Thought Leadership Allies and Ambassadors | Morag Barrett | 378

How can you identify allies and ambassadors for your thought leadership, and what can you do to cultivate a relationship with them?

When trying to expand the reach of your thought leadership, having allies and ambassadors is essential. You need people who can amplify your ideas when you are not in the room, and who will help to take them to heights you could not have reached on your own.

Morag Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Skye Team, an international leadership development firm. She is also the author of The Future Proof Workplace: Six Strategies to Accelerate Talent Development, Reshape Your Culture, and Succeed with Purpose.

In this episode, we discuss allies and ambassadors – people who evangelize and help grow your thought leadership reach. What makes a person an ally or an ambassador? What are the differences between the two? Morag not only helps us define their traits, but also helps us understand how to identify these amazing resources.

Next, we talk about building relationships. Morag shares her insights about the conversations that are critical to creating allies and ambassadors, and how sharing the spotlight can get you further. She cautions against engaging in "transactional relationships," preferring to look at the long game – be generous with your time and energy, and buy in to the relationship at first, in order to get the returns you hope to achieve.

Three Key Takeaways:

• A thought leadership ally can be a sparring partner as well as a spokesperson for your ideas.
• When seeking allies, don't just look at your current circle. Reach out to past circles and reconnect.
• When starting to build a relationship with an ally, avoid asking favors. Concentrate on getting to know them, and find out how you can help each other.