new pressure on speakers, and how the speaking industry has changed. Shep and Shane share why many organizations are likely to keep the bulk of their company-wide meetings virtual, and how that has put pressure on speakers not only to entertain but also to provide actionable advice. As part of the changes to the workforce, we've experienced The Great Resignation - which Shane feels is more of a "A Great Reshuffling." He states that more than 80% of employees who quit their job during this period were looking either for better payment or for a better culture. It's simply true that companies with higher employee satisfaction have higher customer satisfaction. Shep and Shane explore how a strong, well-communicated company vision can increase employee satisfaction, especially when supported by proper training. Companies need managers and leaders who role model that vision, and they need to celebrate the times when that vision translates into meaningful goals. Company culture is the combined attitude of the hearts and minds of an organization's employees. If you want to raise your company - and it's culture - to new heights. you'll want to listen to this episode! Three Key Takeaways: * Thought leadership practitioners delivering a keynote need to tell a good story, but also ensure that their content is actionable right away. * People have a need to collaborate and learn, so webinars need to be far more interactive, and contain more than simply a lecture. * Research and surveys must always be updated. The information you had five years ago may not be relevant today.

Thought Leadership sits at different positions in different companies. It can be bucketed with research, content marketing, or even brand building. Given those options, how can you ensure all divisions are aligned in the story an organization's thought leadership is telling and the brand it is building? To examine how to achieve a harmonious alignment, I've invited Ginger Conlon to join me for a conversation. Ginger is the Thought Leadership Director at Genesys, a software company that specializes in customer experience and call center technology. At Genesys, thought leadership is research-driven and sits at the top of the funnel. The thought leadership team works with content marketing to learn about their priorities and focus on the most important issues - then, the former research reports which form the foundation of content for the months ahead. Through a shared editorial calendar, all parts of the organization tell the same story, and align around key points of the research. Too often, great content sits on a shelf, untouched. To ensure that doesn't happen, Ginger forms relationships with the owners of internal content management hubs and owners of team-specific newsletters. That way, she keeps them informed of new, relevant content, and uses their channels to push content through the organization. In addition, by seeking input from others throughout the organization, Ginger and Claire Beatty, senior director of thought leadership, create a sense of ownership in the content as leaders see their input influence thier content. Ginger shares great advice for anyone working on or alongside a thought leadership role on how to create a great end user experience for content. Three Key Takeaways: * Thought Leadership is about engaging your audience and sharing insights with them on a broader level. * A shared editorial calendar is the key to ensuring thought leadership and content marketing work hand in hand. * In order to get your message across an organization you not only have to build relationships but you have to understand how information is disseminated across it.

Did you know that more than 50% of executives struggle to feel satisfied with their work? It's important to have a sense of purpose around your job; the feeling that you've contributed, that you're respected, and that your work matters. Today, I'm speaking with Gene Rice, the Founder and CEO of Rice Cohen International, which provides executive search and consulting services to a premier list of global clients across the Learning & Development, Ed Tech, and Management Consulting fields. Gene has personally helped place more than 1000 executives, and has a deep understanding of what companies are looking for in senior management. Over his thirty years of experience in the search industry, Gene discovered several important trends. While corporations are seeking people that meet "standard metrics," those that excel have a proven track record of building growth. Gene explains that the most valuable executives are those who found a sense of purpose that drives their success - and their job satisfaction. For years, Gene had been recording life lessons that he would share with interns at his firm. These lessons led to questions which showed how ill equipped many young adults are to start their personal and professional lives. This realization was the driving reason for Gene to collaborate with his daughter, Courtney Bejgrowicz, and write 68 Tips to Excel in Your Personal and Professional Life. This book gives Gene's experienced tips for life, job search, career, and personal finances, while adding Courtney's comments to give her perspective as a teacher and mother, and the understanding of the younger generation. The passion to help others with the book extends beyond the hope that people can learn a thing or two from it. Gene and his wife created The Plant a Seed Inspire a Dream Foundation which provides annual scholarships for children ages 10 to 18, to pursue passions and interests outside of school. With this foundation, they work to inspire young people from low-income households with life-altering athletic, artistic, musical and creative activities led by positive role models. Three Key Takeaways: * Those seeking a role as a senior executive will need a proven track record of building growth, to get ahead of their competition. * It's important for an executive to have a sense of personal purpose, and to share that passion and drive with others. * A good match between an executive and company means feeling like you can make a real contribution, and drive your personal as well as professional goals.

How does a public speaker deliver a message without a stage? Speaking events screeched to a halt when the pandemic put an indefinite stop to in person events. To find out how speakers moved forward, we've invited Mitch Joel , the Co-Founder of ThinkersOne to chat with us about the future of the speaking industry. Mitch is a visionary, digital expert, community leader, and author of Six Pixels of Separation. Mitch shares how a speaker must split their attention when doing a virtual event, and how they must control music, slides, and other technological aspects as opposed to having a crew to handle those needs. That can put a distance between speaker and audience, making presentations feel slapdash or hesitant. It's hard to do all that, and still be "in the moment" with the content and audience. While the pandemic has had many effects on our global culture, Mitch adds another term to the discussion: The Great Compression, which happened among many trade associations and even organizations. He explains that an amplification happened where many began to realize the need to be more diverse becoming a content provider and not just a conference. Second, everyone learned to become more digital. Mitch explains how this was not a revelation — we already had the technology in place, we just hadn't been forced to adapt to use it. Another consequence of the pandemic was forced innovation. That pushed many to discover new business models in order to stay relevant, and connect with their clients. Now that the world is slowly returning to normal, many are forgoing those new ventures. We discuss finding the will to scale business to include both the old ways that worked for years, and the new methods that were developed for the pandemic and continue to be relevant today. Finally, we discuss the hard task of developing community and relationship online. While in-person conferences have started to return they are not back to normal and might never be. Mitch shares his thoughts on the fundamental need to gather in person and how that need is forcing speakers to elevate the quality, relevance, and actionability of the content or they might find the audience wishing they were elsewhere. Three Key Takeaways: Speaking in person allows you to "feel the room." Speaking into a webcam gives nothing back, so you have to ensure your content and stories resonate in a virtual format. If you developed new business models due to the pandemic, don't discard them now! Discover ways to scale your business to incorporate both the old and the new. As in-person events return, speakers have to deliver high-quality content to justify the expense and travel time of on-location keynotes.

Is happiness something that comes naturally to some people? Can it be measured and taught? In order to answer these questions I've invited the Happiness Strategies Monique Rhodes to join me. Monique is the CEO of One People Productions and her mission in life is to lead you toward a lifetime of happiness. To accomplish that, she combines teachings with powerful, habit-changing exercises. Monique wasn't always a happiness expert. Growing up in New Zealand, she was the victim of abuse as a child. That lead to depression in her teens and ultimately a suicide attempt. While in the hospital recovering, she chose to make it her mission to find happiness - and to understand why some people seem naturally happy, while others struggle. This mission took her all over the world. In India, she began teaching mediation to a group of young girls who persistently asked for lessons. While Monique was not a natural teacher, she learned her passion about meditation - and her search for happiness - could be a driving force for others. Before long she was teaching 50 people a day. These early teaching sessions evolved into a program. Monique trialed her thought leadership to a class of 20 people at University College in London, and watched as that class swelled to more than 100. By the end of the trial, more than 2500 people were involved! Monique began marketing the program to various universities and colleges, along with word of mouth, and due to positive feedback she was able to build a business around the program. Monique has created The Happiness Baseline, 8 week program that not only guarantees results for those who finish, but has provable metrics, using Penn State University's Authentic Happiness quiz. This episode shows how thought leaders can tackle a personal problem and take their lessons to market, making the lives of thousands of others better! It's a winner, and we're thrilled to share it with you. Three Key Takeaways: * Many are not natural teachers, but if you have a passion for your thought leadership you can develop the skills needed to help others. * Positive word of mouth about the effectiveness of your thought leadership can be better than a marketing budget. * If you want to prove your thought leadership, ensure there are hard metrics to back it up.

How do you best showcase your organization's depth of expertise? Have you ever thought about the way thought leadership intersects with the executive search? Many organizations encourage broad diversity, and during executive search periods, they want to showcase and bolster that practice. But how do you demonstrate it to your target audience? Today, I've invited Louis Montgomery Jr., Partner, Practice Leader Human Resources and Diversity Officers at JM Search, a firm that (through rigorous assessment) provides the right candidates for open positions to private equity firms, venture capital firms, and select corporate clients. Louis understands what it takes to be successful in demanding fields. He discusses his path as an HR leader and Diversity Officer, and how he assists candidates seeking opportunity and growth. When he changed course during his career, he quickly realized, as many others do, that his reputation as an expert in HR didn't follow him to his new position. He discusses his experiences with networking and creating thought leadership, and explains how he established himself as an expert in the new field — and how others can do the same. Having worked with both large and small firms, Louis understands what it takes to get thought leadership into the world. He's built an established thought leadership engine that carries his name and reputation forward. In our discussion, he shares tips for building your firm's reputation (and your own!) by leveraging established thought leadership or marketing roles. Developing smart thought leadership content is about providing answers to your audience's questions, and as Louis says, a listening ear is the best tool. Learn how to tune into what others are saying, and to notice the questions that come up time and time again. These are prime topics for thought leadership! If you are considering starting a journey into thought leadership, start now! The sooner you delve into the field, the more rapidly you will master it. Three Key Takeaways: * Networking provides an advantage in the job search, when the time comes to seek a new role. * Thought Leadership allows you to share your expertise and establish credibility, and differentiate yourself from others in the market. * Being a thought leader and active practitioner of your field of expertise can give you a greater credibility with clients. That makes you stand out!