Leveraging Thought Leadership
Peter Winick and Bill Sherman
Welcome to the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast, a beacon illuminating the paths and possibilities of thought leadership. With your guides, Peter Winick and Bill Sherman, we will embark on a journey into a captivating world where ideas converge with strategy and insight.
Where will thought leadership take you?
In each episode, we engage with thought leaders from diverse backgrounds. Whether it's professional keynote speaking, writing your own thought leadership book, investigating the niche expertise of specialized consultants, or crossing mental swords with distinguished academics, our guests collectively paint a vivid mosaic of thought leadership's multifaceted potential.
Through nuanced perspectives and rich experience, our talented co-hosts aim to offer you views of the ways independent thought leaders navigate success, elevate talent, and change company culture – while simultaneously examining how organizations harness the power of thought leadership to catalyze innovation and nurture sustainable growth.
Peter Winick is your guide through the realm of independent thought leadership. For the past two decades, he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products. Peter is the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. His clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and specialties. They include New York Times bestselling business book authors, members of the Speakers' Hall of Fame, recipients of the Thinkers50 award, CEOs of public and privately held companies, and academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business.
With a keen eye for detail, he delves into the intricacies of crafting personal brands, fostering genuine engagement with audiences, and expertly monetizing one's expertise. From the artistry of crafting keynote speeches that resonate with audiences to the strategic deployment of bestselling books as conduits for inspiration and insight, Peter's guests offer a treasure trove of strategies for creating value and impact and driving revenue through thought leadership.
Bill Sherman specializes in the exploration of organizational thought leadership. He examines how companies conceive, curate, and deploy thought leadership initiatives, and how those initiatives benefit the orgs and the people who work within them. Bill listens to the stories and advice of industry leaders and their triumphs within the competitive business landscape. Whether through the dissemination of white papers that shape industry discourse, webinars that educate and engage, or insightful executive blogs that offer thought leadership at the highest echelons of corporate governance, Bill's guests provide illuminating perspectives on the evolution of organizational thought leadership and its pivotal role in shaping industry paradigms and perceptions.
Bill concentrates on organizational consulting and business expertise, investigating organizational thought leadership and its effects, from instructional design and learning product development to marketing strategy and execution, to organizational development and transformational consulting. He enjoys working with business leaders, speakers, authors, academics, and other consultants, connecting their ideas organizational platforms and enterprise-ready product development.
As the series unfolds, Peter and Bill will lead us through a nuanced exploration of the latest trends and advancements in thought leadership. From the transformative impact of technology on communication and collaboration to the evolving preferences of consumers in an increasingly digital marketplace, they will dissect the shifting landscape with precision and insight. Moreover, they will shine a spotlight on emerging modalities that are reshaping the contours of thought leadership, from the ascendance of virtual events as a cornerstone of engagement to the growing influence of social media platforms as conduits for thought dissemination and audience interaction. Through their discerning analysis, they will reveal how thought leaders can adeptly harness these trends to amplify their reach, captivate new audiences, and maximize their influence in an ever-evolving business environment.
Whether you find yourself at the height of your career as a seasoned thought leader, or whether you stand at the threshold of possibility as an aspiring entrepreneur, the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast offers an enriching voyage of discovery.
Join us as we unravel the enigmatic secrets to success in the vibrant realm of thought leadership, where ideas have the power to shape perceptions, drive change, and inspire action. Together, let us explore how you, too, can engineer value, evoke impact, and cultivate revenue through the sheer power of your ideas and expertise.
Welcome aboard.
Where will thought leadership take you?
In each episode, we engage with thought leaders from diverse backgrounds. Whether it's professional keynote speaking, writing your own thought leadership book, investigating the niche expertise of specialized consultants, or crossing mental swords with distinguished academics, our guests collectively paint a vivid mosaic of thought leadership's multifaceted potential.
Through nuanced perspectives and rich experience, our talented co-hosts aim to offer you views of the ways independent thought leaders navigate success, elevate talent, and change company culture – while simultaneously examining how organizations harness the power of thought leadership to catalyze innovation and nurture sustainable growth.
Peter Winick is your guide through the realm of independent thought leadership. For the past two decades, he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products. Peter is the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. His clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and specialties. They include New York Times bestselling business book authors, members of the Speakers' Hall of Fame, recipients of the Thinkers50 award, CEOs of public and privately held companies, and academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business.
With a keen eye for detail, he delves into the intricacies of crafting personal brands, fostering genuine engagement with audiences, and expertly monetizing one's expertise. From the artistry of crafting keynote speeches that resonate with audiences to the strategic deployment of bestselling books as conduits for inspiration and insight, Peter's guests offer a treasure trove of strategies for creating value and impact and driving revenue through thought leadership.
Bill Sherman specializes in the exploration of organizational thought leadership. He examines how companies conceive, curate, and deploy thought leadership initiatives, and how those initiatives benefit the orgs and the people who work within them. Bill listens to the stories and advice of industry leaders and their triumphs within the competitive business landscape. Whether through the dissemination of white papers that shape industry discourse, webinars that educate and engage, or insightful executive blogs that offer thought leadership at the highest echelons of corporate governance, Bill's guests provide illuminating perspectives on the evolution of organizational thought leadership and its pivotal role in shaping industry paradigms and perceptions.
Bill concentrates on organizational consulting and business expertise, investigating organizational thought leadership and its effects, from instructional design and learning product development to marketing strategy and execution, to organizational development and transformational consulting. He enjoys working with business leaders, speakers, authors, academics, and other consultants, connecting their ideas organizational platforms and enterprise-ready product development.
As the series unfolds, Peter and Bill will lead us through a nuanced exploration of the latest trends and advancements in thought leadership. From the transformative impact of technology on communication and collaboration to the evolving preferences of consumers in an increasingly digital marketplace, they will dissect the shifting landscape with precision and insight. Moreover, they will shine a spotlight on emerging modalities that are reshaping the contours of thought leadership, from the ascendance of virtual events as a cornerstone of engagement to the growing influence of social media platforms as conduits for thought dissemination and audience interaction. Through their discerning analysis, they will reveal how thought leaders can adeptly harness these trends to amplify their reach, captivate new audiences, and maximize their influence in an ever-evolving business environment.
Whether you find yourself at the height of your career as a seasoned thought leader, or whether you stand at the threshold of possibility as an aspiring entrepreneur, the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast offers an enriching voyage of discovery.
Join us as we unravel the enigmatic secrets to success in the vibrant realm of thought leadership, where ideas have the power to shape perceptions, drive change, and inspire action. Together, let us explore how you, too, can engineer value, evoke impact, and cultivate revenue through the sheer power of your ideas and expertise.
Welcome aboard.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 25, 2023 • 41min
Formalizing Thought Leadership within an Organization | Stacey Flax and Carlos Williams | 499
Many organizations want to formalize their thought leadership efforts and take it to the next level. But how do you turn a "casual thought leadership presence" into something more? Today, we discuss ways to harness a "casual" message and turn it into powerful thought leadership that you can take to scale. Our guests are Stacey Flax, Thought Leadership Communication Manager and Carlos Williams, Applications Development Manager from Hach, an organization that focuses on water analysis. Stacey and Carlos share how people at Hach had been doing thought leadership on their own, before Hach chose to formalize it and amplify the expertise the organization had to offer. Carlos explains how part of the job of a thought leader is to convey your message in relatable terms but also somehow make it fun, through story or anecdotes. Stacey further explains the need to take a step back and think about your message. Who are you trying to reach? What's the core essence of your insights? They discuss how to convey your thought leadership message in different ways, using different media forms and different techniques. We also learn how Stacey aided in putting the formal structure in place, getting a baseline of subject matter experts, cataloging all of the previously produced content, and gaining further support from the leadership by being able to show the impact thought leadership was having. As a bonus, we take a look back at John Snow's discovery of cholera in the water in the 1920s - perhaps some of the first thought leadership on the topic of water analysis - and how those insights still affect us today. Three Key Takeaways: * When formalizing thought leadership within an organization, start by discovering the experts in your organization, and curate the material they have already produced into a usable catalog. * When creating thought leadership for technical or niche topics, it is important to use storytelling to spice up the content and make it somehow relatable. * Ensure any information you distribute in your thought leadership aligns with the organization's strategy.
Jun 18, 2023 • 36min
Creating a Thought Leadership Engine | Will Milano | 498
Executives often feel they need to be the ones creating thought leadership, but true thought leadership needs to move beyond a single person. That's how insights goes the distance; it needs to be elevated by others while you are not in the room. In order to fully understand how organizations build their thought leadership teams, I've invited Will Milano to join me. Will is the Chief Marketing Officer for Integrity Solutions, which focuses on sales training for organizations. He is also the host of the podcast "Mental Selling". Early in Will's career, he found that content and insights could drive conversations, increase credibility, and create strong brand affinity. Since then, he has been encouraging organizations to move their thought leadership beyond the C-Suite, bringing senior consultants into the game and allowing clients to see the full extent of what your organization has to offer. While many fear saying too much or "giving away the magic," it actually works as a sneak peek that shows clients why they need your services. One of the hardest parts of creating a thought leadership engine is keeping it going. Will shares how having a knowledgeable team can make it easier to keep that engine going and take your ideas to scale. In addition we learn the importance of by-lines, which give potential clients a name they can seek further content from and grow to trust, and why you'll want to not only meet your audience where they are, but also meet your content creators where they are most comfortable. Three Key Takeaways: · Thought leadership is about relationship building. Building trust and credibility and authenticity as a brand (and individuals in a brand) above anything else. · Early in the sales cycle customers care far more about what you have to say than what you have to sell. · More and more people are seeking to know exactly where their information is coming from. By-lines on articles allow the audience to build trust and know it isn't simply AI-generated content.
Jun 15, 2023 • 17min
Marketing and Product Roadmaps for Entrepreneurs | Stephanie Chandler | 497
Ever thought about writing a book to support your thought leadership? Or maybe you have already written a book - and now you're trying to get the word out! Either way, a book can be an incredible investment for an entrepreneur, but to get the full return on that investment, you'll need a marketing plan and a product roadmap. Today, we've invited Stephanie Chandler to be our guest. Stephanie is an experienced consultant, specializing in content marketing, internet marketing, social media, search engine optimization, and publishing. She is also the founder and CEO of Stephanie Chandler Enterprises, and the author of The Nonfiction Book Publishing Plan and The Nonfiction Book Marketing Plan. We start our conversation by discussing the huge changes in the publishing industry during the last few years. Stephanie shares that physical books are still being read (as well as a surge in e-books), but sales of audiobooks are rising, and expected to grow exponentially through 2030. In addition to audio, self-publishing has exploded - bringing more than 1 million titles to the market each year! With so many books being published, having a strong promotion strategy has never been more important. But what does that look like? Stephanie walks us through the best methods to include in your marketing plan, from podcasts and Amazon promotions to book tours and speaking gigs, as well as giving us surprising insight into one method that might not work as well as you think! In addition to promoting the book, entrepreneurs will want to create additional products to support that book, and give customers something to put into practice right away. Stephanie shares insights around workshops and webinars, and explains an underutilized method that can actually make more money than your book - with less effort! Be sure to listen in! Three Key Takeaways: * Well-written, well-produced, and well-promoted books will always rise to the top. * Social media isn't a great way to sell books. It's great to build a platform and your e-mail list. * To give your book the best chance of success, spend as much time on preparing the promotion strategy and supporting materials as you do in writing the manuscript.
Jun 8, 2023 • 21min
Finding the Truth in the Topic | Mark Miller | 496
When you start a new thought leadership project, what's the first question you ask? Do you look at who the project is for? What does it mean to your organization? What the ROI could be? Today's guest asks the question, "What is universally true about this topic?" Our guest today is Mark Miller, Vice President of High Performance Leadership, Chick-fil-A Inc. and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do and his newest book Culture Rules: The Leader's Guide to Creating the Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Mark takes us back to his first book and how it was born out of necessity: Chick-fil-A wanted stronger leadership, and took it upon themselves to do the research to find out what that takes. During the process, Ken Blanchard realized the work being done not only articulated what great leaders do at Chick-fil-A, but more, it touched on the things that distinguished great leaders throughout history. And thus, Mark created The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do. With every project, Mark starts with the seemingly simple question, "What is universally true about this topic?" The question acts as a guideline to create a point of view on emerging business issues, and builds a foundation that can serve their organization and the world at large because the viewpoint created reaches beyond any one industry and to the heart of topics like leadership and culture. Having authored and published books for twenty years, Mark has seen a lot of change. We discuss the strategies Mark is employing as an author, to keep landing on the Wall Street Journal Best Sellers list. We explore prelaunch campaigns, creating a personal army of enthusiastic ambassadors to share the news about your book, and more. Mark gives us the inside track of how he used incentives, gamification, and helping non-profits, to promote the book and find his audience. Three Key Takeaways: · With most projects, try to start with "What is universally true about the topic?" · Everything rises and falls with leaders. If you can help them grow their capacity, impact, and influence, then everyone wins. · Multi-faceted book launch campaigns that recruit champions, incentivize their participation, and generate Amazon reviews are just a few ways to have a successful book.
Jun 4, 2023 • 28min
Storytelling with Thought Leadership | Adam Zuckerman, Mary J. Cronin, Michelle Mellon, and Christopher Brace | 495
Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways you can elevate your thought leadership. It can create an emotional connection, convey the need for change, or provide a vision of the future. In this episode, we collect advice from our experts on the various ways a thought leader can utilize the storytelling skill to elevate their content. Adam Zuckerman is Product Leader, Employee Engagement Software at Willis Towers Watson. Adam shares how his personal approach of sharing experiences in storytelling can help connect the research and data you provide with your audience in meaningful ways. Mary Cronin is a Research Professor at the Carroll School of Management, Boston College. She teaches about entrepreneurship, and explains to us how storytelling is a vital component of the success of both thought leaders and startups. At the time of publication, Michelle Mellon was the Thought Leadership Director of SalientMG. She is also a published fiction author. Michelle takes her experience writing stories and applies those same principles to writing thought leadership explaining how the fundamentals of storytelling need to be followed, as well as how they can be broken to create engaging narratives. Our final guest is Christopher Brace, Adjunct Professor of Marketing at MICA. Christopher helps us understand how storytelling can be used in marketing to build brands. He explains how, by employing a listening ear, you can discover the emotional territories of your audience that will help you know what resonates most with them. Three Key Takeaways: * Storytelling is a component of the success of entrepreneurs and thought leaders; yet storytelling is often neglected. * Don't be afraid to provide predictions for the future in your thought leadership. Your speculation doesn't have to be 100% right it just has to provide a glimpse of what could be around the corner. * When starting a narrative look at the questions of "What if" but ensure the basic elements of storytelling are not forgotten.
Jun 1, 2023 • 20min
The Innovation Mindset | Jennifer Kenny | 494
Consultants often approach clients seeking to answer the question, "How can I help you?" What would happen if you instead asked, "What can you and I create together, to solve the problem?" Our guest today is Jennifer Kenny. Jennifer is a speaker, technology leader, strategic advisor, and bestselling author of "The Innovation Mindset: A Proven Method to Fuel Performance and Results" Jennifer shares with us how her career started out in geology, where she delved into the depths of systems thinking. Those practices, built to support her scientific hypotheses, led her to consulting and developing her own content. Jennifer's innovative attitude to solving problems by using a mastery of coordination, communication, and co-creation of solutions elevated her approach, and allowed her and her clients to overcome complex challenges. One problem that was not easily solved was writing her bestselling book, The Innovation Mindset. Jennifer tells us how the book started with an entirely different focus before getting scrapped for a second iteration… which she also discarded! Through conversation with Page Two Publishing, Jennifer realized that she should be focusing on innovation and collaborative ideas - and thus, her book was born. In addition, Jennifer talks about the huge learning curve that exists in the publishing industry, and how she worked with her daughter to enhance her own capabilities and create an incredible book! Three Key Takeaways: * If you are going to share your mastery of a complex field or system, you need to make it easy for your audience to understand your insights. * Aspiring authors should find a good editor that can elevate a manuscript to its full potential. * If you are going to write with a partner, you need to understand the intricacies of collaboration - and communication!
May 28, 2023 • 15min
Comfortable Corners of Thought Leadership | Bill Sherman | 493
Some thought leaders focus on long form content, like research papers or books. Others prefer short form media, such as videos and infographics. It's simple: audiences gravitate to formats they prefer. If you know your audience, you can use this information to get your content in front of them - but what happens when your ideas run into modality barriers? Today, Bill Sherman, host of the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast and the COO of Thought Leadership Leverage, goes solo to discuss the "Comfortable Corners of Thought Leadership" Framework. Bill takes us through each of the four corners helping us understand as content creators how there is a difference between being comfortable with our idea and being comfortable with a modality. We learn that exploring a new modality while working through an idea can spell disaster while sticking with a modality you are most comfortable with while discussing a well-polished idea can allow you to shine! However, what happens when your favorite medium is not one the audience is comfortable with? Bill explains that on average the majority of your audience is going to have a low to mid-level of comfort with your idea, so leaning into a modality they are more comfortable with can help keep them engaged. During this episode, Bill helps us to understand the nuances of using various modalities, from both the perspective of the content creator and the intended audience. Three Key Takeaways: * Where is your comfort zone? Do you stretch yourself to new modalities? Is your comfort zone the same as your audience's? * When looking at the four corners, remember to consider them from the audience's point-of-view. * Avoid "sitting in the opposite corner" (no matter how comfortable it is there!) from your audience.
May 21, 2023 • 19min
Organizational Thought Leadership for Healthcare | Jean Accius, Traci Conley, Craig Joseph, and Jerome Pagani
Healthcare is a serious topic, and it needs great thought leadership to disseminate information swiftly and clearly to those that need it most. In today's episode, we revisit our conversations with three guests who focus on thought leadership for healthcare organizations. * Our first guest is Jean Accius, who at the time of airing was the Senior Vice-President, Global Thought Leadership and International Affairs for AARP. Jean helps us understand how thought leadership can position an organization at the forefront of the issues, challenge the status quo, and engage new audiences. * Next, we turn to a conversation with Traci Conley, Thought Leadership Manager for Standard Imaging, Inc. Traci understands the importance of being able to get valuable information to healthcare professionals and patients. We discuss what you have to do when traditional mediums of communication break down, and how you can continue to provide high quality knowledge and care in the face of restrictions. * Finally, we catch up with Craig Joseph, Chief Medical Officer at Nordic Consulting and Jerome Pagani, the Vice President, Head of Thought Leadership at Nordic Consulting. While healthcare is a serious topic, Craig and Jerome share how they inject a bit of humor into their message in a way that allows them to grab their audience's attention and build trust. Three Key Takeaways: * Knowledge is the world's most important currency! * Carefully crafted humor can make serious topics more relatable and easier to discuss. * Well-thought out virtual experiences can deliver the same information and impact as an in person event.
May 18, 2023 • 22min
Marketing for Artist | Miriam Schulman | 491
Our guest today is Miriam Schulman, a portrait painter who has had her work displayed in galleries and collected internationally. While this might seem like an unlikely guest for a thought leadership podcast, she is also the author of Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity, host of the Inspiration Place podcast and creator of the popular online art class site, the Inspiration Place. Lots of people have incredible talent. Unfortunately, most creative talent goes overlooked and underappreciated. Miriam shares how the same creativity that feeds your talent can be turned into a survival strategy - through clever marketing. The ability to try new things and be creative can trump a lack of experience (even in marketing!), if you are willing to do a little hard work. Miram discusses her book launch, and how she is marketing her book using the same advice she offers others. In addition, she shares strategies that her book launch team uses, including pre-order bonuses, social network campaigns, and other incentives that help her get reviews and buzz - before the book even hits store shelves. Whether you are an artist seeking advice on making your passion profitable, or a traditional thought leader trying to spread the word about your content, this conversation has some incredibly useful advice you can put into action right away! Three Key Takeaways: * Cheaper is not always easier to sell. Regardless of price, your audience must understand how your offerings will benefit them. * Friends, family, and co-workers will be happy to share your works, but you can make it easy for them and increase the odds of them sharing by writing a blurb for them. * Book reviews are an important part of a launch strategy. They create social validation for those who are not familiar with your work.
May 11, 2023 • 24min
Women in Corporate Leadership | Jenna Fisher - 490
Corporate progress for women is historically slow and filled with systemic biases that have stood for generations. So how can we raise up a new generation of female leaders capable of overcoming those challenges? Today I'm pleased to be joined by Jenna Fisher – Co-lead of Global Financial Officer Practice at Russell Reynolds Associates, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author with a new book To the Top: How Women in Corporate Leadership Are Rewriting the Rules for Success. Jenna's amazing book was 8 years in the making, and it took the pause of COVID to provide the free hours she needed to dedicate to the project in order to see it through. In February of 2022 she began interviewing amazing women in various roles and industries all over the world to learn their stories, struggles, and successes. Through these conversations, she learned how women can seize the opportunity in front of them. In addition to the traditional biases that women have to deal with, Jenna learned some of the things that women do that set them back, such as not applying for roles because they don't tick every box in the job description, while men will traditionally apply even if they only check a few of the boxes. Jenna shares some tips for how women can overcome this hurdle and why they need to put themselves out there with confidence. Finally we discuss how age and focusing on family can set women back in the workplace. Jenna explains that women often focus on being the best in their position, and changing that focus to the family means taking a risk that your career could fall to the wayside. Peter and Jenna share advice for maintaining and growing those aspects that can make a real difference in climbing the ladder, even while you're taking time for your family. This is a wonderful conversation where women at any stage of their career can gain valuable advice on moving to the top! Three Key Takeaways: * Writing a book is like having a baby. Labor is hard, but the real work begins after the child is in the world. * Women who pause their careers to focus on family need to find ways to maintain their network until they are ready to return. * Age does not define the heights that people can go. Give people the grace to run at their own pace.
